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Morning Broadband Bytes
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Around the Industry:

UK broadband ISP sees increased revenue from bandwidth hog witch hunt

Verizon cuts rates for TV, phone, DSL in response to Cablevision speed hike

MashBoxx to drive Grokster legal

US company hopes to block Skype in China

First European Super 3G network launched

Paris gets 20 Mbps triple play FTTH starting at 49 EUR

SecurityBits:

eEye spots more unpatched flaws in QuickTime

Critical Windows patch fights takeover attacks

Mobile Trojan distributes pirate anti-virus software

TidBytes:

Apple gearing up for OS war

AMD overtakes Intel in U.S. retail sales

Costs, culture or communism? Why governments choose open source

More news from around the industry, SecurityBits, and interesting Tidbytes inside!... .

Around The Industry:

UK broadband ISP sees increased revenue from bandwidth hog witch hunt:

UK broadband provider PlusNet's tight rein on its network and its willingness to curtail the activities of broadband hogs has contributed to increased revenues: "PlusNet is confident that its leading-edge products combined with an effective approach to heavy user management mean that it enjoys lower customer churn than its competitors."

Verizon cuts rates for TV, phone, DSL in response to Cablevision speed hike:

Facing threats from Internet and cable-based phone plans, Verizon announced cheaper calling plans and packages that combine TV, phone and DSL. The new plans are available in eight East Coast states and the District of Columbia. In Delaware, the monthly costs vary from $34.95 for an unlimited calling plan to $84.89 for phone, entry-level DSL service and satTV.

MashBoxx to drive Grokster legal:

One day after Grokster announced a settlement with the recording industry and pulled the plug on its P2P network, sources confirmed that its assets have been purchased by MashBoxx. MashBoxx will buy out all the remaining holdings of Grokster, including its directory of registered users, and fold the file-sharing network's operations into its soon-to-be-launched P2P download service.

US company hopes to block Skype in China:

A Chinese telecomms operator has begun a paid trial of Verso's NetSpective M-Class filter, a product that is designed to block VoIP calls made using Skype, as well as other P2P apps, Verso said in a statement. If the paid trial now underway in one Chinese city goes well, the operator will purchase the NetSpective M-Class application filter before the end of the year, it said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

First European Super 3G network launched:Manx Telecom, a wholly-owned subsidiary of O2, has formally launched what it claims is the first commercial HSDPA network in Europe. Based on the Isle of Man, the network supports downloads at up to 1.4Mbps with incremental upgrades expected to raise this to 10Mbps by 2008. "This is the first super 3G network" said O2's CTO, "It's the 3G everybody wanted."

Paris gets 20 Mbps triple play FTTH starting at 49 EUR:

MuniWireless reports Citéfibre has begun offering triple play service in Paris for 49 EUR/month (basic) and 59 EUR/month (premium). The basic service includes Internet access (20 Mbps symmetrical), VOIP, and TV. The premium service provides more TV channels and video on demand. Amsterdam’s FTTH project announcement looks pathetic compared to what’s happening in Paris.

All go for giant comms satellite:

Inmarsat-4 F2, one of the largest and most powerful communications satellites ever built, has succesfully launched from a floating pad in the Pacific. Inmarsat-4 F2 is designed to improve broadband and 3G communications, principally in the Americas. It is the second in a planned two-satellite constellation.

Vietnam opens satellite broadband gateway:

Vietnam opened its first satellite-linked ground station to help bring telephone and Internet services to each village by the end of this year, officials said. The $7 million iPSTAR gateway station would help reduce costs and provide more services. "This project is not aimed at commercial purposes as we want to narrow the digital gap between rural and urban areas."

Wanadoo LLU live in Leeds:

Wanadoo is now a fully fledged LLU operator after it flicked the switch in 15 exchanges in Leeds. The move means that anyone signing up to the Wanadoo service in Leeds - which was originally used to test the ISP's unbundled broadband service - will be able to get download speeds of up to 8 meg. Existing Wanadoo customers are due to be migrated to the unbundled service over the next couple of weeks.

Broadband: Crisis in the Bush:

Australia's 3rd-largest ISP iiNet retreated from providing broadband services to the bush, laying the blame on Telstra, but the latter says it's essentially the ACCC's fault. Several of the nation's largest broadband sellers said they had no intention of imitating competitor iiNet and suspending the sale of services to new customers in regional markets, although Telstra's wholesale pricing remains a worry.

Easynet ISP cranks broadband to 22 meg:UK Online - the broadband ISP owned by LLU operator Easynet - has cranked up the speed of its broadband service to 22 meg. From today, customers living in urban areas and connected to a BT exchange unbundled by Easynet can now tap into the ISP's ADSL2+ network. As ever with these things, the speed on offer depends on various things including line length and quality.

Optus backs down on ADSL speed claims:

Customers migrating to Optus' new ADSL infrastructure will be limited to speeds of 1.5Mbps, according to the company's Web site, although much higher speeds had previously been advertised. Optus has also recently contacted existing customers which it had planned to move onto the new infrastructure, making them aware of the newly downgraded speeds.

SecurityBits:

eEye spots more unpatched flaws in QuickTime:Just weeks after Apple released a fix for three gaping security holes in QuickTime, researchers at eEye Digital Security warned in a brief advisory that default installations of the QuickTime 7.0.3, the newest version, are vulnerable. A spokesman for Apple declined comment on the eEye advisory.

Critical Windows patch fights takeover attacks:

Three image-rendering flaws in Windows could put users at risk of PC takeover attacks, MS warned. The bugs are considered particularly dangerous because users could be at risk by merely browsing to a site with rigged image files, or by displaying images in the preview pane of an e-mail program. MS tagged the update as "critical," its highest severity, and urges users to download and apply the patches immediately.

Mobile Trojan distributes pirate anti-virus software:

A Trojan discovered on Tuesday includes a fully working but pirate copy of an AV app called ExoVirusStop by exoSyphen Studios. The latest version of Doomboot, which attacks the Symbian platform, is the first to contain a fully working copy of an AV app, according to a virus researcher at F-Secure.

Spammer tries to push delete on spamming past:

Jerry Reynolds was one of the biggest spammers on the Internet in the mid- to late 90s, and now he's trying to excise any trace of that past off the Internet. Reynolds is using cease and desist orders and lawsuits to try to stifle the two guys that outed him and erase the past. Spammers have been retaliating against anti-spammers through the courts for some time, and their efforts haven't been particularly successful.

Hardware, Software, and other TidBytes:

Apple gearing up for OS war

AMD overtakes Intel in U.S. retail sales

Costs, culture or communism? Why governments choose open source

Dutch Botnet Trio Reportedly Connected To Russian Mob

U.S. wireless carriers take aim at adult content

Sony to end PlayStation game region-coding?

Nikon recalls SLR batteries that may catch fire

RIM runs into China security syndrome

Most recommended from 10 comments



FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

2 recommendations

FFH5

Premium Member

Paris FTTH: Is it fireproof fiber??

»muniwireless.com/applica ··· ions/911
Citéfibre has begun offering triple play service in Paris (starting with the 15th arrondissement) for 49 EUR per month (basic) and 59 EUR per month (premium). The basic service includes Internet access (20 Mbps symmetrical), VOIP, and television. The premium service provides more TV channels and video on demand.
I just want to know one thing. Is the the new FTTH installations fire resistant? Otherwise they can forget installing it in most of the Paris suburbs.;)