New twist in Hutchison Essar takeover tussle
The Essar group, which holds a 33% stake in India's fourth-largest wireless carrier, Hutchison Essar, has offered $11 billion for the rest of the company, The Financial Times reports. The move puts Essar in a three-way contest with Vodafone Group, which values Hutchison Essar between $17 billion and $18 billion, and Reliance Communications, India's No. 2 wireless operator. India is the world's fastest-growing wireless market, and mobile penetration could triple in four years from 12% now, analysts say. Reuters (12/28), Financial Times (12/27), BBC (12/28)  
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Verizon to expand FiOS to apartment market
Verizon Communications plans to make use of a multicustomer optical network terminal to extend FTTP services to multidwelling units in 2007. Alcatel, Motorola and Tellabs are among the ONT suppliers Verizon plans to use to reach small apartment houses and large MDUs in big cities. Telecommunications (12/27)
AT&T embraces three-screen concept
AT&T is integrating its offerings to deliver a more all-encompassing service package that includes IP video, DSL and wireless. Compelling content also is a key component in AT&T's growth strategy. Telecommunications (12/27)
AT&T's brings U-verse to Connecticut: AT&T's U-verse IPTV and broadband service is now available in Hartford, Stamford and other select Connecticut communities. Telephony Online (12/27)
Vodafone to launch mobile-TV service in Spain
Vodafone Group announced plans to make mobile-TV service Digital+ Movile available to its 3G subscriber base in Spain through a deal with Sogecable. The service will feature 10 digital TV channels. Forbes/AFX News (12/27)
Fox to offer downloads of college bowl games
In a first for Fox Sports, the cabler will offer pay-per-view downloads of all five games of the college football Bowl Championship Series. The games, which can be screened in full-length or condensed versions, will be available on sites including Foxsports.com, as well as on Apple's iTunes, Amazon's Unbox and AOL Video. Broadcasting & Cable (12/27)
India's market for telecom equipment set to triple
India's telecom-equipment-manufacturing industry is expected to increase threefold to $100 billion in the next three years, said the president of one industry group. Business Standard (India) (12/28)
Colombia awards WiMAX licenses
Colombia's communications ministry Mincomunicaciones assigned 55 departmental WiMAX licenses, which according to one communications official should help bridge the digital divide in the country. Comcel, a unit of America Movil, received 13, and mobile carrier Avantel received seven. cellular-news (U.K.) (12/27)
UpSnap, Sporting News Radio to launch mobile service
Mobile search and streaming mobile audio provider UpSnap has joined Sporting News Radio to offer on-demand audio sports broadcasts to any handset. Radio Ink (12/28)
Xchange's top technology trends for 2007
Xchange's Bob Wallace predicts what the top seven technology changes for the telecom industry will be in 2007. They include increased Ethernet adoption, optimizing optical networks and VoIP peering. xchange (12/27)
Commentary: Wireline competition for cable is overdue
"Overwhelming empirical evidence shows that consumers would benefit from wireline cable television competition," writes Stephen Pociask, president of The American Consumer Institute in The Wall Street Journal. Wireline-based competition lowered cable TV prices by as much as 27% per channel, the FCC reported last year. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (12/28)
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