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Do you lock your car doors? If you've driven into a major downtown area, do you hit the lock button on your keyless entry and make sure you don't have any valuables lying out on your back seat? How about if you're just running into a neighborhood coffee shop? In your own garage? According to the Insurance Information Institute, in 2006, just under 1.2 million cars were reported stolen in the United States. That's substantial, but rather weak compared to the 15 million cases of identity theft that took place ...

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Over the past decade and a half, we have witnessed the CLEC sector mature from infancy and enter adulthood. The evolution in the past few years has been particularly dramatic. This is a sector that has gone from one initially characterized as “crumb-catchers” — scurrying around to catch a few special access dollars here and there — to one that is now comprised of an increasingly diverse set of carriers offering myriad services to a range of customer classes. About the only thing in common among these providers is ...

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Spring is upon us this month and with it we have to offer you tidbits of news about mergers, acquisitions, and other interesting bits of information. Microsoft is still trying to bully Yahoo! into a takeover and Sprint Nextel is still looking somewhat depressed, although there are plenty of other informative pieces that may brighten your day like a warm spring breeze. Enjoy the sunshine this month of April and with it your fourth 2008 installment of OSS NewsWatch.

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There was a time, not that long ago, where fixed-line service providers built their own telephone handsets, but they don’t any more. The market pressure over a few decades took its toll and service providers eventually came to the realization that this was not a profitable enough pursuit for them. Soon a plethora of handset makers entered the market with much greater functionality, better looks and lower costs. Service providers concentrated on providing their services and handset manufactures made handsets.

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It's almost time, once again, for the best and brightest of the OSS world to head for the South of France for a few days in the warm Mediterranean sun. Don't pity them too much, however, because it isn't all good food and lounging by the sea and other such boring distractions. There's also plenty of compelling conversation going on about the future of telecommunications.

The TMForum's annual Management World is taking place in Nice May 19-23...

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In approaching the issue of network security, we decided to take a moment to speak to Greg Oslan, the CEO of Narus Systems, a vendor of network intelligence solutions, about the scope of network security and lawful intercept.

Pipeline: How has the approach carriers have taken to network security changed over the last few years?

Greg Oslan: Network security has certainly evolved...

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Lawfully Authorized Electronic Surveillance (LAES) is challenging service providers to retain data through various criteria and across multiple next-generation networks such as WiMAX, cable and IMS—not an easy task when considering the expansive subscriber bases and massive amounts of data traveling across any given service provider network. This standard addresses the interfaces between a service provider and a law enforcement agency to assist the agency in conducting electronic surveillance; however,..

The COMPTEL Plus Spring Convention traveled to Nashville this year and was held at the impressive Gaylord Opryland Resort. Around 2,500 telecom folk from network providers, service providers, telecom and regulatory consulting firms, BSS/OSS vendors, hardware vendors and interested onlookers converged for the show – COMPTEL’s best attended show so far. Three of the four days focused on a wide range of topics of interest to the COMPTEL community – Tier 2/Tier 3 Telecom operators and their vendors. The last day...

“Fraud is the homage that force pays to reason”

This month we look at confronting fraud and malice. However, as Curtis implies in the above quote, are they not essentially the same thing? One is more overt than the other, to be sure, but in the context of telecommunications, we're still talking ...