MyVoIPnews

A Bangladesh bust

Things have been chill in the Bangladesh VoIP wars lately, but Thursday (local time) saw the Rapid Action Battalion back in action.

This time, the task force specifically formed to bust such lawbreakers this time caught mobile phone operator Aktel in the act, seizing “sophisticated equipment used for running voice over internet protocol business illegally” from Aktel offices in Gulshan.

The story marks an interesting turn in Rab tactics, PR-wise. Check out the Daily Star online version for an actual picture of Rab enforcement officers posing with the booty.

Additionally, government officials, who began the crackdown on illegal VoIP providers because of the potential lost income, reported to press that the devices rounded up in the bust could be worth Taka 1.8 billion (approximately $26.1 million) per year.

In an official statement, Rab officials said that “The operation against the illegal VoIP business will continue and none will be spared.”

AT&T goes Dutch

AT&T Inc. has announced a three-year, $3 million contract with Netherlands-based Hagemeyer for increased capacity in AT&T network services and implementation of wide area network services at the company’s North American headquarters in Charleston, S.C. The AT&T service upgrades and expansion for Hagemeyer in North America include extension to 137 US sites and implementation of Internet Protocol telephony at 41 locations.

AT&T is providing Hagemeyer with an upgrade in class-of-service data transport speeds and capacity, reportedly in preparation for a planned Voice over IP rollout in the coming years.

Hagemeyer North America, Inc. is a distributor of products and services focusing on business-to-business markets in electrical materials, safety products, and industrial products and services throughout North America. Hagemeyer North America has annual revenues of $1.5 billion, employs approximately 4200 associates, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hagemeyer N.V.

Let it Reign

Reignmaker Communications (Now that’s a fairly clever name: We’re giving that one a 7.2 on the My VoIP News 1-10 name rating scale), a privately held VoIP-hosted PBX telephony company, have announced the completion of the acquisition of Georgia-based communication companies CyberSouth Networks and Swifttel Communications. Exact terms of the deal were not released.

“These two companies represent the first of several key acquisitions Reignmaker seeks to make this year,” said Reignmaker CEO Steve Smithwick, CEO of Reignmaker Communications, presumably serving gauntlet-like notice to his would-be competitors. “…Reignmaker plans to aggressively, yet strategically expand upon its reputation as one of the leading Hosted PBX Service Providers in the country.”

As part of the acquisitions, Reignmaker will be picking up a CLEC license in Georgia, which will operate within the new subsidiary unoriginally named Reignmaker Telecom, Inc. The acquired firms represent a customer base of over 3,800 internet access and web hosting customers, a BroadSoft softswitch, an OC-12 fiber ring, and co-location facilities in Atlanta, Savannah, Augusta, Albany, and Vidalia, Ga.

Founded in 1996, Reignmaker Communications is a privately held company headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. offering service in over 400 US cities.

Stats from In-Stat

In-Stat’s got more numbers for us: To wit, “9 percent of U.S. Households Now Use a VoIP Telephone Service, Up From 8 percent at the End of Q3.”

Specifically citing “cable operators and Vonage” in “driving continuing growth in the US residential Voice over Internet Protocol telephone market,” high-tech market research firm In-Stat reports that over 10.6 million US households now have at least one active VoIP user.

In a pair of research reports – “US Residential Voice-Over IP Market Dynamics and Market Tracker: Market Summary Q4 2006” and “US Residential Voice-Over IP Market Dynamics and Market Tracker: Comprehensive Results and Analysis Q4 2006” – In-Stat went on to report that:

• The emergence of cable operators as a dominant market force has slowed the growth of the client-based VoIP market.

• Skype was the sole VoIP provider showing gains in the segment during the fourth quarter.

• More than 61 percent of active residential VoIP users reported discontinuing or replacing a traditional phone service, including 76 percent who use only a network/ATA-based service such as that of Vonage.

• Among users of client-based VoIP services, 52 percent of VoIP calls are international long distance, while network/ATA-based VoIP users report only 6 percent are international long distance.

• 51 percent of residential VoIP users employ the service for business and personal calls, while 4 percent use it exclusively for business calls.

For additional information on the summary and the comprehensive report or the service, check out the In-Stat website.

You mean i can’t call 911 in the U.K.?

Ofcom announced a new regulatory code for Voice over Internet Protocol service providers this week to “ensure that consumers have access to important information about the capabilities of their service.”

(You know all about the VoIP 911 situation in the US, right? Well, this is Britain’s version…)

All VoIP providers will be required to comply with this code as of June 2007. The new code of practice requires VoIP providers to clarify:

• whether the service includes access to emergency services;

• the extent to which the service depends on the user’s home power supply;

• whether directory assistance, directory listings, access to the operator or itemization of calls are available; and

• whether consumers will be able to keep their telephone number if they choose to switch providers at a later date.

Furthermore, VoIP providers must:

• secure the customer’s positive acknowledgement of the above at point of sale;

• label the capability of the service; and

• play an announcement each time a call to emergency services is attempted, reminding the caller that access is unavailable.

IBM times 3(Com)

IBM and 3Com Corporation have announced their “System i Integrated Collaboration,” a product they’re dubbing as “the industry’s first solution to integrate IP telephony with email, messaging and core business process applications on a single, secure platform.”

System i Integrated Collaboration promises unified communications capabilities to streamline operations, and runs on a single System i.

The new Integrated Collaboration solution builds on the System i IP Telephony solution IBM and 3Com released in November. Collaboration uses open standards such as Session Initiation Protocol to create a platform by enabling the 3Com VCX system to be more easily integrated with collaboration and business applications running on the System i.

Features touted in the release are 3Com SDK for System i IP Telephony, System i IP Telephony Contact Center, System i IP Telephony Integration with Lotus Sametime 7.5, and System i IP Telephony Unified Messaging.

IBM and 3Com announced plans to work with over 100 Independent Solution Vendors to integrate their applications with the new solution. ISV iMessaging Systems, Inc. has provided a native System i IP telephony integration solution by enabling its iNspire solution with SIP, and CRM application provider VACAVA is using iMessaging’s iNspire to deliver telephony and call center-enabled software VACAVA Customer Care. Other ISVs planning to bring their application to System i Integrated Collaboration include Touchtone Corporation, RJS Software Systems, Inc. and KMR Systems.

The System i Integrated Collaboration solution is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2007, with pricing for Domino and Sametime integration starting at $500 per server for each application. The System i IP Telephony Express Edition starts at $37,900.

More than 520

Richardson, Texas-based VoIP security provider Sipera Systems yesterday announced new functionality for the Sipera IPCS 520 including a security policy framework, intrusion detection and prevention functionality and troubleshooting features in hopes of providing comprehensive security for service providers offering Session Initiation Protocol, IP Multimedia Subsystem or Unlicensed Mobile Access technologies.

New functionality for the Sipera IPCS 520 also includes greater protection capabilities; ability to deploy an intrusion detection system; and troubleshooting features.

The Sipera IPCS 520 supports 100,000 users and 10,000 simultaneous sessions with 2Gbps of throughput in IDS/IPS mode.

This new functionality for the Sipera IPCS 520 will be available in the second quarter of 2007.

The six billion dollar men

Verizon Wireless and Alcatel-Lucent have announced a three-year agreement valued at a whopping $6 billion for Alcatel-Lucent to supply network equipment, software and services supporting Verizon Wireless’ ongoing network expansion; Alcatel-Lucent was Verizon’s chief network infrastructure before the deal was signed.

The equipment, software and services from Alcatel-Lucent will theoretically give Verizon Wireless the opportunity to further increase coverage and capacity of its broadband access data network based on CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision A technology. Verizon will also be introducing new A-IMS services including Voice over IP, push-to-x, and mobile video telephony through deployment of various components of Alcatel-Lucent’s IMS solution.

Finally, the agreement calls for Alcatel-Lucent to enhance Verizon Wireless’ existing CDMA2000 1X network. Extant Alcatel-Lucent-supplied packet switches will be upgraded to support IP soft handoff and transcoder free operation, and the Alcatel-Lucent 7750 Service Router will also provide IP routing and ethernet aggregation.

Vonage speaks out

"I'm not dead yet." --Monty Python

In light of the recent double whammy delivered Vonage by U.S. district courts – first a judgement finding in favour of Verizon Communications Inc. that will have Vonage pay $58 million plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future sales for copyright, then issuance of a permanent injunction against the company – surely folks at the VoIP provider are working overtime. Can you imagine what Vonage’s legal, PR and logistics departments look like right about now?

Currently, Vonage spin doctors are applying heavy damage control tactics in an attempt to reassure its 2.2 million-plus subscribers, including new mentions of “a disproportionately-negative reaction from the market.” (How long before the Vonagers take on the criticism and speculation in the media?)

Vonage CEO Mike Snyder broke out what is surely the most often-used cliché in such a situation, stating “To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of Vonage's death have been greatly exaggerated. Friday's events represented one small step in what is sure to be a long legal battle.” Snyder stated that “The fact is we've been preparing for this verdict and the possibility of an injunction for months,” Snyder added. “For the market to react the way it did to the recent rulings shows an unfortunate lack of understanding of the judicial/appellate system, a lack of appreciation of Vonage's resourcefulness, or, perhaps, both.”

Except that Vonage has been steadily sinking pretty much ever since shares in the company were regularly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Reuters, reporting on the earlier pro-Vonage verdict, noted that “Vonage … ranks as the worst-performing IPO in the past 15 months, according to analysts.”

The announced Vonage strategy will go as follows. The next step in the process would be the entering by the courts of a permanent injunction on April 6. Should the judge fails to grant the company's request to stay the injunction pending its appeal, Vonage will immediately file for a stay with the court of appeals for the federal circuit – the Vonage legal brain trust figures both calls to go against the company. Vonage has also reconfirmed its plan to file a notice of appeal to the circuit court of appeals with regard to the pricey $58 million decision.

According to Vonage’s defense team, “Verizon's overly broad construction of the patent claims was adopted across the board which is unprecedented, given the large number of claim terms.”

Vonage executive vice president/chief legal officer Sharon O’Leary, while simultaneously attempting to foster confidence among Vonage fans, displayed the wonderful cynical stoicism surrounding American due process: “No matter what happens on April 6, the reality is this litigation is going to take years to make its way through the legal system … once the case is up on appeal, we are confident that the appellate court will overturn the verdict based on the faulty claim construction of the patents involved.”

O’Leary claims that the circuit court of appeals reverses verdicts involving flawed claim constructions approximately forty percent of the time. Finally, proclaimed Snyder, “Anyone who's counting Vonage out is making a huge mistake.” Indeed; thus far, Vonage has proven as oddly persistent as the company’s koo-loo-koo-koo television commercial jingle.

Interview: Gyorgy Beck

Over at the day job, i.e. senior editor of a weekly entitled the Business Budapest Journal, this blogger got to run an interview with one György Beck, a big-league player in the Hungarian IT market. Formerly CEO of Hewlett-Packard Hungary, CEO/co-founder of Digital Hungary (and subsequently CEO of Compaq Central Eastern Europe), and software developer at Hungary’s Computer Application Research Institute, Beck just recently joined Vodafone Hungary, where he’ll be interested in pumping up the local telephony systems and more.

Below run a few excerpts from the interview, which features Beck’s takes on Vodafone’s competition in the region, the future of 3G, HSDPA, and outsourcing to Eastern Europe.

Q: Vodafone is seeking to be more than a mobile telephony company, but an overall provider of telecom solutions, as seen in products such as Vodafone Otthon. What revenue share do you expect non-mobile services to deliver to Vodafone in future?

A: We’ve had a long debate about whether it is sufficient to be simply the best mobile operator going forward. For a long time, as the global market leader, it was ample to focus on being the best mobile company but at the beginning of last year, corporate management realized this was not enough. Since then, we’re focusing on becoming an overall communication and telecommunication company evolved from the new segment “mobile plus” which incorporates everything beyond mobile voice. We’ve started to focus on this element worldwide, and in Hungary we’ve realized that if we want to grow we have to focus on mobile plus, of which Vodafone Otthon is a flagship product, although there are several other services that we’re planning to roll out in future.

Q: Such as regular broadband internet?

A: The Otthon offering will be extended to some other areas like ADSL. We’d like to offer a complete telecommunications solution, either alone or through some kind of strategic agreement with fixed-line players.

Q: Will you offer carbon copies of solutions originating from the UK market or will you tailor them to local needs?

A: One of our potential competitive advantages is that we have the opportunity to learn a lot from best practices from all over the world. As worldwide market leader, we have the highest revenue base from which we can invest the largest amount in central development and any new innovation available to us. In many countries, the local Vodafone is the leader or close to the top – as in the U.K., Spain, Italy and Germany – and we can easily adopt best practices and innovations. We are also in daily contact with Vodafone operations in other countries, such as Czech Republic, Greece, Romania and Portugal, where Vodafone is in a position similar to ours and facing the same kind of challenges: We can learn from what works for them, and vice versa.

Q: Do you consider Vodafone to be a serious player in the internet market here?

A: With GPRS nationwide and 3G coverage in Budapest we have reached a quite wide internet user group who are using the internet quite actively. We have another layer on top of regular internet access in the form of Vodafone Live! which is a worldwide brand that contains lots of content and exclusive agreements. We can generate more use from this. The latest version of Vodafone Live! actually made its world debut in Hungary. The long-term solution for the entire internet phenomenon will be solved by mobile internet. With fixed-line internet, you are limited to your location, but with mobile internet an extra dimension appears. Without the internet, access to data was limited by time factors. With the internet, the time dimension has disappeared, and with mobile internet, you are neither limited by time and location: You can do anything anywhere.

Q: T-Mobile Hungary is putting a lot of emphasis on its HSDPA rollout. What’s your approach to this advanced 3G technology, and do you think the market is ready?

A: We’re facing a similar chicken-and-egg scenario to the one we faced in the IT industry several years ago in which we [on the hardware provision side] claimed that the reason there were not many PCs on the market was because there were insufficient services and solutions available for PCs. Meanwhile, solution providers thought that, so long as there were not enough PCs, investment in solutions wasn’t worthwhile. Here again, I have the feeling that 3G and HSDPA use is currently very limited since there isn’t enough content available, while perhaps the content providers are thinking that generating content or services isn’t worth it, since presently there are very few 3G users out there. Sooner or later, I think this standoff will end and I feel there will be a turnaround later this year or next year...

Q: Which pricing model do you expect to work for 3G services in future: Flat fee or sliding prices based on total data use? Will overall prices come down?

A: We’re comparing different pricing models in our different markets and showing some flexibility according to demand. Frequency fees [the charge that the mobile operators pay for using 3G frequencies] are extremely high here, much higher than anywhere else in Europe. A potential danger is that if we’re successful with 3G in terms of use, the cost could be much higher and I think this should be readdressed from a regulatory standpoint. On one hand, we’re saying “let’s go in the direction of mobile broadband and internet, as this is the future,” but if there are more charges placed on us this could get problematic. This is a challenge for the whole Hungarian mobile industry.

Q: Do you think the demand for 3G could be enhanced if the roaming between countries is made simpler and less costly?

A: My answer is definitely “yes,” but on the other hand Vodafone is already a pioneer in this with Vodafone Passport whereby via one connection fee you can use your local tariff.

Q: Do you see 3G services as targeting early innovators or the mass market?

A: We are on the border at the moment. Early innovators have taken them up already and now it’s started to spread to the mass market. This can be seen in our bundled offering of laptop with 3G data card for a month’s free trial period which targets the overall market. We feel that we’ve taken the first step onto the mass market. We also have global agreements in place with the likes of Yahoo! and MySpace to tailor their solutions for mobile users.

Q: When can we expect mobile advertising to take off?

A: I think this is the next big step and is something the whole industry is working on. The early results should come through later this year or early next year.

Q: You’ve already worked with Invitel in delivering Vodafone Otthon. Could cooperation with this company, which is being acquired by HTCC, lead to the creation of a Mobile Virtual Network Operator [MVNO]? Is this on the agenda?

A: When they get the green light for the merger, they’ll sit down and develop their joint strategy. There are two different factors at play here. As mobile tariffs are already very low in Hungary there is limited room for maneuvering for new players. Despite this, the mobile industry is still growing quite rapidly, but it won’t be easy for anyone to find a place on this market.

Q: How far are you toward seeing a payback on the investment into 3G?

A: It’s a huge investment. It’s still early, and I have to admit that the investment has not been paid back yet. However, this is an issue in the whole mobile industry, especially in the countries adopting 3G early, where operators paid a fortune for 3G licenses and made initial plans too aggressive or unrealistic. It’s also an issue in Hungary where the 3G boom hasn’t been quite as big as initially expected for all players.

Q: Also on Vodafone’s overall investment in Hungary?

A: This industry requires heavy initial investment, but we have been delivering profit on operations for a few years now.

Q: Do you see the so-called killer application of 3G telephony emerging?

A: If I had seen it, I’d be pushing it. Some are talking about mobile TV but I’m not 100% convinced. I think it works in Asia but not so much in our culture. One thing which would help a lot is if some e-government services [whereby users can use their phones to carry out administration tasks and information gathering that previously required queuing up] could be made available but e-government hasn’t really come yet to regular internet use.

Q: Vodafone has been offloading some of its less successful operations around the globe while it has gone into the huge emerging market of India by acquiring the fourth-largest Indian mobile operator. What level of performance do you have to realize in order to convince the owners to stay committed to Hungary?

A: When we defined our long-term strategy, which included the new focus on “mobile plus,” we also decided to be more flexible with our financial assets. Vodafone operates two different kinds of models with subsidiaries either 100% owned by Vodafone, or we are part of a joint venture. In some countries where we had a smaller share and didn’t see the chance of being the driving force in the company or problems with dominant companies and regulators, we decided to withdraw. The countries we closed down are those where we had less than a 50% share and the feeling that we were unable to progress. In Hungary we’re clearly going for growth rather than closing down the operation, and I can say that we’re progressing well with that growth.

Metajitsu?

Fujitsu Telecommunications Europe Ltd, supplier of high-performance telecommunications solutions, and MetaSwitch announced demonstration of hosted business VoIP services from the platform supplied from Fujitsu and MetaSwitch by BT this week. The demonstration took place at VoIP for Business 2007, Olympia, in London Thursday and Friday.

BT’s demonstration showed their business solution, touting VoIP benefits for small- and medium-sized enterprises.

MetaSwitch is a vendor of IP Multimedia Subsystem switching and applications solutions for both packet and circuit-switched networks. Its call agent, media/signaling gateway and application server platform supports a range of legacy Class 4/5 capabilities and hosted unified communications services. The company is privately held, with main US offices in California and Virginia, and European headquarters in London, UK.

Fujitsu is a provider of IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited reported consolidated revenues of about 4.8 trillion yen (approximately $40.6 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006.

Skype’s pal PayPal

Skype, eBay, PayPal … biggies on the internet are consolidating power further. This week saw the VON technology conference held in Silicon Valley. At said trade show, Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom announced that his firm is to be fully integrated with PayPal, though offered no timeframe for beta testing or general release. Statements issued by Skype execs, however, put a release date in late April. The combination seems a natural, as both companies are subsidiaries of eBay Inc., and reportedly PayPal is the most popular way to pay for long-distance Skype phone calls. “You can send money over Skype,” ran Zennstrom’s quote in many an outlet reporting the announcement. “This is basically connecting the Skype community over PayPal. All the user needs is a PayPal account.” The folks over at the TeleClick blog quote IDC research analyst Will Stofega: “The tie-up between Paypal and Skype could be the ‘first step toward voice-based trading on eBay,’ according to Stofega.”

In the Y of the (Wynd)storm

YFonGlobal, a provider of turnkey social network marketing technology, reported raising its second angel round of funding, for a total of $1.8 million with an opportunity to raise $2.1 million from one angel investor’s matching funds offer.

YFonGlobal representatives stated that these funds will be used in expanding sales and marketing of their Wyndstorm hosted social network software geared towards associations, political organizations, political campaigns, small businesses, virtual companies, and the like.

YFonGlobal chairman Lawrence A. McLernon tossed in his Joe Namath-like prediction for the firm thanks to the funding, saying, “Within the next year, I predict that CEO Marian Sabety’s vision for Wyndstorm … will be realized. Wyndstorm will be an industry leader in content sharing and mobile collaboration, becoming the ‘go-to’ solution for connecting online communities.”

Right, then.

YFonGlobal angel investors include telecommunications and information technology players such as American Management Systems founder Patrick A. Gross; former managing director of Telstra Global Wholesale, John Hibbard; Thomas Hudson, former chairman / CEO of Computer Network Technology Corporation; and Richard T. Liebhaber, a dude serving on the board of directors for Avici, Cogent Communications, ILOG, JDSU, and MCI.

Wyndstorm’s second customer was reported only as “a 1.6 million subscriber base targeting university students who seek a private social network to research, collaborate and learn together on a worldwide basis in a safe and protected environment.”

I don’t want to yap…

YapOn (Now seriously, isn’t that name going to work against them? Who really admits that they yap on the mobile phone, though they most likely do? That’s a definite 2 on the My VoIP News appealing names scale running 1-10), a provider of mobile Voice over Internet Protocol product, today announced the launch of two new service offerings: “Text to Talk,” an offering that provides mobile subscribers the ability to access the most competitive long-distance rates directly from their mobile device; and “Quick Connect,” which enables YapOn subscribers to initiate long-distance calls in either landline and mobile milieu via YapOn’s web interface.

As part of their official launch, YapOn is offering all new subscribers a thirty-day free trial to start “yapping for free.”

Now come on, guys, what if i partake in serious conversation on my phone?

YapOn Inc. was incorporated in 2006 with a stated mission to provide “mobile subscribers with an economical alternative to traditional long-distance calling offerings.”

TCS introes VoIP APP

TeleCommunication Systems, Inc., a provider of Voice over Internet Protocol emergency services, today announced the TCS VoIP Application Partner Program. The program is designed to bring additional revenue opportunities to VoIP service providers – an unfulfilled need, a cause, and a profit. Good business, eh?

The TCS VoIP Application Partner Program is focused on “creating a community of revenue-enhancing, IP-based applications.” Touted benefits for application provider participants would include extended service reach, standard Session Initiation Protocol-based interfaces, and flexible implementation options.

TCS’ VoIP Application Partner Program seeks to “bring together location determination technologies for different access technologies, and [to bridge] them with providers that deliver applications using location or other criteria to bring service differentiation and revenue to service providers.”

TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. produces wireless data communications technology solutions. TCS provides wireless and VoIP 911 network-based services, secure deployable communication systems and engineered satellite-based services, and commercial location applications. Customers include wireless carriers, VoIP carriers, and agencies of the U.S. departments of defense, state, and homeland security.

Vonage loses again, refuses to say “uncle”

After winning one just the other day, Vonage got beat down by Verizon in court again in the VoIP providers’ battle over alleged copyright infringement.

On Friday, the verdict the gavel came down on Verizon’s side one more time as a U.S. district court ordered a permanent injunction against poor ol’ Vonage for use of rival Verizon Communications Inc.’s patents.

This hearing was the legal offspring of an in-court tussle earlier this month in which judges ruled that Vonage Holdings is to pay $58 million plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future sales. Vonage had been suing for $197 million and a 19 percent in royalties.

However, Friday’s ruling carried an accompanying statement by U.S. district judge Claude Hilton explaining that “[Simply providing monetary damages] does not prevent continued erosion of the client base of the plaintiff.”

The injunction does not go into effect for at least two weeks, a time period in which Vonage will presumably be attempting to figure out a) how to avoid having to cut service to the two million-plus extant Vonage customers, b) more ways to appeal in court, thereby staying financial execution, or c) both of the above.

Watching Vonage spokespeople and PR on this thing has been an excellent study in spinning news events. In the last case, Vonage reported that the company was “delighted that the jury rejected Verizon’s meritless claim that we infringed their two billing patents. Of the seven patents Verizon originally sued on, (sic) they prevailed on only three and we expect that verdict to be reversed on appeal. The jury’s damage award represents a 70% reduction from Verizon’s $197 million claim. The jury also unanimously rejected Verizon’s claim that Vonage willfully infringed its patents.”

Of course, that time ‘round, Vonage also promised that “Vonage’s customers should see no change to any aspect of their phone service.”

Well, Vonage plucky planners, PR people and spin doctors are hard at work on this one. Vonage opened with the news that the Alexandria, Va. district court had released an order “enjoining Vonage from using certain VoIP technology,” that the order is not immediately effective, and that “Vonage is confident its customers will see no change in their phone service.”

(Note the grammar shift from “should” to “will” as the situation worsens…)

Explains Vonage of upcoming proceedings: “The court announced its intent to hear stay argument in two weeks’ time. At that time, the court intends to render a decision regarding the stay, as well as making the injunction effective. If the court denies the stay, Vonage will seek a stay through appeal from the Federal Court of Appeals. Vonage is confident it will be able to obtain a stay through appeal.”

Vonage CEO Mike Snyder stated that “Despite this obvious attempt by Verizon to cripple Vonage, the litigation will not stop Vonage from continuing to provide quality VoIP service to our millions of customers.” He also promised that “Our fight is far from over. We remain confident that Vonage has not infringed on any of Verizon's patents – a position we will continue vigorously contending in federal appeals court – and that Vonage will ultimately prevail in this case.”

Recently oft-quoted Sharon O’Leary, Vonage’s executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary actually claimed that “Vonage relied on open-standard, off-the-shelf technology when developing its service. In fact, evidence introduced in court failed to prove that Vonage relied on Verizon’s VoIP technology, and instead showed that in 2003 Verizon began exploring ways to copy Vonage’s technology.”

Company numbers also show that Vonage has achieved 19 consecutive quarters of double-digit revenue growth, doubled revenues to $607 million in 2006 alone, and added nearly 1 million net subscriber lines last year. However, another number is far more damning (as though Vonage needed things to get worse): The week closed with Vonage Holdings Corp. shares dropping 26 percent to close at $3 on the New York Stock Exchange, unbelievably a 52-week low.

A courtside win for Vonage

The big news today in VoIPland was of the the 8th Circuit Court’s ruling regarding states’ rights in regulating VoIP, upholding a 2004 decision in a court case involving the state of Minnesota and Vonage. Yesterday, the court restated that companies such as Vonage are outside state control and can only be regulated at the federal level.

The decision had VoIP providers in general, and Vonage in particular breathing sighs of relief.

Staci Pies, VON Coalition President, issued a statement on behalf of her coalition (see a member list below) predictably praising the court, which “recognized that the FCC properly embraced the future of VoIP by ensuring it will be free from multiple and inevitably conflicting state jurisdictions. … This decision holds open the promise that VoIP can play a critical role in boosting broadband demand and putting new tools in the hands of American consumers and small businesses... The Court’s decision is a critical step towards unleashing the full economic benefits of VoIP competition…”

Vonage, meanwhile, has got to be happy that a federal court let them win this one after two weeks ago getting dissed in a ruling that will have Vonage Holdings pay $58 million plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future sales due to copyright infringement on Verizon product.

The VON Coalition consists of leading VoIP companies including AccessLine, AT&T, BMX, BT Americas, CallSmart, Cisco, Convedia, Covad, EarthLink, Google, iBasis, i3 Voice and Data, Intel, Intrado, Microsoft, New Global Telecom, Openwave, Pandora Networks, PointOne, Pulver.com, Skype, Switch Business Solutions, T-Mobile USA, United Online, USA Datanet, VocalData, Veraz Networks, and Yahoo!, and seeks to “advance regulatory policies that enable Americans to take advantage of the full promise and potential of VoIP.”

Global gets more, well, global

IP solutions provider Global Crossing announced the addition of new features to its Global Crossing VoIP local service and extension of service into Rome, Milan and Hong Kong; US availability of VoIP Local Service will move into 83 additional communities.

In Hong Kong and Italy, VoIP local service has been extended to support the existing suite of VoIP outbound and converged IP services. VoIP Local service is currently available in Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, UK and the United States.

Global Crossing provides telecommunications solutions over an integrated global IP-based network. Its core network connects more than 300 cities in its 28 covered countries, and provides services to more than 600 cities in 60 countries. Global Crossing’s data and voice products including Global Crossing IP VPN Service, Global Crossing Managed Services and Global Crossing VoIP services, are now provided to 36 percent of the Fortune 500, plus 700 carriers, mobile operators and ISPs.

Beleaguered Viper writes odd press release

There’s a bit of an odd press release hitting the wires today entitled “Viper Opens New Branches in Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh.” Written in the form of an open letter, Chief Executive Officer Farid Shouekani, despite the “long period since I last wrote to you regarding the company,” writes to assure that “we are still working hard to enhance the investment that all of us have made in our company, Viper Networks, Inc.”

It seems VoIP provider Viper has a few problems and that Shouekani will resort to anything – even writing press releases from a first-person viewpoint – to attempt a positive spin.

Writes Shouekani: “The company is still operational and growing in revenue and customer base each month. We are working with new partners in several countries and we have opened branch offices in Bangladesh (Dhaka) and Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)…”

Of course, as followers of My VoIP News know, providing VoIP service in Bangladesh is currently illegal, but “We believe that Bangladesh will soon legalize VOIP service. With this in mind, we are looking forward to be the first to offer full turn-key solutions for all ISPs and the retail market.”

Meanwhile, the troubled CEO notes that “We have also worked to reduce our expenses and we continue to face financial challenges. We have sought to pay off some of our old existing debt and we are responding to comments we received from the staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission so that our SEC filings meet the requirements of our federal securities laws.”

Ouch.

What else can i say that hasn’t already been said, except “Thank you for your continued support,” which Shouekani does.

Allied in Brazil

In an interesting and probably exceedingly clever move, Brazilian voice service providers Tellfree, iVoz.net, GlobalNova, Conceito Telecom and Easytone announced the intention to establish a “VoIP Peering Federation” for VoIP service providers in their country.

The Brazilian VoIP Peering Federation hopes to enable members to exchange VoIP traffic between subscribers directly over IP networks. The Brazilian federation will also enable multimedia IP communications services to be delivered across all member service providers.

The Federation will be developed and managed by XConnect. Terremark do Brasil Ltd., a provider of interconnectivity solutions in Brazil and subsidiary of Terremark Worldwide Inc., will provide Layer 2 private Ethernet connectivity and colocation services to the new federation.

The Brazilian VoIP Peering Federation is the first such national organization worldwide, after Holland, which formed such a union last year.

XConnect is known as a provider of “Plug and PeerL” VoIP federation-based interconnection services dedicated to connecting VoIP operators and enabling rich multi-media end to end IP communication. Headquartered in London with offices and facilities in USA, Europe and Asia, XConnect provides ENUM and peering services to over 300 VoIP operators in more than 20 countries enabling IP calls between VoIP end-users.

Tektronix launches probe

Tektronix, Inc., a provider of communications network management and diagnostics solutions, announced the expansion of its suite of VoIP monitoring solutions to include new active test probes and capabilities that seek to enable service providers and cable companies effective deployment, monitoring and maintenance of VoIP services.

For a claim to uniqueness in the industry, Tektronix puts forth the innovative addition of wideband or high-definition VoIP codec support to active speech quality tests. Providers can now reportedly perform fax-over-IP testing over narrow and wideband codecs from an enterprise site to other sites on-net and off-.

Tektronix is a supplier of test, measurement, and monitoring products for the communications, computer, semiconductor, military/aerospace, consumer electronics, and education industries. Headquartered in Beaverton, Ore., Tektronix has operations in nineteen countries.

Apptix finds Voice

Apptix, provider of unified on-demand product for small- and medium-sized businesses, today introduced Apptix Voice, a new hosted Voice over Internet Protocol solution.

Apptix Voice is initially available through the firm’s MailStreet division and is built on the enterprise-class BroadSoft platform. Apptix Voice is offered through the Software as a Service delivery model. “There are close to 100 million SMBs worldwide today, yet traditional software vendors have largely ignored the critical need for business-class Email, Voice and Collaboration solutions for this segment of the market,” said Amir Hudda, CEO of Apptix, sounding ready to take on the nation of 100 million.

Right now, though, Apptix has 150,000 subscribers across 14,000 organizations. Among features touted in Apptix Voice are:

• voice mail, call forwarding, call transferring, auto attendant and three-way calling;

• mobility support via remote office features;

• a web portal interface for self-configuration and provisioning of voice services;

• corporate voice networking to support multiple locations and free on-network extension dialing; and

• an integrated Outlook toolbar to provide instant access to calling features from Microsoft Outlook. Apptix promises deployment of Apptix Voice in fewer than thirty days – no money-back guarantee or anything there, though. Apptix Voice plans start at $39.99 per month for basic features including voicemail, auto attendant and call forwarding.

Apptix brands include www.ASP-One.com, www.MailStreet.com, and www.Mi8.com, which provide exchange hosting and essential add-on services; also from Apptix is www.SharePointSite.com, which provides hosted SharePoint and related services. The company is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia.

D2, today with E28, tomorrow with R2

D2 Technologies, a provider of software platforms for IP communications and perhaps one day the creator of the famous R2D2 line of droids, today announced that its vPort embedded VoIP engine software has been adopted by open-source fixed mobile convergence device software provider E28 Limited for a new line of dual-mode FMC smart phones.

D2 is demonstrating this dual-mode phone implementation at the Spring VON show in lovely San Jose, Calif. D2’s vPort software platform provides VoIP telephony capabilities such as protocol signaling and soft DSP voice algorithm processing; the supports multiple services, such as SIP-based VoIP, Skype, GoogleTalk, Yahoo! and MSN.

E28’s dual-mode FMC phones are based on the Texas Instruments OMAP product line. E28 Limited is a specialist in providing open-source FMC device software. Headquartered in Shanghai, China, E28 boasts research and development centers in Shanghai and Hong Kong with offices in Hong Kong and Chicago. E28 provides Linux mobile smart information device solutions to mobile manufacturers, operators and network partners.

Two Skype phones for ya

One product getting plenty of hype this week was the DUALphone 3058 from RTX, representing the firm’s second-generation technology of its Skype cordless internet USB phone. RTX first release of Skype-compatible phone in 2004.

The RTX DUALphone 3058 boasts a colour display and speakerphone; the doodad is a cordless USB phone that is connected to a regular telephone socket and works with Skype by using the USB port on a PC.

The DUALphone 3058 will be available at www.skype.com/shop as of April 1. Recommended retail price is €89 (approximately $118.50).

Also generating buzz was Vodafone, fresh off its territorial victory against Vonage, who announced a Skype-friendly cell phone which it “may launch in the future,” in the words of the much-circulated Reuters report.“We have not yet decided if we will launch it, or the commercial terms and prices," Jan Holzberg, manager for the product at Vodafone Group, is quoted as stating.

Tentatively named Starfish, Vodafone showed off the product at the CeBIT trade show last week. Explains the story, in part: “The Starfish software on the mobile phone is essentially the same Skype software which is used by Vodafone's much smaller rival ‘3’...”

And this one had to have come out of press material: “As a market leader, Vodafone needs to defend its market share against rivals.”

Grrrr … get ‘em, tiger!

BT in on VoIP

British Telecommunications plc, more commonly and concisely known as “BT,” closed out its week with the announcement of a launch of a global service that will enable Internet service providers, cable providers and like resellers to deliver flexible voice over IP-based services to subscribers.

The new offering is targeted at global communication providers outside of the UK; the plug for prospective clients (presumably the former members of that great British Empire) is the promise that one may enter the market “to become a communication provider overnight, without the cost and complexity of having to invest in expensive IT and network infrastructure.”

Using a fully redundant globally distributed IP network and a single web-based interface, BT's IP Voice Managed Service promises advanced multi-layered security, including session border controller functionality and VoIP firewall capabilities. BT IP Voice Managed Service is currently available through BT Global Services.

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries, with principal activities in networked IT services; local, national and international telecommunications services; and broadband and internet products and services. In the year ended March 31, 2006, BT Group plc revenue was 19.514 billion pounds Sterling (approximately $37.892 billion).

Pokemon: The “P” in “VoIP”

Gamers are happy today that Nintendo is taking care of their VoIP needs, to be sure.

Nintendo has announced that Pokemon Diamond and Pearl (wait a minute, wasn’t that an album by the Artist Formerly Known as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince?) will ship to the US on April 22 along with a headset designed for VoIPerrific trash talking.

Says Nintendo PR, “This feature is used for online play and allows players who have each other’s friend codes to talk during and after battles using the DS’ built in mic or headset.”

Promises Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications George Harrison: “The amazing wireless and voice chat features of Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl offer gamers something completely new.”

The headset will cost $14.99 and surely threatens to create a generation of VoIP addicts.

Switzerland, Main(Net)ly

MainNet today reported successful deployment of commercial VoIP using its PLUS solutions at Swiss electricity utility company AMB. AMB now offers VoIP and internet services over its existing electric grid to customers in the Ticino region of Switzerland.

Using MainNet’s end-to-end BPL/PLC Plus system allows AMB to offer its WAMBO of internet speeds from 300kb/s to 1600kb/s and WAMBOTEL(VoIP using standard, off-the-shelf VoIP analog telephony adapters]) services at lower prices.

iLight, MainNet’s local partner, integrated and implemented the software at AMB.

How, exactly, is VoIP green?

dFile this one under “a sign of the times.” Wire services everywhere are reporting the newly-introduced VoIP system known as “The Cruise phone” by Junghanns.NET GmbH and ADDIX GmbH and its concomitant motto, “VoIP is green.” Yet, startlingly little information is given regarding precisely what “green” means here…

What we do know is that, as part of the arrangement, Junghanns.NET provides the components for ISDN network acces, while ADDIX provides the configuration user interface and the necessary software.

Additionally, we understand that available are four S0 interfaces, which may be individually configured for internal and external use. The Cruise phone supports more than 40 VoIP accounts, boasting functions including call switching, three-way calling, conference calling, call-waiting, direct dial-in, call through, music on hold, customized day/night settings, and ENUM. Reportedly, fifteen conversations may be held simultaneously over ISDN and VoIP.

Now, that was the basic information as presented, with nothing key regarding the technology left out. But what here is “green”? Envy? Inexperience?

Money?

Maybe it doesn’t translate well from the German…

ADDIX is a German software development company focusing on the software development for IP telephone systems that began producing software development and internet services in 1992.

Berlin-based Junghanns.Net GmbH was founded in 1999 by brothers Jens-Uwe and Klaus Peter Junghanns, who programmed the first CAPI driver. Today, Junghanns.NET GmbH product is employed in over 50,000 telephone systems around the world.

Hello, Alpwise

HelloSoft, Inc. a provider of VoIP software for mobile devices, announced the addition of Alpwise to its sales representative network. Alpwise is an engineering company focused on wireless and technology solutions for embedded products. Alpwise will represent HelloSoft VoIP and IMS with complete “Voice Call Continuity” products throughout France.

HelloSoft is the world’s leading provider of VoIP technologies for wireline and wireless devices. HelloSoft is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. with an R&D facility in Hyderabad. Among HelloSoft customers are Toshiba, Panasonic, NeoMagic and 5V Technologies. HelloSoft partners include Texas Instruments, Intel and Symbian.

Mobile a la a la Mobile

Fancifully-named a la Mobile, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of a complete Voice over IP Linux system stack for WiFi/GSM dual-mode phones. The stack represents the first of the company’s “Made-Ready Series” Linux software offerings for function-centric mobile phones.

a la Mobile’s VoIP Made-Ready Linux Solution promises a pre-integrated full-featured software stack that supports both WiFi and GSM with an integrated SIP-based VoIP client, a browser, Java, Adobe Flash and a core suite of applications including phonetop, media, messaging and email.

a la Mobile seeks to take advantage of a market they see as burgeoning: “Driven by today’s mobile workforce combined with increasing demand for ‘non-stop’ high-speed access, WiFi hot spots are springing up everywhere: in hotels, airports, coffee shops and throughout entire metropolitan cities.”

Along with the stack’s release came statistics from market researchers at Juniper Research forecasting the worldwide Voice-over-WiFi handset market to grow to almost $70 billion by 2012 with the “vast majority” in dual-mode handsets. The handset market, says Juniper, is moving to a stage where no one wants to carry two or three devices in their pocket, so the ability to have a single device for all calls is a compelling proposition.

Founded in 2005, a la Mobile is led by president/CEO high-tech entrepreneur Pauline Lo Alker and is backed by venture capital firm Venrock Associates.

Motorola supplies Vonagers with router

Though legally dissed and left for dead by pundits, Vonage just won’t stay down. Together with Motorola, Vonage yesterday announced the release of a new wireless router known as the VT2542 for users to employ fax, telephone and internet services simultaneously.

Motorola reportedly developed the VT2542 router to “meet the sophisticated needs of Vonage's customers.” The VT2542 enables Voice-over-IP telephony, can support two Vonage lines and includes a 4-port wired and 802.11 b/g wireless access point for home networking.

Features touted in the VT2542 include voice-over-data prioritization; virtual private network (VPN) pass-through support; a secure web-based user interface; and full support of standard Vonage features.

Vonage is so pumped about the new – and presumably patented product-free – device that you can order it on the Vonage homepage and snag a $40 instant rebate off the $99.99 retail price.

Vonage also announced a reduction in its international rates; calling Argentina, Australia, China, Mexico, Singapore, Israel, Poland and Sweden is now an even 1 cent per minute, whereas previous charges were as high as 10 cents per minute.

Oracle on VoIP

Typically, Oracle makes the industry news for gobbling up another smaller firm or for announcing a new record-breaking sales figure, but today The Big Company’s got the industry abuzz with … the results of a global Communications industry survey?

On VoIP?

No joke. Conducted on behalf of Oracle by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a study revealed such interesting findings as:

• Over 80 percent of industry executives believe that voice calls will no longer make up the primary revenue source for communications carriers within six years.

• Over 50 percent of the senior executives polled believe this will happen within the next four years.

• Worldwide, executives believe that new online Voice over IP services (and here press releases on the matter typically single out Skype), are “the greatest threat to the fixed line revenues,” with 68 percent of respondents identifying VoIP operators as the primary cause of declining revenues.

• 72 percent of executives believe that introducing new services is the most effective strategy to counter falling voice revenue.

• 65 percent of respondents labelled bundled triple-play offerings as “important or critical.”

• 51 percent of executives say mergers and acquisitions with mobile operators are strategies they are most likely to pursue in the next two years.

Said Denis McCauley, Director, Global Technology Research with the Economist Intelligence Unit: “Our survey results illustrate a sense of urgency for fixed-line and wireless service providers to deliver new services for their customers in order to remain competitive.”

For the survey, the Economist Intelligence Unit polled 115 telecommunications industry executives from around the world in September 2006. The survey covered 36 countries in three regions; 38 percent of respondents were based in Europe, 28 percent in North America and 28 percent in the Asia Pacific region.

Among survey respondents, 32 percent were fixed line or integrated fixed-mobile network operators, with the remainder consisting mainly of mobile operators, equipment manufacturers, software operators and cable operators. The survey sample was also senior, as 45 percent of respondents were C-level executives such as CEOs, CFOs and CIOs, and the remainder heads of business units and other senior managers.

Super!

Super Technologies, Inc. (Wow, great name there! We’ll give it a 9.1 on the Swell Names Ten-Point Scale) announces the DIDX global DID exchange has surpassed a couple of super benchmarks: 5000 ITSP member and 17 million VOIP phone numbers.

DIDX is a global number exchange and peering marketplace that promises to “empower any telecom service provider with the opportunities to buy, sell and or exchange VoIP-powered DID phone numbers with other service providers such as SipPhone, Global Crossing, Verizon, XO, Gizmo Project, GroovyTel, and SuperPhone.”

(GroovyTel. Whoa. 9.4 at least.)

Specifically, DIDX powers companies that wish to offer VoIP Trunking services and the members of DIDX are global Internet Telephony Service Providers from over 200 nations selling DID numbers from over 60 countries.

"Five thousand members with over 17 Million Numbers Listed within 15 months of the beta release is a phenomenal growth for us and a huge challenge for us, but we meet it with zeal,” said Super Technologies CTO Rehan Ahmed. Well, that’s just super.

Rauland-Borg studies in schools

Rauland-Borg, a provider of communications and media management product for K-12 schools, has announced completion an informal survey among its distributor network. The survey emphasizes “the effects of structured data cabling architectures on the costs and installation of school communications systems.”

Rauland-Borg’s flagship product is Telecenter VoIP touted as “the first Voice over Internet Protocol-based school communications system designed for all the unique needs of the K-12 environment.” Rauland-Borg was founded in the 1930s and Telecenter VoIP was released in 2005.

XO tops among Telecom members

XO Communications PR proudly announced yesterday that the company had been recognized by the indirect channel partner community as the best provider of voice over IP services. To wit, XO received the Members Choice Award for the VoIP service category from the Telecom Association, a professional membership organization of more than 2,000 telecom distributors founded in 1995.

XO took home the trophy from the Spring 2007 Channel Partners Conference & Expo in Las Vegas, where the XO folks hopefully avoided Pacman Jones’ favorite haunts. XO also placed in the top five in the retail carrier and local services categories.

Cantata!

Cantata Technology today announced some twenty additional features, including support for ENUM and load balancing, to be added to its IMG 1010 media and signaling VoIP gateway product. The upgraded version of IMG 1010 is slated for an April public release.

Particularly touted features in the new release will include:

• ENUM support: the IMG 1010 translates phone numbers into SIP addresses and lets SIP users call direct without a PSTN service.

• Load balancing support: a feature Cantata reports is “not available in competitive products,” the IMG 1010 works with load balancers in hopes of providing better distribution of SIP traffic for improved scalability and fault tolerance.

• Enhanced signalling, which adds complete mapping between ISDN and SS7, based on the ITU Q.699 standard, and CAS support for more connectivity options with worldwide telecom operators.

• Three more industry standard MIBs to allow more centralized configuration and monitoring in a network operation center.

• For prepaid applications, accepts messages from the Radius server for call duration and call redirection services, for faster processing of prepaid user agreements at the edge of the network.

The IMG 1010 is proclaimed to offer “the widest range of network interfaces in a compact, high density 1U package” and in its present form is currently employed by over 55 carriers in 20 countries.

Cantata Technology was established in 2006 through the combination of Brooktrout Technology and Excel Switching Corporation, provides enabling communications hardware and software for IP-based communications applications. Cantata is headquartered in Needham, Mass.

Verdict on Vonage verdict

The fallout begins the fall after the in-court nuking of Vonage last week.

Over at Computer Business Review online, Ovum vice president of the US enterprise practice Jan Dawson reckons the court’s decision should have far-reaching effects in statement to Rik Turner in the nicely alliterative “Ovum sees ripple effect of Verizon/Vonage VoIP verdict.”

Dawson echoes those figuring Vonage has reaching the end of its lifeline by stating that “Verizon is asking for an injunction which will effectively close Vonage down.” If this happens, argues Dawson, “it would affect any other VoIP provider that has the same technology,” particularly since Vonage is the single largest VoIP specialist in the American market.

Dawson and Turner essentially offer a warning to 8x8 and SunRocket, the next-largest American standalone VoIP providers: These could be next in the sights of Verizon.

In the Vonage case, the federal court jury ruled that Vonage had infringed upon three patents owned by Verizon Communications, resulting in a fine of $58 million plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future sales levied on Vonage. Verizon had been suing for $197 million and a 19 percent in royalties.

The next hearing on the case takes place on March 23, and Vonage will surely appeal decisions right to the top of the court system or the bottom of the petty-cash drawer, but the clock seems to be ticking…

“Ovum sees ripple effect of Verizon/Vonage VoIP verdict” by Rik Turner can be read in full at the Computer Business Review online homepage.

IDC on SaaS for SMBs

A new survey by advisory firm IDC provides some assistance for those wishing to hock SaaS offerings to the SMB world. At the heart of “The Adoption of Software as a Service in Small and Medium-Sized Businesses: Perception Versus Reality” is the finding that “interest in specific solutions, rather than the appeal of SaaS in general, will be driving SMB adoption.”

Merle Sander, senior research analyst for the IDC SMB markets program, stated that “SaaS is intuitively appealing as a method of software delivery to small- and medium-sized businesses, but they have not been adopting SaaS as quickly as originally anticipated, even though the reality of their move to SaaS is greater than their perception.”

Among key findings revealed by the study are the following.

• 5.1 percent of PC-owning small firms and 15.2% of PC-owning medium-sized firms planning to move forward with a SaaS solution within the next twelve months.

• The ability to pay for capabilities as needed is the main factor encouraging small businesses to use SaaS. For medium-sized businesses, adding new users without difficulty and easing the workload of IT staff are cited as “nearly as important.”

• Concern about data security is the factor most frequently cited as discouraging the use of SaaS among firms of most sizes.

• Small businesses are most interested in adding CRM and software to handle remote access from other locations, while medium-sized businesses are most likely to move to the online delivery of payroll and HR applications.

“The Adoption of Software…” is based on results from a poll of 614 small businesses and 418 medium-sized businesses perfomed by IDC in 2007. The survey can be purchased by calling IDC at 508-988-7988 or by emailing sales@idc.com.

The Week in Bangladesh VoIP

It was a busy workweek in the troubled land of Bangladesh and its VoIP industry once again. A quick rundown of the major news events, then…

On Monday, the country’s Daily Star newspaper reported that the specially-formed committee designed to plan long-promised VoIP service in the country had spoken, submitting recommendations last Sunday to allow “licence to all operators, including the providers of mobile, land phone and internet services.”

Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board general manager Lt. Col. Zia Safdar reported on that day that the committee had provided four common platforms for overseas telephony gateways. Additionally, the Star wrote that “As short-term measures to overcome the country's current crisis in overseas telecommunications, the committee suggested continuing VoIP operation through existing data transmission gateway of the BTTB submarine cable network.”

A further suggestion featured “enhancing the BTTB international telephone circuit capacity by introducing 3,000 more circuits in addition to the existing 11,000 circuits within shortest possible time and another 24,000 within next three months to ease the current international call congestions.”

Finally, the committee “also suggested identifying and punishing operators involved in illegal VoIP business for the last few years.”

The “Unheard Voices” blog by Dristipat, an internet-based activist organization of the expatriate Bangladeshis, optimistically labeled the news “A VoIP Victory” as “If the Bangladesh government listens to the recommendations provided by the seven-member committee, all operators (mobile, land line and internet service providers) will soon be able use VoIP as call terminators.”

Of course, responses to the entry showed how much confidence Unheard Voices readers have in the shady government actually going along with the recommendation…

Predictably, the government apparently took the recommendation regarding punishment of illegal VoIP providers seriously, as the Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission got right to work, “set to investigate the matter of evading millions of Taka by several organized rackets in Voice Over Internet protocol business,” with an illegal ring led by notorious Helal Khan which has “cashed fabulous amount of money by deceiving country’s telecommunication company.”

Unfortunately for those losing the fabulous money, the Weekly Blitz reports that “smelling possible conviction, Helal Khan fled to United States a couple of weeks back to avert legal consequences. Although he has virtually absconded, some unscrupulous people like Sirajul Islam (Siraj), Swajan Chowdhury and Mahbubul Alam Khan are running several illegal VOIP exchange and other businesses of Khan in disguise.”

Allegedly, a warrant for Khan’s arrest will be issued early this coming week and the Weekly Blitz itself claims that Khan once assaulted a Blitz reporter.

According to the paper (with surely no axe to grind), “Helal Khan resides in New York City in an area mostly populated with Bangla speaking people. Although he tries to be known as a member of Bangladesh’s show biz, neighborhood of Khan considers him to be a fraud with criminal connections.”

The new (or rather novo) Avaya

Lenovo and Avaya representatives announced plans to collaborate on IP and unified communications solutions. Lenovo and Avaya will work together to “enhance the IP communications experience on ThinkPad notebooks.”

The joint production seeks to enable Lenovo’s integrated fingerprint reader and Password Manager technologies to support Avaya’s IP Softphone solution to boost user authentication with a swipe of a finger, ultimately transforming “the keyboard illumination function into a visual alert to check voice mail.”

Integration between Avaya’s industry-leading IP communications software and Lenovo’s ThinkLight located on the top of the screen bezel was demonstrated this week at VoiceCon.

The first version of the Avaya unified communications solution for ThinkPad notebooks is planned for the third quarter of 2007.

Massive rollout by Shell

Oil behemoth Royal Dutch Shell has announced plans to perform one massive international rollout of VoIP featuring “tens of thousands of IP phones” and a mostly Microsoft-based server platform.

Shell will be testing Office Communications Server 2007, Windows Vista, along with Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007, and plans to roll the platforms into production by early 2008. Shell currently has Nortel’s Communication Server 1000 IP PBX running in its data centers, which host around 1,000 IP phones worldwide.

When the Microsoft infrastructure is in place, Shell will switch employees to Office Communicator softphone clients and/or Nortel IP hard phones. The implementation represents consolidation of hundreds of PBX systems spread over 110 countries into a single VoIP infrastructure. The Microsoft servers will be hosted in the United States, the Netherlands and Malaysia.

In a telling quote, ComputerWorld online has a company spokesperson for Royal Dutch Shell stating that “Five years ago, an office could have said we’re not using Nortel or Alcatel or Siemens. That option is gone; it needs to be that way because a global company cannot afford to have a global infrastructure that is not the same.”

Voipocity?

Hosted VoIP services provider Vocalocity has announced a partnership with VoIPSupply.com, an online retailer of voice over IP hardware and software components, in a teamup designed to “showcase Vocalocity’s Hosted PBX product.”

Specifically speaking, VoipSupply.com buyers are offered 500 minutes of VocalocityPBX service with the purchase of one of the recommended IP phones at VoipSupply.com. Vocalocity PR actually seems to be hoping for some kind of addiction to result, stating that the point is to get testers of the service “hooked and ultimately convert into long-term Vocalocity customers.”

Six models of phones potentially carrying Vocalocity are sold on VoipSupply.com including a group of Polycoms and Aastras, ranging in price from $134.95 to $299.95. Vocalocity plans to expand this group of recommended phones in the future.

Vonage loses in court, spins PR, promises no break in service

Well, it’s official. By dint of rule of law, Vonage has illegally – though not willfully – infringed upon three patents owned by Verizon Communications. A jury in a federal court yesterday ruled that internet phone provider Vonage Holdings is to pay $58 million plus 5.5 percent in royalties on future sales. Vonage had been suing for $197 million and a 19 percent in royalties.

When the case hit the home stretch in late February, most media outlets foresaw doom for Vonage, covering the story with headlines like “Vonage fate hangs on lawsuit verdict” and “A struggling Vonage goes to court this week…” Now, it appears the plot may be dug for Vonage.

The lawsuit was originally filed back in June 2006, with Verizon suing Vonage for patent infringement, alleging that Vonage is using some seven Verizon-owned patents in its VoIP technology. Filed in a U.S. district court in Virginia, the claim had it that Vonage “infringed on patents held by Verizon that given technology for completing phone calls between VoIP users and traditional phone services used by people, validating VoIP callers accounts, fraud protection, using Wi-Fi handsets with VoIP services and monitor VoIP caller use.”

Vonage stock has been on a decline virtually ever since its release onto the stock market. Fourth-quarter 2006 earnings figures were “highlighted” by reported expectations of a $170 million loss in 2007. (Incredibly, this negative figure was presented despite a reported 90.7 percent increase in net sales in the quarter and an increase in revenue per line.)

That plummeting trend naturally continued in light of the verdict, with the Reuters wire story on the jury’s decision reporting that “Shares of Vonage shed nearly 4 percent after the verdict to $4.86 in regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange before dipping another 4 percent to $4.67 in extended trading.” In fact, just to hammer the nail in a bit deeper, Reuters’ piece concludes with “Vonage … ranks as the worst-performing IPO in the past 15 months, according to analysts.”

Meanwhile, in an absolutely brilliant example of How Spin Works, company PR gutsily proclaimed “Vonage Vindicated on Four of Seven Patents.” Read the world’s tersest press release ever (My word count clocks it at 129 words, making it less than half the length of the Gettysburg Address): “We are delighted that the jury rejected Verizon's meritless claim that we infringed their two billing patents. Of the seven patents Verizon originally sued on, (sic) they prevailed on only three and we expect that verdict to be reversed on appeal. The jury's damage award represents a 70% reduction from Verizon's $197 million claim. The jury also unanimously rejected Verizon's claim that Vonage willfully infringed its patents.

“In addition, we don't believe there is any basis to support Verizon's request for an injunction and we will have the opportunity to present our position to the trial court shortly. If the trial court does impose an injunction, we will seek an immediate stay from the Federal Court of Appeals. Vonage's customers should see no change to any aspect of their phone service.”

No more details were forthcoming on the subject of service to customers.

And now, for the most predictable closing line ever: Verizon plans to appeal the ruling.

Microsoft targets 100 million for VoIP, announces beta test

Apparently, when a big wig from Microsoft gives a keynote address, the key bit is “key.” Yesterday, it was Microsoft Corp. business division president Jeff Raikes speaking at VoiceCon Spring 2007 who got industry media attention worldwide while discussing the big company’s plans to enter the world of VoIP.

Raikes began with a bold prediction that the average business VoIP product will cost about half of what it does today in three years. Even bolder was Raikes’ prognostication that the same three-year period would have 100 million people gain the capability to make phone calls for Microsoft Office applications. True, 100 million is a nice, big round number; it’s made even bigger by dint of today’s statistics, which show that only some 50 million are currently business VoIP users.

“Software is set to transform business phone systems as profoundly as it has transformed virtually every other form of workplace communication,” Raikes declared. “Over time, the software-based VoIP technology built into Microsoft Office Communications Server and Microsoft Office Communicator will offer so much value and cost savings that it will make the standard telephone look like that old typewriter that’s gathering dust in the stockroom.”

Putting the company’s money where his mouth is, the big announcement came next, with Raikes stating that Microsoft will distribute the public beta-test version of Office Communications Server 2007, Microsoft’s VoIP and unified communications server, and Office Communicator 2007, Microsoft’s unified communications client, later this month.

Customers can register for the public beta version of Office Communications Server and Communicator 2007 and partners can register for the Office Communications Server 2007 interoperability specification at www.microsoft.com/uc.

For Raikes’ webcast on what Microsoft is calling “The Most Important Communications Tool Since Outlook” (Never let it be said that the big boys fear hyperbole), go to the Microsoft homepage.

Televad?

Covad Communications Group, Inc., a provider of integrated voice and data communications, has signed a deal with telecommunications services distributors Telecom Brokerage Inc. The deal was announced today at the Spring 2007 Channel Partners Conference & Expo.

Under terms of the agreement, TBI’s distribution network of over 600 independent dealers can sell Covad’s portfolio of business class DSL, T1, and hosted and non-hosted voice solutions.

TBI was recently named the Telecom Association’s Member Choice as top master agent for the second year in a row.

San Jose, Calif.-headquartered Covad is a provider of integrated voice and data communications. The company offers DSL, Voice Over IP, T1, web hosting, managed security, IP and dial-up, wireless broadband, and bundled voice and data services. Covad broadband services are currently available across America in 44 states and 235 metropolitan statistical areas.

ITWire’d up

Some pretty nice work was published at the Australian edition of ITWire today. (It may have been today, but with Australian time, it’s so hard to tell.)

In the excellently titled “VoIP: the service Optus does not want you to know about,” Stuart Corner does some honest-to-Woodward and Bernstein investigative reporting to get to the bottom of a matter involving a conspiratorial-sounding press release.

Go ahead, check out the press release. It’s called “The VoIP product other telcos don’t want you to know about” and by this computer’s word count runs 365.

And what, the reader may ask, is the product exactly or even more or less?

Well, it’s a “new and groundbreaking Voice over Internet Protocol product” designed for “Small and Medium Business customers.”

But what is it?

It’s “high quality VoIP service” and it’s “innovative” and it “will carry internet, intranet and voice and has the ability to replace the need for large numbers of fixed lines” and “this is the first large scale rollout of this product in Australia.”

Paul Kitchin, managing director of Optus small and medium business, is quoted as saying that “Optus ipPhone Premier has created a way for SMB customers to cut fixed line costs with VoIP without compromising on voice quality.”

Okay. By the way, when’s that product coming out?

Reads the press release: “…during the second quarter of this calendar year.”

So thank the stars for Stuart Corner. Corner explains that “what Optus is offering is a hosted IP telephony service, i.e. PABX-type functionality is provided by equipment within the Optus network rather than by equipment on the customers' premises, and this functionality is accessed by signalling carried as IP packets from phones which send and receive voice as IP packets.”

Corner goes on to dismiss some of the vague claims. Groundbreaking? “Hardly,” he disses . First large-scale rollout of this sort of product in Oz? “Certainly not.”

The writer concludes by pointing out that, “with 14 occurrences of 'VoIP' in a 450 word press release and little hard information, Optus seemed to be doing its best to add to this market hype.”

Good stuff over at ITWire; Kudos to Corners.

Time Warner gets OK from FCC

Score one for Time Warner Cable and other internet telephony wholesalers: The Federal Communications Commission, in the matter of Time Warner Cable Request for Declaratory Ruling that Competitive Local Exchange Carriers May Obtain Interconnection Under Section 251 of the Communications Act of 1934, as Amended, to Provide Wholesale Telecommunications Services to VoIP Providers, a.k.a. WC Docket No. 06-55 (and you wonder why federal court decisions take so long), declared that the Nebraska and South Carolina state regulations boards misinterpreted extant federal law in preventing Time Warner from introducing VoIP service in those states.

Information Week online quoted FCC chairman Kevin J. Martin as describing the decision in most positive terms: “By increasing competition in the telephone sector, this action encourages the deployment of broadband facilities and ensures that consumers in all areas of the country reap the benefits of competition in the form of lower prices, innovative services and more choice.”

Exactly one year before the final decision – March 1, 2006 – Time Warner Cable requested the FCC to “declare that wholesale telecommunications carriers are entitled to interconnect and exchange traffic with incumbent local exchange carriers when providing services to other service providers.”

Trade associations argued to the FCC that finding in favor of Time Warner Cable would create an “unequal regulatory structure” in which VoIP providers have an unfair advantage over telecoms, but VoIP industry voices pretty much unanimously applauded the ruling.

Read one opinion over at the classic Geek.com: “The great thing about this order is that it clears up any confusion regarding whether VoIP services are also protected in the Communication Act of 1934. It also paves the way for VoIP services to deploy their services faster without all the red tape. The FCC, after all, has the final say when it comes to interpreting how the Communications Act of 1934 applies here.”

Meanwhile, Broadcast Engineering wrote that “The decision breaks down of one of the last barriers preventing VoIP to fully compete with traditional phone carriers.” ZDNet had VON Coalition stating the ruling was “broadly beneficial to the entire VoIP industry.”

And as far as Australia did industry press record news of the verdict, with Oz’ VoIP News stating that “The decision is seen as a glimmer of hope to Net neutrality advocates as the ruling seems to deny a carrier's right to discriminate by blocking only certain types of traffic - in this instance VoIP traffic.”

Like it or not, VoIP has again become a stronger force in America. More traditional telecoms, it seems, can only hope the future moves a bit more slowly.

The week in the Bangladesh VoIP wars

This writer wishes apologies, faithful My VoIP News readers, for the week-long cone of silence. It was all due to the birth of my daughter Szilvia; pictures and references to come soon, to be sure. After all, between blogging and Phot