First Coffee for October 26, 2005

David Sims : First Coffee
David Sims
| CRM, ERP, Contact Center, Turkish Coffee and Astroichthiology:

First Coffee for October 26, 2005

By David Sims
[email protected]

The news as of the first coffee this morning – your first, First CoffeeSM’s fourth – and the music is –

“We know it’s gonna be a Frank Sinatra CD, okay, which one?”

Uh, Nice ‘n’ Easy:

FPT Telecom, a multimedia and Internet service provider in Vietnam, has completed the deployment of the first metro Ethernet and optical network in the country.

The 10 gigabits per second next-generation network, built with a total metro Ethernet, broadband and Internet Protocol/Multiprotocol Label Switching product from Cisco Systems, will provide FPT Telecom with a platform to deliver a wide variety of data, voice and video services over high-speed broadband connections.

At the core of FPT Telecom’s optical network is Cisco ONS 15454 Synchronous Digital Hierarchy Multiservice Provisioning Platform, which provides the functions of multiple network elements in a single platform. It provides legacy time-division multiplexing, metro Ethernet, storage area networking connectivity as well as wavelength services through integrated dense wavelength-division multiplexing and reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer functionalities.

At the access edge of the FPT network, by deploying Cisco’s Catalyst Ethernet switches and Broadband Remote Access Server (36D) technology, FPT now have a single platform that not only aggregates its DSL subscribers for Internet services but expands its broadband connectivity with metro Ethernet services while enabling new value-add services such as triple-play and IPTV.

Global Crossing has been awarded a framework agreement for the supply of voice services to a consortium of 10 UK local authorities. Bracknell Forest Borough Council is the first member of the Southeast Network for Telecommunications consortium to place a four-year contract with Global Crossing.

SENT comprises councils in the southeast of England that have pooled their purchasing power for telephony services provided to more than 15,000 users.

The SENT initiative is led by Bracknell Council Borough Council. Global Crossing is providing voice services to SENT members through the Government Telecommunications Contract, a framework agreement administered by OGC.buying.solutions.

SENT is actively marketing the services provided by Global Crossing to other local authorities in the southeast region, including schools, parish and town councils, and other public sector bodies.

BFBC alone expects to reduce its current spend on telephony by 30 percent. At current usage levels, the councils collectively expect to realize well over $1.5 million in savings over the term of the agreement. As additional members join SENT, further savings will be possible through volume discounts.

The objective of SENT is to rationalize the procurement of telephony and to meet government “value for money” criteria when awarding supplier contracts. The contract with Global Crossing was awarded following a mini- competition between GTC pre-qualified suppliers.

As part of the impetus for the public sector to extract maximum value, SENT commissioned an e-auction between pre-qualified suppliers for various categories of service.

In a press release datelined “Florianopolis, Brazil,” Nokia is announcing a pair of CDMA handsets designed expressly for new growth markets.

Both the “classically styled” monoblock Nokia 1255 phone and the “expressively designed” fold-style Nokia 2355 phone are at entry-level price point, and should be available during the 1st quarter of 2006.

Low-priced, but the Nokia 1255 phone does have a two-way hands-free speakerphone, voice recorder and a calendar with an alarm clock as well as two built-in games, 20 ringtones and a selection of user-selectable screen savers. It delivers up to four hours of talk time and up to 10 days of standby time.

The Nokia 2355 has a compact, color screen, built-in FM radio and integrated flashlight and the ability to download BREW 1.2 or Java MIDP 1.0 content, such as ringtones, games and screensavers.

In the Cool Stuff Techies Just Love (But Real People Probably Won’t Be So Crazy About) Department, we have Buffalo, a wired and wireless networking vendor, and Mediabolic, a provider of software for connected entertainment products, announcing that the LinkTheater Mini Network Media Player will begin shipping today.

This product contains Media Player software from Mediabolic and allows consumers to play music, photos, and videos over a home network.

Kuniaki Saiki, COO of Buffalo says the LinkTheater Mini is “well positioned so that consumers can have one in every room in their homes.” Basically it lets you play videos stored on PCs or other Digital Living Network Alliance compatible products.

“You just plug it in and it works!” says Daniel Putterman, president and CEO of Mediabolic. “Buffalo has successfully broken through the $100 price barrier with a product priced to get into multiple rooms in the largest number of homes.”

The Selling Source, Inc. has announced the purchase of a Kansas-based mobile commerce company, Mobile Sciences Knowledge Group, LLC.

Derek LaFavor, Selling Source’s CEO said the acquisition means Selling Source’s technology “will reach beyond the desktop and notebook to every kind of electronic mobile device. The MSKG operation will move to Las Vegas this month.” Talk about a cultural shift there, folks.

MSKG has developed VoIP technologies, text messaging platforms and new mobile commerce technologies.

Las Vegas is home to a burgeoning technology economy some have dubbed “Silicon Desert.”

Cool news: Electrovaya Inc., a vendor of portable power solutions (a.k.a. “batteries,”), has announced that a zero-emission electric car prototype has been launched in Norway by Miljobil Grenland AS.

The launch of this vehicle, powered by Electrovaya’s Lithium Ion SuperPolymer battery, opened the “China, Environment and Energy Conference” in Langesund, Norway, attended by delegations from China, Scandinavia, World Bank and others.

“The adoption of clean electric vehicles has been hampered by the lack of advanced battery technology. Electrovaya’s battery technology triples the range of electric cars presently available in Europe, and we believe it is the breakthrough technology necessary to introduce zero-emission vehicles into Norway, Scandinavia and China,” says the wonderfully-named Oddbjorn Solum, Managing Director of Miljobil Grenland AS.
...

Boy, last year the Boston Red Sox, this year the Chicago White Sox, who wins the World Series next year? Why, the Chicago Cubs, of course.

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