AP to boost Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent claims the Asia-Pacific region, particularly India and China, will remain the company's major driver of revenue growth fuelled by technology convergence, reports The Wall Street Journal.

Revenue contributions from the Asia-Pacific region will likely rise further from the third-quarter's 19% of total revenue, Sean Dolan, president for Alcatel-Lucent Asia-Pacific notes.

Dolan says growth in the region will be driven by demand for the convergence of fixed-line and wireless networks by carriers to improve cost efficiencies, and demand for third-generation mobile services with wider bandwidths.

Microsoft chief software architect Ray Ozzie revealed partial availability of the Azure cloud computing platform and the SQL Azure hosted database during the Professional Developer Conference, reports PC Mag.

Microsoft also unveiled a project codenamed Dallas, which gives developer access to third-party information sources.

“The vision of Azure,” says Ozzie, is "three screens and a cloud, meaning Internet-based data and software that plays equally well on PCs, mobile devices, and TVs”.

Xhead = UK wastes £264m on calls

ICT provider Damovo has revealed research showing that poor mobile phone usage policies and a failure to utilise office WiFi networks are costing UK businesses £264 million (R3.3billion) in wasted call costs, states CIO.

The company says UK large businesses could save millions of pounds each year by making better use of WiFi and the latest fixed-mobile convergence technology.

“With mobiles, and particularly smartphones, becoming the device of choice and replacing the office phone as the primary business tool, many organisations are facing escalating mobile bills,” says Glyn Owen, portfolio manager at Damovo.