Colin C. Haley

Over the past three years, a slew of broadband service providers sought bankruptcy protection. Invariably, their executives vowed to return with a cleansed balance sheet, solid network and a workable plan to produce profit. It didn’t always work that way. For more than a few petitioners, Chapter 11 was little more than a stop-over en […]

WebEx Communications has launched a new version of its Web-conferencing service aimed at large corporate customers. The offering presents the San Jose, Calif., company’s services, including voice, video and rich media conferencing, on a single page, accessible through a single log-in. Additionally, a new feature allows corporate users to create a “personalized meeting room” with […]

Next Level Communications has formed a committee of independent directors to weigh a buyout offer from its majority stakeholder, Motorola . In addition, the Rohnert Park, Calif., telecom gear maker has retained a law firm and is expected to bring in an investment bank to help review the offer and make a recommendation to stockholders. […]

Qwest Communications International , a Denver telecommunications company working to regain its footing after a trying 2002, has inked a multi-year contract with the state of Oklahoma. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Under the deal, Qwest will provide voice, data and video services for Oklahoma’s statewide network, OneNet, which links public schools, […]

To allay concerns about the soundness of a subsidiary’s finances, Motorola is bidding for the 26 percent of Next Level Communications it does not already own. Motorola, a cell phone giant, is offering $1.04 per share, or about $30 million cash, for Next Level, a producer of very-high-speed DSL equipment that helps carriers transmit broadband […]

When Charles Hoffman took Covad Communications‘s top job 18 months ago his focus was the company’s survival. The broadband wholesaler’s customers, mostly overextended Internet service providers (ISPs), were failing at a rapid clip and their unpaid bills threatened to drag Covad down with them. Judging the situation untenable, Hoffman, who came to Covad after running […]

With its large population and lack of network infrastructure, telecommunications gear makers have long viewed China as a potentially lucrative market. And while orders haven’t exploded there (or anywhere else for that matter) to the extent predicted during the boom years of 1990s, some significant deals are beginning to emanate from the country. This morning, […]

If Dell hadn’t traded its surfer spokesguy for a gaggle of interns, one could easily envision this tagline from the Austin computer maker: “Dude, you’re getting a Dell with DSL!” Under new pacts with BellSouth, SBC and Verizon, customers ordering a new Dell PC, either online or over the phone, can opt for digital subscriber […]

Over the past year, telecommunications companies have, by necessity, axed expenditures: network upgrades have been delayed or canceled; thousands of jobs eliminated; and swank office suites replaced by humble cubicle farms. But according to new Yankee Group research, at least one line item has emerged unscathed from all the budget butchery, and will increase well […]

Palm and its shareholders will not be taxed on the distribution of PalmSource shares, the Internal Revenue Service has ruled. Shares of PalmSource, a Palm subsidiary that develops and licenses the operating systems for handhelds, are expected to be doled out to Palm shareholders in the first half of 2003, pending approval by Palm directors […]

Laurel, Md.-based LightWave Communications has finalized the sale of its carrier business and is launching residential and small business phone services to compete with Verizon Communications. The sale of network assets and customer contracts to Looking Glass Networks, of Oak Brook, Ill., was announced in mid-November. The system, which ranges from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., […]

Richard Egan, an EMC co-founder, has resigned as U.S. ambassador to Ireland after only 15 months on the job, prompting speculation about the 66-year-old billionaire’s next career move. A spokesman for the Hopkinton, Mass.-based EMC said he is unaware of any discussions about Egan returning to the company he helped grow into a data storage […]