Stories by James Niccolai

Vodafone to Buy CommNet Cellular for US$764M

Wireless giant Vodafone AirTouch PLC has agreed to acquire CommNet Cellular Inc. of the U.S. for US$764 million in cash, extending its cellular coverage to new areas of the Western United States, the companies said this week.
Terms of the acquisition, to be made through Vodafone's AirTouch Cellular subsidiary, also require it to assume about $600 million of CommNet debts. CommNet shareholders will receive $31 per share in cash. The transaction is expected to close in four to five months, the firms said.

Intel to offer DSL modems, makes pact with Cisco

Intel said yesterday it plans to start selling DSL (digital subscriber line) modems later this year. The move is part of an effort to increase the bandwidth available to homes and small businesses, which in turn should drive demand for Intel's higher performance processors, one analyst said.

Canada's ISPs Granted Access to Cable Networks

The Canadian government ordered yesterday that cable providers must lease portions of their high-speed networks to competing Internet service providers, a move proponents say will speed the introduction of low-cost, broadband Internet services to Canadian consumers.
In its 21-page ruling, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) also said incumbent cable providers must file proposed rates for accessing their networks with the CRTC, supported by costing information.

AirFlash.com Offers 'Portal' for Mobile Phones

AirFlash.com Inc. will offer a new type of service for mobile phone users later this year that provides business, entertainment and travel information which is specific to a user's location, company officials said today.
Called AirFlash, the service is based on the company's belief that you can't effectively surf the Web on a mobile phone, and that people need a better way to find relevant information when they're on the move, said Rama Aysola, chief executive officer of AirFlash.com, in Redwood City, California.

Selling Net addresses: 15 more companies get approval

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said yesterday that it has approved 15 more companies from around the world to compete as registrars for the .com, .net and .org Internet domains.

Global effort to push new Net protocol

A worldwide effort to promote the adoption of a new version of the Internet protocol, called IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6), will be launched early next week, according to an individual with the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) who is familiar with the effort.

IBM's Web chief gets philosophical

The Internet revolution might take 25 years to complete, and will profoundly change the way people work, play and even think, the general manager of IBM's Internet division said last week.

Palm sales help 3Com beat the street

3Com's fourth-quarter earnings increased 38 per cent from a year ago, to $87.5 million, helping the networking company inch out Wall Street expectations by a penny a share.

Compaq expects loss, announces restructuring

Compaq Computer warned yesterday of an expected loss for its second fiscal quarter, and announced plans for a major restructuring that will result in three distinct business units, each responsible for its own profit and loss.

1IBM adds Java and XML messaging, JVM for Linux

IBM souped up its Java-based software offerings on Monday with a handful of new and updated products, including additions to its MQSeries messaging software family that support XML- and Java-based messaging.

Russia said to halt Y2K work to protest Kosovo

Russia's defence ministry on Friday reportedly said it will cease cooperating with the US on preparations for possible year 2000 computer problems -- apparently in a show of protest over NATO's military intervention in Kosovo, Yugoslavia.

ICANN delays next stage of domain name process

The group overseeing the introduction of a new system for registering Internet domain names last week said it will delay a key step in the proceedings, although it is hopeful the change won't push back the entire effort.

3Com reports solid third quarter

Despite unexpected slowness in North and Latin American enterprise markets, 3Com's revenues grew 13 per cent in the third fiscal quarter, to $US1.4 billion, according to the networking equipment maker.

Microsoft confirms Windows NT security flaw

Microsoft on Wednesday acknowledged a security flaw in its Windows NT operating system that could allow a person to access protected files on a workstation or even deny users access to a Windows NT server.

IBM pledges broad Linux support

IBM put some meat on its Linux plans on Tuesday when it announced alliances with four leading Linux distributors, as well as a timetable for delivering a host of hardware, software and middleware products for the open source operating system.

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