As the FCC looks at revamping the current Universal Service Fund (USF), Representative Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), a member of the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and the Internet, has introduced a new bill that would provide discounted Internet access service pricing to poor and underserved subscribers. Currently, the FCC is looking at how to restructure the USF, which is used to pay phone companies and cable operators providing phone service. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that it would incorporate potential changes for the USF as it develops its national broadband plan for Congress. Matsui's proposed bill, the Broadband Affordability Act of 2009, would have the FCC "establish a broadband program that provides low-income Americans living in rural and urban areas with assistance in subscribing to affordable broadband internet service." The new legislation would in effect expand the USF's [+]

Skype has shut down Extras, its developer program, because the company said it was not being used by enough developers to warrant continuing it, according to a TechCrunch post. The program allowed developers to make Skype-based plugins that use the Skype network in other applications, but commentators like Michael Arrington and Om Malik said the program never allowed Skype calling ability to be integrated deeply enough with the other applications to drive significant volume of development activity. Malik held out hope that Skype's new owners might institute a more developer friendly program to create new ways to use Skype with third-party applications, which could expand the service's utility and also drive revenue growth. He said the move to shutter Extras would be detrimental to Skype's long-term growth, as the developer community would turn to other services potentially causing innovation around Skype [+]

With an American economy in bad shape many companies are consolidating. Others are for sale, such as Skype. While the Skype deal allows eBay to retain part ownership, Nortel is a different story. Avaya Inc. has won the auction to acquire Nortel Networks (NYSE: NT)' Enterprise Solutions unit and some associated operations, but the firm had to boost its bid from $475 million to $900 to capture the Nortel assets. Avaya staved off a last minute offer from Siemens Enterprise Communication and its private equity partner, Gores Group LLC. The enterprise unit provides landline phone systems to customers on a worldwide basis. In July, Avaya had submitted a $475 million stalking horse offer for the assets and last week that bid was challenged by an undisclosed suitor, which turned out to be the Siemens-Gores offer. The enterprise operation recorded revenues [+]

AT&T wireless service, for which we pay $59 per month, is pathetic in Warsaw Missouri. Lately the service is terrible almost everywhere. iPhone (or, more specifically, iPhone users) are strangling the AT&T network. It’s not a pretty picture for AT&T. AT&T must know what their customers think of their network. If AT&T customers are telling me their tales or woe, they’re telling AT&T. If I were handcuffed to a two-year contract where I was paying big bucks (you can easily end up paying AT&T $150 a month), I’d be pretty emotional if I found out I was lumbered with the appalling levels of service that some folks seem to endure. We started with Cingular wireless and the service was great everywhere in the country. Even back in the old analog phone days (yes, we've been with them quite a while) [+]

eBay wanted to sell Skype a year ago, and the company finally sold Skype yesterday. Retaining a 30-percent interest in Skype, eBay actually came out pretty well on the deal. Now Skype for Asterisk will help even more. Digium, makers of the Asterisk open source PBX, announced the formal launch of Skype for Asterisk, a software load that will allow seamless access to Skype services using Asterisk PBXs. Skype for Asterisk, which was announced at AstriCon Sept. 25, 2008, has been in beta testing with more than 4,000 participants, according to Digium's Pete Engler. The product, which carries a one-time, per-channel license fee of $66, is now available for purchase at the Digium store. Engler, product manager for strategic products for Digium, said the beta group included businesses and VARs that saw the integration of Skype for Asterisk [+]