Consumers likely would embrace “portal-branded” Internet phones, according to a Kelsey Group survey. Google is thought by some to be working secretly on a “GooglePhone,” but the survey said potential buyers would prefer handsets branded by Verizon (38 percent), AT&T (36 percent), Apple (25 percent), or Microsoft (22 percent). Google, Yahoo and AOL rounded out the preference list at 20, 18 and 10 percent respectively.
Nielsen will phase out paper-and-pencil diaries in 38 more markets by 2011, substituting electronic measurement, it said. That will bring the number of markets using Nielsen’s Local People Meter devices for TV ratings to 56 of the top 63, it said.
Telecoms Sans Frontiers deployed communication centers in Nicaragua after Hurricane Felix, the non-governmental body said Friday. A five-member crew set up Inmarsat terminals and other gear for United Nations relief agencies. The group said it might deploy more staff and equipment from Europe. Since 2006 the U.N. Foundation, Vodafone Group Foundation and others have provided funds for 11 TSF missions, including operations in Peru after an Aug. 15 earthquake, said a U.N. Foundation spokesperson. ITU deployed 12 global area network terminals for voice, data and video and 38 regional broadband global network satellite terminals for high-speed data communications for emergency operations following the Peru quake, ITU said.
GE Healthcare, which makes medical telemetry devices that operate in TV broadcast spectrum, warned the FCC that portable devices operating in nearby spectrum could cause harmful interference. GE plans to elaborate on its concerns during upcoming meetings at the FCC. The company has made a number of filings at the commission on the white spaces proceeding, the latest in reply comments this week on FCC Office of Engineering and Technology tests.
Comcast said it began marketing its VoIP phone service in Colorado Springs, Colo. Its VoIP service is now available to more than 38 million homes, it said.
Liberty Media, poised to take a large stake in DirecTV, is scrutinizing FCC steps toward open access in the 700 MHz auction rules, Chairman John Malone told investors during an earnings teleconference Wednesday. “The architecture of these new licenses could be open,” he said. “That could change the ball game quite substantially in terms of bundling” broadband service with pay TV, he said. Satellite pay-TV offerings by DirecTV and Echostar have been seen as having a disadvantage to cable and telco services in that they lack broadband connections to residences. “Clearly, more technology in broadband is good for our potential investment in DirecTV because it reduces the leverage of bundling that cable currently has versus satellite,” Malone said.
Nokia shipped 101 million cellphone handsets in its Q2 ended June 30, including 1.5 million of its high-end N95 model, the company said Thursday. Revenue in the quarter was 12.6 billion Euros or $17.7 billion at 1.37 Euros to the dollar, up 28 percent from the year-ago period. The sales gain contributed to a $3.9 million profit or 2.8 million Euros compared with the year-ago period. Handset sales rose everywhere except in North America, where shipments slipped 21 percent to 4.1 million, the company said. Nonetheless, it said it believes it holds 38 percent market share for cellphones worldwide. Nokia gave no forecast for the rest of its fiscal year, citing volatility in the cellphone market.
Time Warner’s second-quarter results were mediocre, weighed down by slowing growth in AOL’s advertising business, Wachovia analyst Jeffrey Wlodarczak wrote. Time Warner’s cable systems were a bright spot, with revenue increases there helping lift Time Warner’s top line 6 percent from a year ago to $11 billion. Time Warner Cable lost 19,000 basic cable subscribers in its legacy systems and 38,000 more in the systems it acquired through the Adelphia merger. Time Warner’s board approved a $5 billion share buyback without specifying the timing. That won’t affect the company’s credit rating, Fitch said. Shares fell 5 percent.
The FCC told a telemarketer it must deal with a $1.38 million fine for delivering unsolicited advertisements over facsimile machines. The company, Extreme Leads, has 30 days to pay the fine or file a written statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the fine. The commission said the company was accused of delivering at least 218 unsolicited fax ads to 132 consumers. The faxes advertised mortgage services and other financial services, the FCC said. The agency said it sent a “citation” to Extreme Leads in June 2006, warning it could be fined up to $11,000 a violation. The company didn’t respond and more complaints were filed with the commission, the agency said. The FCC said the notice issued Tuesday is based on advertisements sent after the FCC contacted Extreme Leads last year. The fine is based on 146 ads at $4,500 each, but the commission raised the amount to $10,000 for 72 unsolicited ads received after consumers asked Extreme Leads to stop faxing, or tried to. The FCC said 38 consumers asked Extreme Leads to stop sending faxes and instead received a total of 56 more ads. Nine consumers couldn’t reach the company because the telephone number provided didn’t work. Those consumers received an additional 16 ads, the FCC said.
British Telecom reported strong first quarter results Thursday. It had $10.3 billion revenue and $1.3 billion profit, both up 3 percent from a year earlier, it said. BT added 500,000 broadband customers and now has 11.2 million connections, it said. BT Retail said its share of broadband net additions was 38 percent.