“One year ago, we started the implementation of a nation-wide broadband rollout plan targeting 750,000 households and commercial businesses until year-end 2010,” said Hannes Ametsreiter, CEO of the Telekom Austria Group in a release. “As of today, we have already exceeded this target and reached the 1.5 million mark.”

Going forward, Telekom Austria expects to have two million homes and businesses connected to the GigaNet network by 2013.

To stay on pace with its broadband goals, Telekom Austria just updated another 190 switching centers in its densely populated urban areas with its VDSL@CO technology, bringing it to 687 VDSL@CO locations. In August, Telekom Austria said it would expand its FTTX footprint with VDSL2 to cover 40 percent, or 1.59 million of the country’s homes by the end of the year. Complementing its VDSL2 deployment will be its FiberCities project. Initially set to be rolled out in Villach and Klagenfurt, Telekom Austria expects to reach 97,000 homes.

For more:
- see the release here
- TeleGeography has this article

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Telekom Austria steps up its Fiber to the X plans
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Rumour Mill: Russia’s MTS bids for Telekom Austria

Source:Fierce Telecom

Analysys Mason points out that consumer’s ongoing adoption of mobile services and devices will make it challenging for wireline operators to recoup their FTTH investments. In the near-term, the research firm suggests that service provider should continue to conduct FTTH trials, while leveraging hybrid copper/fiber technologies including VDSL2.

Of course, service providers remain divided on this issue. While AT&T (NYSE: T), Telekom Austria (NYSE: TKA), BT (NYSE: BT) and Qwest (NYSE: Q) are deploying a mix of both VDSL2 and FTTH, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has taken an all FTTH approach for its broadband future.

However, even within these two camps there are various shades of grey. While Telekom Austria and BT are keen on leveraging their existing copper with continued investments in ADSL2+ and VDSL2, they are simultaneously rolling out FTTH in both Greenfield and Brownfield markets. And while Verizon has been FTTH’s lead advocate, the service provider earlier this year announced that it would focus its attention on either areas where it currently has its FTTH-based FiOS service or where it agreed to provide the service through a previously arranged franchise arrangement with a city or town.

For more:
- Telecompaper has this article

Related articles:
Verizon’s 10, 15 Mbps DSL service is great if you can actually get it
Verizon FiOS deployment drive to focus on established communities
AT&T boldly goes to the edge of the, well, U-verse: A conversation with U-verse VP Jeff Weber

Source:Fierce Telecom

Lightower’s acquisition comes with a number of benefits. Not only will Lightower immediately expand its fiber footprint and customer base in the Boston metro market, but also expand its New England and New York City network presence and national long haul network that connects major U.S. cities.

Specifically, Lightower will add 2,000 network route miles to its current 4,500 network route mile network and fiber connectivity into major data centers and commercial buildings. In total, the combined Lightower network will cover over 6,500 network route miles with service to over 2,000 commercial buildings.

While the Veroxity purchase is its most recent deal, Lightower is no stranger to the acquisitions game. Currently owned by both M/C Venture Partners and Pamlico Capital, Lightower previously acquired both DataNet Communications and Keyspan Communications in 2008.

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
Lightower Fiber Network expands footprint with Veroxity acquisition
Lightower ups capacity at Telx’s New Jersey Colo site

Source:Fierce Telecom

In its lawsuit, the SEC claimed that Nacchio and other executive colleagues falsified what percentage of the service provider’s revenue from 1999-2002 was one-time and recurring.

While the settlement still needs a federal judge’s approval, documents that were filed last Thursday in a Denver federal court revealed that Nacchio would not admit guilt, but that he would never hold an executive post at another public company.

Nacchio, who is currently serving a six-year prison stint which a judge in June reduced by two months, was required to pay a $19 million fine and forfeit $44.6 million related to his insider-trading activities.

For more:
- abcnews has this article via AP

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Qwest’s Nacchio will serve out prison term
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Nacchio’s new prison date: April 14

Source:Fierce Telecom

Although the report did not reveal any sources, SingTel has talked to Asian and European banks about what it could do with CWW. This new development comes little more than a week after rumors emerged that AT&T could make a bid on CWW as a way to possibly expand its own international reach.

News of a potential marriage with AT&T and now SingTel has boosted CWW’s stock standing. Since Cable & Wireless split itself up into two companies–an enterprise unit and Cable & Wireless Communications, which provides consumer services in the Caribbean–CWW’s shares have struggled. CWW’s stock problems were exacerbated when it revealed in July that the UK government, which consists of 12 percent of CWW’s revenue, was making cutbacks.

Regardless of near-term stock issues, one unidentified London-based analyst said that SingTel could leverage CWW’s assets to expand their Asian presence. “SingTel has quite a well-developed data business in India and South East Asia, which are areas of focus for C&W. So it would be sensible in terms of the mix,” he said in a Reuters article.

Indeed, $3.5 billion of CWW’s revenue in 2009 came from its India, Middle East, Africa and South East Asia holdings.

For more:
- Reuters has this article

Related articles:
Rumor mill: AT&T could move to acquire C&W Worldwide
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AT&T’s Q2: IPTV, business services save the wireline day
Cable & Wireless puts Move on IPTV

Source:Fierce Telecom