Trading in Acme Packet (Nasdaq: APKT) on the Nasdaq was temporarily halted this afternoon as the network equipment vendor reported that its fourth quarter earnings missed estimates. Investors promptly dumped the company’s stock, dropping it 10 percent, within a few minutes of after-market trading.

Acme Packet shares closed at $30.89 Thursday. By 5:15 p.m., after the firm announced its estimates, its stock dropped to $27.30 in after-market trading.

Analysts had estimated the Acme Packet would bring in $85.2 million in Q4 and earn 28 cents a share. But the vendor earned just 26 cents per share and brought in $83 million–still an 18 percent year-over-year rise but not what was expected.

In January, Acme Packet released preliminary guidance that revised its estimates downward to between $84-86 million with EPS of 26 to 28 cents.

The equipment vendor competes with Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), Huawei and Sonus (Nasdaq: SONS) in the network equipment segment.

For more:
– Barron’s has this report
– see the earnings release

Related articles:
Acme Packet stock takes a hit as it lowers guidance for year
Acme Packet lowers its Q4 2011 financial forecast

Source:Fierce Telecom

Frontier Communications (NYSE: FTR) is once again finding itself having to convince current FiOS TV customers that the service is here to stay. In a move to perhaps encourage Frontier’s FiOS TV customers from defecting to cable, the ILEC has unveiled a series of new pricing plans. Under its new custom value pricing structure, customers will get a percentage taken off their bill if they subscribe to other services via FiOS TV.

“This is just our revised pricing plan and so, it’s just simplified pricing and customer-friendly building,” Frontier spokesman Matt Kelley told WANE-TV.

FiOS has been a bit of a thorn in Frontier’s side. Serving existing FiOS TV and FiOS data customers in Oregon, Washington and Indiana was one of the conditions of purchasing Verizon’s (NYSE: VZ) rural lines.

Claiming it lacks the clout to deal with the area’s content owners, Frontier said it was forced to raise its FiOS TV rates 46 percent, from $65 to $95 a month. The FiOS TV rate increases in these states were significantly higher than Comcast’s (Nasdaq: CMCSA) proposed 5 percent video rate increase.

For those customers who don’t want to pay the new rates, Frontier began offering DirecTV (Nasdaq: DTV) satellite service for free throughout 2011 and then $63 a month after the period ends.

Comcast, not surprisingly, wasted no time in launching a campaign to entice customers angered by the rate hikes.

However, Kelley dismissed the ads as nothing more than scare tactics.

“There is no truth to the rumors that were put out in the market through advertising through a competitor,” he said. “That was just an opportunity for them to try to scare people to drop the service.”

For more:
- WANE.com has this article

Related articles:
Frontier puts FiOS TV rate hike on hold
Frontier ups FiOS installation costs to $500, opts out of Oregon video franchises
Comcast tries to lure Frontier’s Indiana FiOS TV customers
Frontier to jack up FiOS video prices in Indiana, Oregon, Washington
Does Frontier’s rate hike signal that it wants out of the TV space?

Source:Fierce Telecom

Level 3 (NYSE: LVLT) will once again provide live, high definition television broadcast services, including Vyvx VenueNet+ technology, to NBC for Super Bowl XLVI on Feb. 5.

Since the Lucas Oil Stadium, the location of the Super Bowl, is already connected to Level 3’s fiber network, NBC can acquire and broadcast the game without having to build or manage its own on network on the site.

During the game, the service provider said that over 3,000 hours of video content will be acquired, encoded and transported across Level 3’s Vyvx VenueNet+ platform

Additionally, Level 3 will carry the pre-game and post-game feeds to NFL operations centers in Mt. Laurel, N.J., Culver City, Calif. and NFL Network master control facilities in Atlanta, as well as other broadcast networks and satellite teleport sites for global distribution.

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
Level 3 beats Q3 estimates, but Global Crossing acquisition widens losses
Level 3 extends wireless backhaul reach via 52Eighty partnership
Level 3 brings Ethernet, dedicated Internet services to Texas DIR
Level 3’s Bandwidth Optimizer offers CDN, IP service bundle for gaming providers

Source:Fierce Telecom

Last Saturday, Jan. 28, activists and lawmakers in the EU and Canada celebrated an event that got relatively little publicity here: European Privacy Day. It was the culminating date in a monthlong campaign to raise awareness of privacy and data protection issues faced not just by the EU, but globally.

In the United States, the National Cyber Security Alliance also celebrated Data Privacy Day on Jan. 28, but its efforts focused on consumer-level methods to secure data from threats like hackers and data-mining viruses or other intrusions. European Privacy Day took a more holistic path in calling attention to privacy and data protection, with meetings and round tables in several countries including Belgium, Sweden, the UK, Hungary, Germany, and more. Each addressed aspects of privacy and security from the consumer, business and legislative level.

As I mentioned in a recent column, the EU is locked in negotiations with the United States over how the U.S. obtains and shares data on Europe’s citizens. But that’s not the only concern faced by the continent over how data is collected, stored and secured both within its borders and worldwide.

Privacy Day-related meetings discussed topics ranging from the implications of smart metering for privacy, to free speech and freedom of association issues related to the workplace, to reviews and discussion on current data protection laws and new laws being enacted. In short, participants didn’t just ask how they could secure our computers and data centers against intrusion; they discussed the real implications of the IP age on individual rights.

The expansive reach of the dialog on the rights of individuals when it came to privacy and protecting data that’s collected about them was surprising in its depth, compared to the U.S. version of Data Privacy Day in which consumers and businesses were given the usual instructions to keep their antivirus programs up to date and to be aware of current laws regarding release of individuals’ data.  

Most discussion of legislative or corporate efforts to protect data and comply with privacy rules in the U.S. is kept within legal and corporate circles; most Americans don’t think much about privacy laws. It’s dry stuff, to be sure, and it takes a Herculean effort to call their attention to even a single facet of privacy and data protection. Last week’s Web-wide protest against the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills is a good example of the level of effort needed to call attention to an issue with our data networks and/or the Internet. But a law that also deeply affected individual rights to privacy was passed with little comment just three weeks prior.

“Technology is changing the way institutions, governments, and individuals interact,” wrote E.D. Kain in a Forbes article about the National Defense Authorization Act. “The symmetry of power is shifting and governments and non-state actors alike are scrambling to keep up. Sometimes this creates real security threats.” And it raises questions about how well our private information is being protected, or how it’s being used, in the midst of this scramble.

The United States needs to put at least as much effort into publicizing the discussion about privacy and data protection as the EU does. Let’s see what next year’s Data Privacy Day addresses.–Sam

Source:Fierce Telecom

The FCC voted unanimously Tuesday, 3-0, to reform its Lifeline phone subsidy program and reduce waste by preventing consumers from claiming services from multiple service providers.

A new National Lifeline Accountability Database will be created to prevent multiple carriers from receiving support for the same subscriber.  

The FCC said the new database builds on efforts it took in 2011 where it eliminated almost 270,000 duplicate subscriptions in 12 states following the review of over 3.6 million subscriber records, saving $33 million.

Under the reformed program, the FCC has also established a one-per-household rule, but defines a household as an “economic unit” so that separate low-income families living at the same address can get connected.

Service providers that participate in the Lifeline program are eligible for subsidy of up to $10 per month per subscriber, and the program is part of the $9 billion Universal Service Fund, which the FCC is currently reforming. AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) offer both wireless and wireline-based Lifeline phone plans to low-income subscribers.

Besides voice services, another important part of the reformed program focuses in enabling low-income residents can get access to broadband data services. A new Broadband Adoption Pilot Program will help it determine how Lifeline can be used to increase broadband adoption among Lifeline-eligible consumers.

Although the three commissioners did not agree on whether they should cap total Lifeline fund, which has grown from $488 million in 2000 to $1.3 billion in 2010, they did acknowledge the reforms are a critical first step.

For more:
- see the release
- see this Bloomberg article

Related articles:
Consumer groups question whether FCC’s Lifeline program reforms go far enough
FCC asks PUCs to help it reduce fraud in Lifeline program
USF voice service subsidy comes under FCC scrutiny
Verizon, Sprint, USTelecom join challengers to USF reform plan

Source:Fierce Telecom

Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is taking its Xfinity Home service to the Denver market.

Seeing an opportunity to enhance its revenue mix from its existing broadband and video customer base, the Xfinity Home service will provide users with a host of services, including home alarm protection, in addition to other features like the ability to adjust thermostats and remotely turning off and on lights.

Users can also develop personalized settings where they can get real-time e-mail or text alerts whenever a door is opened or closed or motion detectors report activity inside or outside of the home, for example.

The service also plays into the increasingly mobile nature of today’s consumer with the inclusion of the Xfinity Security app that can be downloaded for free on Apple’s iTunes App Store.

While the home automation market is still in an embryonic stage, Comcast along with fellow cable MSO Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC) and telcos (AT&T (NYSE: T), China Telecom (NYSE: CHA), Frontier (NYSE: FTR) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ)) have been aggressively rolling out home automation services.

Initially driven by home security services, a new Infonetics study revealed that service providers are rolling out home automation services to increase average revenue per user (ARPU) and reduce subscriber churn.

For more:
- see the release

Related articles:
Infonetics: Home automation to boost operators’ revenue, customer loyalty
Verizon taps InstallerNet to conduct installation of its home automation service
AT&T gets into the home automation game
Time Warner Cable puts iControl to work in its IntelligentHome service offering
iControl Networks finds entrance into Europe via Swisscom

Source:Fierce Telecom

AT&T (NYSE: T) and Orange Business Services are combining their collective knowledge in telepresence that will allow their customers to use their respective services from their main and remote sites.

By establishing this agreement, large enterprises will be able to schedule telepresence meetings and connect telepresence endpoints.

Current AT&T Telepresence Solution and Orange Telepresence Community customers using Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) TelePresence endpoints will be able to access the new service.

In addition to reducing obvious travel costs by being able to conduct face to face meetings remotely, the service will take the guesswork out of conducting a videoconferencing call regardless of the network or exchange they are using.   

The new arrangement between the two service providers appears to be part of a new trend where service providers are trying to connect what could be described as telepresence islands.

Of course, AT&T and Orange aren’t alone in establishing such agreements. Just this week, Tata Communications (NYSE: TCL) launched a global telepresence effort with nine other domestic and international service providers.

For more:
- see the release

Special report: Wireline in the fourth quarter 2011

Related articles:
Tata Communications helps form global telepresence group
BT, Orange establish telepresence connectivity agreement
Sprint, Tata partner for telepresence
Sprint to extend Tata videoconferencing services to enterprise customers

Source:Fierce Telecom

MegaPath is trying to lure business more customers to sign up for its growing Ethernet portfolio by serving up a new suite of lower-speed service tiers.

Priced at $199 per month for both SMBs and enterprise customers in select markets, MegaPath’s Basic Ethernet package includes a symmetric 2 Mbps and 3 Mbps service offering.

Serving as the foundation for these new offerings is its Ethernet over Copper (EoC) network. The service provider revealed that it “is on track to complete the previously announced expansion of its EoC network by June 2012.”   

Already available in over 400 COs in the U.S., MegaPath’s Ethernet service is being offered in several major metropolitan markets, including Atlanta, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C.

When the expansion is complete, the provider will extend its EoC services into eight new markets: Austin, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Newark, N.J., Portland, Ore., Sacramento and Tampa.

This expanded coverage will resonate with multisite businesses that are looking for alternative sources of Ethernet connectivity. It will also enable MegaPath to compete more effectively not only with cable operators but also other large competitive providers like Windstream (Nasdaq: WIN) and XO (OTC BB: XOHO) that have also been aggressively expanding their own EoC footprints and offerings.

For more:
- see the release

Special report: Competitive carriers hone their Ethernet over Copper skills

Related articles:
MegaPath Wholesale extends Ethernet reach via Telx, sheds Covad Wholesale name
MegaPath goes nationwide with Ethernet over Copper
MegaPath furthers its bond with Ethernet over Copper
MegaPath targets SMBs with new symmetrical Ethernet service

Source:Fierce Telecom

France Telecom Orange (NYSE: FTE) isn’t afraid of broadband competition and its commitment to spend €300-350 million euros ($394 million-460 million) shows that it is ready to fight.

Stephane Richard, France Telecom’s CEO said that ongoing fiber buildouts provide it with a weapon to compete with a crop of savvy broadband competitors like Iliad and Free.

Some analysts, according to a Reuters report, have expressed concern that the telco’s fiber network investment could be compromised by Iliad’s move to offer a new low-cost mobile service.  

Richard dismissed such concerns.

“The arrival of a new competitor in the mobile market a few weeks ago will not call into question our dedication to invest in fiber,” said Richard. “I will protect fiber in our budget because it’s crucial to our future competitiveness.”

Augmenting its own €2 billion ($2.7 billion) plan to build out its Fiber to the Home network to an initial 10 million homes by 2015, the incumbent provider has struck fiber sharing agreements with its three main competitors Bouygues Telecom, Free and SFR.

Set on serving mid-sized cities and rural areas, the telco said the pact with these service providers will help it advance rollout times and reduce costs.   

For more:
- Reuters has this article

Related articles:
France Telecom sets ambitious FTTH goal of 15 million homes passed
France Telecom strikes FTTH network pact with Bouygues Telecom
France Telecom injects Alcatel-Lucent’s 100G optical system into key network routes
France boasts 22M copper, fiber-based broadband connections

Source:Fierce Telecom