News of the Day

• City of Milwaukee reaches agreement with AT&T
  AT&T forged a franchise-like agreement with the city of Milwaukee that opens the door for the telecom to deliver video services to the area. The agreement has the potential to serve as a model for other communities or for legislation. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (3/16)

Business & Industry Watch

• Ericsson snags enough shares to complete Tandberg buy
  Ericsson said Monday that it had received acceptances for 87.4% of Tandberg Television's shares, which will allow it to complete its buy of Tandberg. Ericsson, a wireless-equipment manufacturer, has said it wants Tandberg's technology to compete in the IPTV field. International Herald Tribune/Associated Press (3/19)

• Sprint tests unlimited offer in San Francisco
  For a flat rate of $120 a month, Sprint Nextel is rolling out a plan that provides unlimited voice, text messages and Internet access in the San Francisco Bay area. The San Francisco launch represents a trial for Sprint, which has not said if it plans to make the offering a permanent part of its service portfolio. The Washington Times/Associated Press (3/19)

• TV, tech companies square off over unused airwaves
  A consortium of companies led by Microsoft and Google would like to take unlicensed and unused TV spectrum, known as "white space," and use it to deliver broadband services. Television broadcasters are opposed, but a prototype device has been submitted to the FCC for testing. Seattle Post-Intelligencer/Associated Press (3/18)

• Viacom wants to weave its own Web
  Viacom, through its network of 44 MTV Network-managed Web sites mostly aimed at young users, has even more at stake than other TV networks in trying to capture ad dollars from online video. This need to keep direct links to users under age 34 is one of the key factors behind its $1 billion copyright-infringement lawsuit against Google unit YouTube, which is trying to capture the same segment of the audience. The New York Times (3/19)

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Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by USTelecom dailyLead readers in the past week.

• AT&T invests in IP network expansion (Network World)

• Cisco Systems buys WebEx for $3.2 billion (Bloomberg)

• FTTP aims to speed entertainment delivery (Houston Chronicle)

• Hawaiian Telecom invests in its network (American City Business Journals)

• FCC commissioners appear before House telecom panel (The Wall Street Journal)

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

Technology Trends

• Study: Telecoms, satellite gain ground in video market
  The cable industry is already losing some ground for basic subscribers to satellite operators, according to the Television Bureau of Advertising's latest analysis of Nielsen Media Research's data. But the big battle is looming on the near horizon as Verizon Communications and AT&T gear up their respective video services. Mediaweek (3/19)

• Q&A: Cisco chief talks technology and leadership
  Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers believes that in order for leaders to be great, they must embrace technology and use it to achieve business goals. Executives need to develop an awareness of technology to identify changes in the market, according to Chambers. USA TODAY (3/19)

• New Hearst building: Wired for wireless
  Media giant Hearst's 46-story, 856,000-square-foot New York building was designed from the beginning for wireless convergence. MobileAccess Networks, of Vienna, Va., installed a distributed antenna system with a central location for the Wi-Fi access points. eWEEK.com (3/18)

• The drama of going from 60 minutes to 60 seconds
  Steven Bochco, creator of hour-long TV dramas like "L.A. Law" and "Hill Street Blues," is among the Hollywood players trying their hands at creating short-form, online video series. Bochco's 44-clip "Cafe Confidential," featuring teens and 20-somethings telling their stories, premieres Monday on video site Metacafe. Los Angeles Times (free registration) (3/19)

• TVA, Motorola test mobile WiMAX in Rio
  Rio de Janeiro will be the testing ground for a mobile WiMAX network developed by Motorola and Brazilian pay TV company TVA. Users will try out mobile TV and video, VoIP, multimedia streaming and data applications. cellular-news (U.K.) (3/19)

• VoIP techs get serious about enforcing patents
  Heartened by the recent court decision that Vonage infringed on Verizon patents, companies with Voice over Internet Protocol patents are guarding their intellectual-property rights. Expect lawsuits from the myriad companies that hold a total of 2,273 VoIP patents. BusinessWeek (3/19)

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Regulatory & Legislative

• Proposal moves telecoms, cable toward parity in Connecticut
  A legislative proposal that cleared Connecticut's House Energy & Telecommunications Committee would let incumbent operators take part in modified state-franchising agreements immediately. Multichannel News (3/16)

LeadQuote

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." --Philo, Egyptian philosopher