9 posts tagged “satellite”

The Atlanta-based internet provider Earthlink has announced that it is to cut half of its workforce in a bid to reduce operating costs.
 
Approximately 900 jobs are to be cut by the company as part of a battle to increase revenues. This includes the closure of offices in San Francisco, Orlando and Knoxville. Earthlink will also repurchase $200 million of its own stock.
 
The company has reported four consecutive quarters of losses and its stock price has been steadily falling. Internet users are increasingly turning to high-speed broadband networks rather than dial-up, a trend which has impacted badly on Earthlink. The recent poor performance of the company could also affect Earthlink's plans to build city-wide Wi-Fi networks. Chief executive of Earthlink Rolla Huff was quoted by Cnet as saying: "I love the concept of citywide Wi-Fi
 
"But a business model built around EarthLink fronting all the capital and then paying for subscribers one at a time is not viable." Founded in 1994, Earthlink offers satellite, cable and VoIP services in addition to its dial-up service.

DirecTV has signed a wholesale distribution agreement with CURRENT Group that will allow it to offer high-speed Internet service and VoIP services, the company said Wednesday.

The service, which will first be available in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas area, will be available at the end of 2007 or early 2008, DirecTV said. The deal will allow DirecTV to sell a bundle including DirecTV high-speed Internet and VoIP services, and DirecTV will be able to add other geographic markets as Germantown, Md.-based CURRENT builds its network.Click here for the entire story.

Internet users have been warned of thousands of fake emails purporting to be from various government agencies being disseminated around the internet.

The emails pretend to be from agencies such as the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Those that receive the emails are asked to divulge personal details such as social security numbers and bank account information.

Lois Greisman, associate director of the FTC's division of marketing practices, said: "We are the agency that brought you the Do Not Call Registry and CAN-SPAM. "We're not likely to send out unsolicited emails." CAN-SPAM is a law from 2003 that restricts the sending of commercial spam emails. According to a report from the Anti-Phishing Working Group, the number of phishing websites rose to 37,438 in May of this year, compared to 11,976 during the same month in 2006.

Last month, the Treasury said that it has received thousands of complaints about spam emails claiming to be from the IRS. For more information on digital products and services visit www.dsldance.com

Yahoo! has announced the launch of a new customized advertising product that tailors promotions to the web users' characteristics.
 
SmartAds enables marketers to target Internet users by taking their age, gender, location and online use into account, CNET News reports. Yahoo! spokesperson Guade Paez described the new service, which also boasts an advertisement creation tool, as "behavioral targeting". "This makes display advertising more of a direct response vehicle than just branding," she commented.
 
According to the news provider, the new advertisements are expected to first appear on Yahoo!'s publisher sites before being rolled out across its other partner web sites. Last month, Yahoo! combined its US-based search and display advertising sales teams as part of its continuing effort to meet the requirements of its marketing customers. Sue Decker, president of the firm, said that by joining the two services, Yahoo! could "better serve" its advertisers and build upon its position in the market.

For more information on digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com
 

For the first time ever, Denver-based satellite broadband company WildBlue has turned on its very own satellite, thereby substantially expanding its capabilities.
 
The company predominantly provides broadband service to homes and businesses in rural areas of the U.S. that previously used dial-up services. Dubbed WildBlue-1, the new satellite will allow the company to take on new subscribers in coastal states that previously it could not service.
 
David Leonard, WildBlue's CEO, said: "The launch of WildBlue-1 went extremely well, and we are now utilizing the additional capacity that this new satellite provides. "WildBlue is eager to offer WildBlue's high-speed Internet service to those rural consumers across the United States who have been waiting for an affordable alternative to dial-up."
 
The company has approximately 130,000 customers and offers broadband for a minimum of $49.95 per month. Currently, HughesNet is the predominant satellite broadband supplier in the US, with 325,000 subscribers, reports the Associated Press.

“Although not as fast as cable, satellite broadband services are far superior to dial-up connections,” states Mark Weibel, EVP of Marketing for Broadband National whose website broadbandnational.com is considered the industry leader for users shopping for broadband and related digital products and services. “Broadband opens the door to other exciting digital products and services.”

For more information on broadband and other related products and services, or to comparative shop for the best possible broadband deal visit www.broadbandnational.com

Sirius and XM radio have promised a price freeze for customers.
 
As they hash out the details of a proposed merger, America's only two satellite radio stations said they would freeze the price at $12.95 for an unspecified period. Should the companies merge, they will operate under Mel Karmazin, currently chief executive of Sirius Satellite radio.
 
The price freeze would help the new company compete with new media technologies that are free - including broadcast radio, iPods and music that streams over the Internet. "The idea of raising prices to compete with free is bizarre," Karmazin said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
 
Karmazin added that the merger would give listeners more choice, providing access to both systems' exclusive programs - including National Football League, Major League Baseball, NASCAR and Howard Stern broadcasts. In addition, current subscribers would not have to purchase new radios.

"This is no slam dunk," states Mark Weibel EVP of Marketing for Broadband National, who operates the industries leading comparative shopping website.  "The National Association of Broadcasters, a trade group that represents terrestrial radio and TV stations, urged policymakers Monday to reject the deal, calling it an 'anti-consumer' proposal."

For more information on broadband Internet access as well as other digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Electronic Arts (EA) has announced that it will be selling music from its most popular video games on iTunes.
 
Soundtracks from the biggest-selling games will be available, including those from such titles as Madden NFL and Burnout. Music from Need for Speed will also be sold, including the infamous Snoop Dogg remix of The Doors' classic Riders on the Storm.
 
Steve Schnur, worldwide executive of music and marketing at EA, commented: "Our game soundtracks have now officially transcended their consoles. "All songs, all mixes and all exclusives from all nations: if it’s in the game, it's now available for fans to own. We consider this to be the next major step in evolving the music discovery experience." The EA website gets more than six million hits per month, with songs, scores, beats and ringtones to be made available in coming weeks.

"The iTunes Music Store is the perfect platform for videogame soundtrack sales," states Mark Weibel EVP of Marketing for Broadband National, who operates the industries leading comparative shopping website. "The collection available on iTunes will span music from the sounds of the first available consoles to the latest orchestral compositions."

For more information on online gaming as well as other digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

New Internet television outfit Joost has announced that it has forged a deal to offer content from JumpTV over the Internet.
 
Under the agreement, Joost will be able to offer Spanish-language programming from Chile, Peru and Colombia, in addition to Arabic-language shows. JumpTV is the world's most prolific broadcaster of ethnic television over the Internet and its content library features programming in Spanish, Arabic, Romanian, Turkish, Russian and Bengali.
 
Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, president and chief executive officer at JumpTV International, said: "We see Joost as a unique and important distribution/programming partner. Like us, the Joost team innately understands the power of viral, high-affinity long-tail content - for example, JumpTV's ethnic TV programming. Because of the high success rate of its founders Joost could completely transform online television, added Mr. Tuzman. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, the duo behind the highly successful Internet phone company Skype, founded Joost.

"The target audience would be expatriates and ethnic audiences interested in watching TV from their homelands," states Mark Weibel EVP of Marketing for Broadband National, who operates the industries leading comparative shopping website.  "The news that online TV platform Joost will be adding more programs to its growing inventory of TV shows with international YV program distributor JumpTV has surely had the media buzzing with speculation of its growing threat to YouTube."

For more information on broadband Internet access as well as other digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com

Up to 60 percent of U.S. homes will have broadband by the end of 2007, according to recently released research. And cable operators will see a reduction in their share of the market, the report from legal and business information company Pike and Fischer shows.
 
Cable companies will have just slightly over half of the broadband market in the US by the year's end, the report predicts. Scott Sleek, Pike & Fischer's director of broadband advisory services and an author of the report said: "We also know that cable operators want to draw users away from the computer screen and back to the TV set, so they'll be developing ways to let customers access web content through their set-top boxes."
 
The report also forecasts that digital cable subscriptions will represent the majority of the industry's main video customer base. Because digital cable costs more than analog, it also generates more revenue.

"Broadband in the home has grown twice as fast in the year prior to March of 2006," states Mark Weibel, EVP of Marketing for Broadband National, the industries leading comparative shopping website. "African Americans and middle income Americans accounted for much of the increase along with new Internet users coming online with broadband. At the end of March 2006, 42% of Americans had high-speed access at home, up from 30% in March 2005, or a 40% increase."

For more information on broadband and other digital products and services visit www.broadbandnational.com