Acme Packet’s $23-million acquisition of Covergence – both announced and closed today – gives Acme Packet (NASDAQ:APKT) a quick jump in the enterprise market for session border controllers (SBCs) to add to its existing base in the service provider market. And Covergence’s software-only SBC gives Acme a particular foothold in the low end of the enterprise market.
more

Will your job be around five years from now? If so, how different will the work be?

The technologies that course through the network are changing dramatically, demanding entirely different skill sets and expertise. What was Sonet and ATM is becoming Ethernet. What was a central office (CO) is becoming a data center, a video hub, a content cache. So what about the people that work there?
more

Texas state agencies are jointly issuing a request for information for providers that can help win broadband stimulus funds to link up the state’s unserved and underserved.

The RFI, viewable here, asks experienced applicants for help in mapping the state’s broadband availability gaps, planning ways to spur demand for online applications and “work[ing] collaboratively with broadband service providers and information technology companies to encourage [broadband] deployment and use.”

It hints at a definition of “underserved areas” as “areas in which broadband penetration is significantly below the national average.”

The deadline for sumissions is May 15.

Though recent comments from major carriers suggest an improved spending environment going forward, Tellabs CEO Rob Pullen isn’t holding his breath.
more

Signs are emerging that US carrier spending is slowly starting to recover.
more

S. Keao Caindec, the former chief marketing officer of Reliance Globalcom, has left the India-based global carrier to join venture capital firm Panorama Capital.
more

The United States’ first chief technology officer has been a champion of rural broadband, and will likely continue to be, but it’s unclear exactly how his experiences driving broadband availability at the state level will manifest on the national stage.
more

Former executives of Alltel, acquired by Verizon Wireless in January, have formed a telecom consultancy and investment firm based in Alltel’s former home of Little Rock, Ark.
more

Did “poison puts” keep Windstream from being a serious bidder for Embarq last year?
more

Grande Communications, the Texas triple-play provider that has been openly for sale for more than a year, is expecting an acquisition offer soon if its would-be buyer can secure the financing.
more