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23-Sep-99: “Free Web Services Challenge AOLs Dominance” – Internet business analysts generally are not yet convinced of the viability of the free web service business model for bring profitable. None-the-less, most agree that the free access will probably take a significant chunk of AOLs market share before running out of investors money. 2. 23-Sep-99: “Visitalk.com Builds White Pages for Web Phone Calls” – Visitalk.com has unveiled plans to simplify the routing of phone calls over the Internet. They will provide a directory service which will provide subscribers with a unique 12 digit Internet phone number.
The directory will capture users current IP address and update their database, serving as a switchboard for Internet phone calls which are routed over IP. This solves a major problem with the fact that IP addresses change for users as they move from computer to computer. 3. 23-Sep-99: “Cisco to But Software Maker for $325 Million” Cisco Systems agreed to acquire WebLine Communications, a software maker producing e-mail routing and collaborating software.
WebLine is to be assimilated into Ciscos Applications Technology Group. This was Ciscos 12th acquisition this year. 4. 24-Sep-99: “Firm Agrees to Purchase Cable-Modem Technology” Intel agreed to purchase the cable modem technology of Stanford Telecommunications, Inc. The deal puts Intel face to face in the marketplace with Broadcom Corp., which currently holds the majority market share for cable modem chips. 5.
24-Sep-99: “Qualcomm Pact Targets Wireless Network Products” Lucent Technologies signed a development agreement with Qualcomm to product wireless networking equipment. Qualcomm will give its CDMA technology, including chips and software to Lucent. Lucent plans to have trial systems utilizing the technology in place next year. 6. 24-Sep-99: “MCI Worldcom, Sprint Ponder Merger” The worlds second and third largest long-distance carriers are in talks are in talks over a possible merger. The deal would give MCI its only nationwide wireless network.
An obvious stumbling block over such a large telcom merger would be close scrutiny by regulators. It is also expected that regional Bell companies may soon have permission to compete in the long distance market as well. 7. 24-Sep-99: “Earthlink and MindSpring to Merge, Forming No. 2 Internet Access Firm” This deal makes the new Internet Provider second only to AOL.
The combined company will have 3 million subscribers, still a far cry from AOLs 18 million, but none-the-less a viable competitor. 8. 27-Sep-99: “Teledesic Sky Internet May Start Sooner” Teledesic chief Craig McCaw is attempting to raise funds for his planned Sky Internet. However, McCaw has also been exploring partnerships with other wireless providers including Motorola, Spaceway, and Hughes electronics, to implement a smaller scale version of their planned system to prove viability. 9.
27-Sep-99: “Microsoft Corp. Agrees to Invest In Net Start-Up” Microsoft agreed to invest $15 million in Akamai Technologies Inc. Akamai provides services which focus on speeding the downloading of web pages. As part of this agreement, Akamai will develop a version of its software to run on Windows NT, as opposed to its current Unix based versions.
10. 28-Sep-99: “Maker of Voice Software for the Web Is Acquired” Mpath Interactive Inc. acquired Resounding Technology to strengthen its position as a provider of Internet voice software. Resounding Technologies Roger Wilco software had been very successful in providing Internet voice chat.
11. 4-Oct-99: “BellSouth Makes Bid to Acquire Sprint” BellSouth made a bid to purchase wireless provider Sprint as Sprint & WorldCom came closer to closing their deal. Spring is expected to go with the WorldCom offer, even though the BellSouth offer if more lucrative. Regardless, either acquisition would face regulatory issues. 12.
4-Oct-99: “Paul Allen is Investing $1.65 Billion In Telecommunications Firm RCN Corp.” RCN is planning to use the investment to speed development of its high-speed fiber optic network. RCN is one of several companies known as competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) trying to take a share of the local telephone business. 13. 5-Oct-99: “Big Landlords Are Joining Telecom Fray” Eight of the largest office space landlords are joining venture capitalist Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Bryers to form a new company, Broadband Office. The company is to provide high speed Internet access to it tenants. 14.
6-Oct-99: “Novell Plans to Create Repository for Information on Internet Users” Novell brought online its new service called Digitalme, aimed at providing a personal data repository. This was a move to compete with Microsofts recently unveiled Passport service. This was Novells first venture into Internet based services, as the company is known for network management software. 15.
7-Oct-99: “AT&Ts Top Cable Executive Resigns Amid Internet-Access Fracas” After making public statements denying that AT&T had been in secret talks with AOL, Leo Hindery resigned as AT&Ts top cable & Internet executive. This was in response to the fact that AT&T had, in fact, been talking privately with AOL, and had not told Hindery. 16. 11-Oct-99: “Thats a WAP; How the Cell Phone and Web Contracted an Arranged Marriage” A new technology known as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is spreading fast. The technology allows web based components to be brought to cell phones.
Motorola estimates that half of the estimated 200 million cell phones manufactured next year will be shipped with WAP enabled browsers. 17. 11-Oct-99: “Global Crossing Strikes Deal With Racal” Global Crossing added another company to its portfolio to strengthen its international undersea & land-based networks to handle growing Internet traffic. This is an indication that Europe will be the site of the next major telco rivalries, as acquisition gives Global Crossing an additional 7,300 kilometers of fiber-optic networks in Europe. 18. 12-Oct-99: “AT&T, BT to Accelerate Expansion of Global Venture” AT&T & British Telecoms joint venture, Concert, has announced plans to expand its frame relay service by 50-60% by early next year.
This venture is structured differently than previously failed joint telecom ventures. Concert will own nearly all the switching and networking hardware, as opposed to relying on alliances for managing customer service. 19. 12-Oct-99: “Norfolk Southern Forms Unit to Aid Telecom Ventures” Norfolk Southern Corp. announced it has formed a unit to develop fiber-optic and microwave systems.
The company said it will market its 21,600 miles of right-of ways for use by telecom companies. This would relieve the telecom developers of the high cost of easements required for network development. 20. 12-Oct-99: “Five Firms Seek to Develop Security Standard for PCs” Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel & Microsoft have announced plans to form a group to standardize security for PCs. The new group will be called Trusted Computed Platform Alliance, and will embrace input from other companies.
They plan to have a proposal for a security specification by late 2000 to be licensed openly. 21. 18-Oct-99: “Dragging Bill Payers Onto the Internet Envelope by Envelope” Paytrust, an Internet startup, is trying to transform the way consumers pay bills. The Yankee Group, a technology consumer group estimates that 4.5% of households paid bills online last year.
22. 18-Oct-99: “In a Race to the Web, Phone Upstarts Grab Turf” Covad Communications Group has announced plans to provide local telephone service in addition to DSL service. The regional bells now dwarf new entrants into the local phone service market by 80%. 23. 19-Oct-99: “Nortel Networks to Acquire Clarify in $2.1 Billion Stock Transaction” Nortel Networks, seeking to expand its customer management business bought software make Clarify. Nortel, who primarily provides equipment & software for networks, says the move was designed to allow businesses to increase personalized transactions on the Internet.
24. 21-Oct-99: “Double Trouble: AT&T Corp. Might Want to Think About Setting Its Fight With ISPs” George W. Bush stated that if he is elected, he would urge AT&T to open its cable plants openly. Bushs stated choice for his Secretary of State, Colin Powell, is on AOLs board, and a close friend of AOLs chief Steve Case. 25.
21-Oct-99: “Intuit to Integrate Web Links Into Small Business Software” Intuit said it will be paid fees by web sites providing business-to-business services to be included in its QuickBooks product. This move was to consolidate small business services as part of its offering. Intuit currently dominates the market for small-business financial software. 26. 21-Oct-99: “IBeams Desnoes is Betting on Use of Satellites To Transmit Audio and Video Over the Internet” IBeam is building a $250 million network that bundles media traffic & feeds it to a satellite link to ISPs.
This method allows faster population of ISP servers when a high demand event such as a concert or breaking news story. It will allow IBeam to cut the prices charged to media companies by half and improving the quality of audio & video delivered over the Internet. 27. 25-Oct-99: “AT&Ts Plans for Cable Deals Suffer Setbacks” Since AT&T announced negotiations with Time-Warner, plans for deals with other major cable players have slowed, as the other companies wait to see the terms of the Time-Warner deal. AT&T is betting that it will once again provide local phone service along with high-speed Internet access.
AT&T has also already began talks with AOL & Mindspring for providing Internet content. 28. 25-Oct-99: “Europe is Next Frontier for U.S. Telecom Deals” As the major players become consolidated in the U.S., the next telecom deals are likely to be in the European arena in the form of major acquisitions. Major telecom players want to be able to provide “one-stop shopping” for their major corporate customers and their global telecommunications needs.
Major targets in Europe include Mannesmann AG, and Deutsche Telekom. 29. 27-Oct-99: “Nortel Tops Forecasts as Net Rises 61%, Raises Revenue Expectations for 2000” Fueled by sales to telephone and Internet service providers, Nortel Networks Corp. topped analysts estimates, with a 61% increase in earnings over last quarter.
Nortel said it growth of fiber-optic networks was particularly strong. 30. 27-Oct-99: “Microsoft Says Its Windows 2000 System Wont Reach Customers Until Next Year” Microsoft formally announced the release date for its high end business computing environment, Windows 2000, has slipped to Feb. 17, 2000. Windows 2000 is intended to compete head-to-head with large Unix based Internet servers. Microsofts competitors, most notably Sun Microsystems, says Windows 2000 wont come close to the capabilities of Unix.
31. 1-Nov-99: “McCaw to Invest As Much As $1.2 Billion To Get ICO Global Out of Bankruptcy” Cellular phone magnate Craig McCaw will invest as much as $1.2 billion in ICO Global Communications Ltd. to rescue the satellite phone system vendor out of bankruptcy. This is one of several recent investments in satellite based networks by McCaw. The company hopes to emerge from bankruptcy and begin providing phone service by mid 2001.
32. 1-Nov-99: “Nextel Eager to Buy NextWave Spectrum” Nextel has announced that it will pay $6 billion for radio spectrum that was bought by auction from the government in 1996 for $4.7 billion by NextWave Personal Communications. The deal is at a stand-still, though, as NextWave is currently in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Furthermore, the sale would require the FCC to rule on several related regulatory issues. 33. 1-Nov-99: “AT&T Is Blocked In Plan to Raise Monthly Fee 50%” The FCC temporarily halted AT&Ts plan to raise its monthly fee charged to residential consumers by 50%, as it investigates the carriers pricing policies.
Sprint raised its fees recently by 18%, while MCI stated it plans to keep its rate constant. 34. 1-Nov-99: “Tellabs Inc. Buys Software Assets” Tellabs agreed to pay $35 million for some specific proprietary digital signal processing software from DSP Software Engineering, Inc.
Tellabs, a maker of telecommunications hardware, plans to integrate the software into its next generation switching system. 35. 4-Nov-99: “Simon to Sell Net Services to Link Mall Tenants” Simon Property Group, the largest owner of shopping malls in the U.S. announced plans to provide high speed Internet access to its mall tenants. This is the second such move by mall landlords to provide telecom services. The company has created a subsidiary called TennantConnect.Net.
36. 8-Nov-99: “Web Access Via Cell Phones Is Expected To Be Introduced” Bell Atlantic Corp. announced plans to introduce web access for cell phones and other wireless devices. Users will need a special wireless phone which starts at $120. Bell Atlantics move was in the wake of similar recent announcements by Sprint & Vodafone Airtouch PLC.
37. 9-Nov-99: “Arch Sets Stock Deal for Larger PageNet As Firms Seek to Turn Page on Debt Woes” Arch Communications Group, the second largest paging service, agreed to purchase PageNet. The paging industry has faced troubles lately from wireless telephone players, which can easily provide paging services in addition to telephony services. 38.
11-Nov-99: “Information Appliances to Nudge PCs at Comdex Show” Information appliance makers including Motorola, Cidco & Boundless will be introducing numerous information appliances at the Comdex show. Boundless will be presenting a tablet device with the sole purpose is accessing the Internet & e-mail. Motorola will be unveiling a pager with Internet & e-mail access, while Cidco offers a device for handling e-mails only at a very low cost of $99. 39. 11-Nov-99: “RCN Investment Casts Paul Allen As Industry Turncoat” Paul Allen recently invested in “RCN Corp., a company which specializes in building competing cable and communications networks. RCN enraged Cablevision by teaming up with a local electric utility to avoid the expense of constructing a competing cable network.
Allen currently owns stakes in cable, Internet and phone service providers, poising himself as a communicati …
