Broadband Cable Association of Pennsylvania

Motorola Inc. said it entered a deal with Microsoft Corp. under which the U.S. software maker will provide search and map capabilities on Motorola's new smart phones, with the new offering to be launched in China in the current quarter. Motorola Wednesday said the alliance will give its customers a choice when using search and map functions on the company's Android-based devices. Android is a mobile operating platform developed by Google and other alliance partners. The alliance between Motorola and Microsoft comes as Microsoft's main rival in search engine and mobile platforms, Google Inc., is embroiled in a spat with the Chinese government over Internet censorship that could lead the Google to withdraw operations from China. Analysts have said that Motorola, which has been relying on its ties with Google to push into the competitive cellphone market in China, may need to look at other partnership opportunities should Google pull out of the country. Motorola currently sells four handset models in China that use Google's operating system, but the handsets are fully customizable and do not ship exclusively with Google software. In January, the company announced a similar partnership with Chinese Internet search company Baidu Inc. under which Baidu searches would also be available through software packaged with new Motorola Android phones, a Motorola spokesman said. Tens of millions of users in China use Google, which is the second most popular search engine in the market after Baidu, but if the company is forced to close its Chinese Web site, Motorola and other handset makers using Android may need the option to add search software by Google's rivals. As part of the partnership, Microsoft will deploy its Bing search engine services on Motorola's devices. The search and map services through Microsoft will initially be available in China, starting in the first quarter this year. The capabilities will be preloaded on new devices and will also be available as updates for devices already in the market. Microsoft's Bing search engine competes against Google, whose Internet search and map functions account for the bulk of the U.S. search engine market. Wall Street Journal

Although Verizon reached an agreement with North Londonderry Township in November 2008 to provide cable services, a small portion of the township has not yet been hooked up.Verizon spokesman Lee Gierczynski said Wednesday that FiOS television and Internet service is now available to about 92 percent of the 2,782 households in the township. "The build-out schedule for the fiber-optic network as outlined in the cable franchise agreement typically is a minimum of three years but varies in length depending on the size of the municipality," Gierczynski wrote in an e-mail. The agreement approved with North Londonderry on Nov. 17, 2008, is for 10 years. Verizon FiOS "is a data communications service provided by Verizon that uses fiber optic cables to transfer data," according to the Web site techterms.com. Verizon offers FiOS Internet and television to about 7,900 customers in the borough of Palmyra and South Londonderry and North Londonderry townships. FiOS Internet service is provided to 5,100 Verizon customers in the city of Lebanon, the borough of Cornwall and North Annville, North Cornwall, South Lebanon and West Cornwall townships. There are no plans to expand the network in the immediate future, Gierczynski wrote. "This is a good example of why Verizon has taken a pause in pursuing new franchise agreements to assess and complete the build-out commitments we have in existing franchise areas," Gierczynski wrote. Lebanon Daily News