Colin C. Haley

America Online (AOL) is making its first major privacy policy revision since 1998, a company spokesman said today. The ISP’s 20 million U.S. members will be notified by e-mail today and tomorrow and the new policy takes effect Nov. 10. AOL will also post notices on welcome screens and other Web pages. Under its new […]

A prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm is betting that India’s burgeoning IT economy has more to offer than high-skilled, low-cost workers. Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) will invest up to $200 million for startups in the nation. Tim Draper, the firm’s founder and managing director, announced the move while traveling in India this week, according […]

MCI shareholders today voted to accept Verizon’s $8.4 billion takeover offer, moving one step closer to completing telecom’s latest mega-merger. The Ashburn, Va., company said preliminary results show approximately 64 percent of outstanding shares, and 88 percent of votes cast, favored the merger. The vote will be certified “as soon as possible,” MCI said. “This […]

Anticipating demand for real-time TV on phones and low-power Wi-Fi , communications chipmaker Broadcom will acquire Athena Semiconductors for $21.6 million in cash. Athena’s mobile digital TV tuners, built on the DVB-H standard, allow handsets, PDAs and media players to receive real-time news, weather, sports and entertainment content. Service providers are currently testing DVB-H service […]

DSL provider Covad will acquire fixed-wireless broadband firm NextWeb for $23 million in cash and stock in order to lure more small and medium business (SMB) customers. The deal should close by year’s end and will give Covad nearly 3,000 SMB customers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas, plus an advanced network built […]

Voice over IP leader Vonage is being sued by a Sprint Nextel subsidiary for allegedly infringing on seven patents. The legal action, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas, comes as Edison, N.J.-based Vonage is prepping for one of the most anticipated IPOs in years. Sprint Nextel also filed a similar suit against a smaller […]

Qwest has assembled a team of IT firms to bid on federal networking contracts worth a total of $40 billion. Among the companies that the Denver telecom carrier has tapped are: Akamai , a content delivery specialist; Lucent , a network equipment maker; and Science Applications International Corp., a research and engineering outfit. Another 30 […]

Motorola and Microsoft will jointly develop and market software for emergency first responders, the companies announced today. The alliance comes as government and IT leaders examine ways to prevent the kinds of communication breakdowns that recently hampered hurricane rescue efforts along the Gulf Coast. While Katrina and Rita raised awareness of real-time data transfer and […]

Voice over IP heavy-hitter Skype has signed a four-year contract extension with voice-processing specialist Global IP Sound (GIPS). GIPS has provided support for Skype on the desktop since 2003 and will continue to do so. In addition, the San Francisco-based company will help bring a pre-installed version of Skype to manufacturers of Wi-Fi-enabled handsets. “We […]

Tired of bake sales, magazine subscription drives and soup label collections for school fund-raisers? Motorola has a new option. The Schaumburg, Ill.-based handset maker is launching a new phone recycling initiative aimed at improving the environment and education. “Race to Recycle” encourages K-12 schools to collect old mobile phones and exchange them for $3 each. […]

Nortel , a network equipment stalwart looking to rebound after a series of setbacks, is reorganizing to simplify its business model and trim costs. The move establishes two product groups each with its own president: Enterprise Solutions and Packet Networks, led by Steve Slattery; and Mobility and Converged Core Networks, led by Richard Lowe. The […]

The more challenging a job, the more satisfying. If that adage is true, Bo Parker must be thrilled. As managing director of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global Technology Center, Parker helps telecoms navigate a swiftly changing industry. Once unchallenged, carriers must now answer threats from cable operators, Voice over IP upstarts and Internet giants entering the communications business. […]