Stories by David Rohde

AT&T's Circuit-Switching Dilemma

Some time ago AT&T Corp. Chairman C. Michael Armstrong created a buzz by saying AT&T would no longer invest in new circuit switches.

Lucent spinoff revamps messaging pricing

Lucent Technologies' enterprise spinoff has hit on a way to encourage use of emerging applications like unified messaging and speech recognition: include them free in voice-mail systems.

SBC Enters Texas Long-Distance Arena

SBC Communications Inc. today becomes the second regional Bell operating company to begin long-distance service in its home state. However, prospects for a nationwide wave of RBOC long-distance offers remain remote until next year.

Report Urges Action to Conserve Phone Numbers

A nearly century-old practice of local telephone companies is threatening a crisis in the telephone number system. That's the claim of a new report published by Boston consulting firm Economics and Technology Inc. (ETI).

Passive Optical Gear Vendors Get Active

Remember several years ago when large legacy carriers said they were going to bring "fiber to the home" or "fiber to the curb" but never quite seemed to get there?

AT&T's 'Central Office of the Future'

AT&T Corp. says it's not qualified to become a direct provider of application services to enterprises, which is a nice piece of honesty. But AT&T also claims it's going to conquer just about every other area of the new IP-centric world.

SIP Emerges as Lightweight IP Call Setup Vehicle

Emerging IP-based network operators who want to offer converged services are starting to demand something more of their voice-gateway vendors than simply an emulation of traditional telephone network features.

Lucent Spinoff Avaya Plays to Its Strengths

Lucent Technologies Inc.'s enterprise spinoff company last week gave itself a new name and a product direction for its core call center and unified-messaging products, but conceded it is still working out details for its LAN/WAN data product strategy.

US to block WorldCom merger

The US Department of Justice is filing a lawsuit to block WorldCom's proposed takeover of Sprint, likely spelling the end of the controversial merger at least in its original form.

U.S. to Block WorldCom Merger

The U.S. Department of Justice is filing a lawsuit to block WorldCom Inc.'s proposed takeover of Sprint Corp., likely spelling the end of the controversial merger at least in its original form.

Brand-Name Carriers May Not Rule Globally

Thanks largely to a 1998 World Trade Organization agreement on telecommunications that introduced competition into dozens of foreign markets, prices for international voice and data connections have started to drop dramatically. In some cases those prices are far below what they were just two years ago.

AT&T Stokes FCC's Anger with Consumer Rate Hike

At least one member of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is calling on the FCC to suspend its recent approval of an AT&T Corp.-backed plan to reform access rates and bill surcharges, in the light of a new move by AT&T to raise its basic long-distance rates.

WorldCom's Ebbers running out of options

With regulators in the US and Europe nearly set to reveal their decision on WorldCom's proposed acquisition of Sprint, WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers appears to have only two options left, experts say.

AT&T Wins Cable Case on Points

A federal appeals court last week threw bones to AT&T Corp., which wants to keep its cable networks essentially closed to its own cable-modem services, and independent ISPs who want AT&T to open up its cable plant.

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