Facebook keen to add calling functions following amended FTC complaint
Facebook has reportedly begun testing a version of Messenger that will add voice and video calling to the world’s largest social network.
Facebook has reportedly begun testing a version of Messenger that will add voice and video calling to the world’s largest social network.
BT has produced a handy little win in the US after the General Services Administration (GSA) selected BT Federal as one of the companies to be eligible to propose to provide services.
Arqiva has announced it has secured additional 28GHz spectrum licence from intelligent managed services provider, Luminet.
Disruptive US operator T-Mobile is rolling out its DIGITS mobile phone number portability initiative to all customers following a five-month beta.
The merger of IP comms players Sonus and Genband has been announced, with the aim of creating a network transformation leader.
Operator group Telecom Austria has announced that its domestic subsidiary, A1, has fully migrated its fixed net telephony to VoIP, claiming to be the first to do so in the EU.
European operator Telefonica will retire VoIP service Jajah in January next year. Users will no longer be able to make calls using either the Jajah.com website or the Jajah Direct service as of January 31, 2014.
The number of global OTT mobile VoIP subscribers increased more than 550 per cent during 2012 to reach over 640 million, and is expected to approach the 1 billion mark in 2013, according to Infonetics Research.
The decision by the Korean Communications Commission to allow mobile operators to charge subscribers for accessing mobile voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) services from “over the top” providers, such as Kakao Talk, is a defining moment in the country’s net-neutrality debate.
UK mobile operator O2 is trialling a VoIP technology offering to a to select group of customers/ O2 Connect will allow smartphone users to use voice and text services over wifi networks from their normal mobile number to any UK mobile or landline number.
Internet telephony player Skype, recently acquired by Microsoft, is doing some shopping of its own, entering into an agreement to acquire mobile group messaging provider GroupMe. Founded in 2010 in New York, GroupMe allows users to group text, conference call, and share pictures and location data.
The US telecom industry could be missing out on as much as $16bn in annual revenues by failing to properly address the needs of SMEs, according to research released recently by consultancy Inzenka.
Microsoft has been granted a patent for a technology that will allow it to listen in on web-based communications such as video and voice calls – including those made on its recently acquired Skype service.
Figures from industry body the GSMA reveal that 208 operators in 80 countries are now investing in LTE. But while rollouts aimed at consumers are gaining momentum, a study undertaken by research house mobileSquared indicates that one third of operators have no trials or network deployments underway at the moment.
Microsoft’s bid for Skype has received the go-ahead from American anti-trust regulators, following an “early termination” of a review into the proposed sale. Under America’s Hart-Scott-Rodinho (HSR) Act, certain types of large mergers and acquisitions deals must be submitted for review by the government.
Telstra has announced a £500m+ (AU$800m) investment in cloud computing over the next five years to support what it says is a growing demand from Australian organisations for cloud services. The telco is rumoured to have invested AU$200m in cloud to date and this latest announcement will kick-off the construction of a new data centre, the modernisation of existing facilities, increased automation of utility computing services and the expansion of the telco’s range of enterprise applications, among other things. Construction of a new data centre in Melbourne is already underway.
Telcos and kit makers have responded with indignation to last week’s International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium’s (IMTC) announcement to the effect that it had completed the first ever voice over LTE (VoLTE) test on a live LTE infrastructure. While it’s not quite Elisha Gray vs Alexander Graham Bell, it seems that, when it comes to VoLTE, everybody wants to be a winner
Software giant Microsoft is set to announce the acquisition of VoIP company Skype in an all cash deal said to be worth $8.5bn. Such a move would give Microsoft a greater presence with internet telephony and video calling capabilities.
Healthcare was one of those topics that was high on the agenda in Barcelona last week, with Middle Eastern carrier Qtel joining the throng with its own initiative.
Internet telephony player Skype has agreed to acquire Qik, a US-based mobile video sharing platform, which will give the VoIP firm greater capabilities in the mobile telephony market.