Jim Wagner

One of the biggest obstacles facing fiber optics technology — an Internet medium that handles much more bandwidth than existing telephone-company based copper wires — has been one of price. But 2002 has seen a influx of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) solutions from a bevy of equipment makers, bringing prices down and making the pricey technology manageable […]

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced it would open up spectrum for 3G use, ending months of acrimonious debate between corporate America and government agencies. The Department of Defense (DOD) and other federal agencies have been fighting a battle to keep spectrum in the 1710-1755 MHz and 2110-2170 MHz bands closed for military […]

Joel Sam is a happy guy. As president of Technology Brokerage Group, his company sells bandwidth to business and residential customers, brokering deals with carriers like AT&T , Sprint , Qwest and WorldCom. It’s the last company that’s responsible for Sam’s happiness, as nervous WorldCom customers look for other carriers to meet their bandwidth needs. […]

An input-checking vulnerability in PHP that opens the door for hackers to gain Web server access has been patched Monday and users are urged to update as soon as possible. The patch, found at the PHP.net Web site, corrects the POST parser method in the software standard, which looks at the incoming traffic’s headers and […]

Despite a rough start, maybe even because of it, Afilias’ .info domain extension is gathering steam and might even one day supplant one of the original three top-level domains (TLDs) in popularity. Afilias, awarded the registry contract to one of seven new TLDs approved by ICANN last year, has managed to garner 900,000 registrations since […]

The deadline passed Thursday for bidders looking for assets on the cheap at Global Crossing, a carrier knee deep in Chapter 11 bankruptcy trouble and looking for investors. The deadline is the second one for potential bidders; in June, company executives announced they would extend the original June 20 deadline for new bidders in the […]

With an eye towards reducing costs and streamlining operations, Sprint executives Friday vowed to exit the data business, erasing 1,100 jobs. Len Lauer, Sprint global markets group (GMG) president, said Sprint is ending its high-speed Internet service and moving its data hosting business to other parts of the company. Officials expect the severance checks will […]

SyChip, a Bell Labs spin off into the wireless arena, said earlier this week it’s almost done making a card that puts Wi-Fi on PDA, digital wireless phones and ultra-thin laptops. It’s one of the first 802.11b (also called Wi-Fi) ventures into the world of super-small personal organizers and phones equipped with secure digital (SD) […]

Verizon Communications officials are confident a jury will take their side in a $1 billion lawsuit filed in December, 2000, by shareholders in a now-defunct company. The trial is expected to get underway on July 29. But whether NorthPoint Communications shareholders will get to press forward with their case intact is in question; a judge […]

Shareholders at AT&T and Comcast gave their blessing to a $72 billion merger Wednesday, creating the largest cable network in the U.S. The approval means only two hurdles remain: the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. Executives announced their decision to merge in December, 2001. If approved, the new company will keep […]

Qwest Communications , acknowledged Tuesday the U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver had started a criminal investigation, though the reason for the probe wasn’t given. As with past investigations, Qwest officials said they would “fully cooperate” with any Denver office requests for information. Jeff Dorschner, spokesperson for the Denver office of the Colorado U.S. Attorney’s office, […]

Congress wants some answers from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Commission Chairman Michael Powell over the agency’s proposed plan to displace licensed 800 MHz carriers, and is giving the telecom agency chief until July 26 to provide an answer. Public safety agencies (like firefighter and police agencies) and cell phone carriers (mainly Nextel Communications , one […]