Germany is one of Europe’s “laggards” in ultra-fast broadband because of slow fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) take-up, the FTTH Council Europe said Wednesday. Preliminary research showed that only 1 million homes were served by fiber lines at the end of 2011, it said. The German market is dominated by alternative players, often supported by municipalities and utilities, and largely focused on large cities, it said. There are only 166,000 FTTH and fiber-to-the-building subscribers, “a drop in the bucket,” it said. Consumers aren’t very interested in high-speed fiber networks, in part because they're bound by long-term Internet provider contracts and because many of the new connections are either not marketed or marketed badly to end-users, it said. While politicians, carriers and organizations in Germany are still talking about FTTH networks, other countries are rolling them out, it said. It remains to be seen whether 2012 will bring change to Germany’s FTTH stance, said council Director General Hartwig Tauber. For a nation the size of Germany “time is of the essence” in adopting FTTH if the country wants to maintain its leading role as the driving force of the European economy, he said.
Germany is one of Europe’s “laggards” in ultra-fast broadband because of slow fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) take-up, the FTTH Council Europe said Wednesday. Preliminary research showed that only 1 million homes were served by fiber lines at the end of 2011, it said. The German market is dominated by alternative players, often supported by municipalities and utilities, and largely focused on large cities, it said. There are only 166,000 FTTH and fiber-to-the-building subscribers, “a drop in the bucket,” it said. Consumers aren’t very interested in high-speed fiber networks, in part because they're bound by long-term Internet provider contracts and because many of the new connections are either not marketed or marketed badly to end-users, it said. While politicians, carriers and organizations in Germany are still talking about FTTH networks, other countries are rolling them out, it said. It remains to be seen whether 2012 will bring change to Germany’s FTTH stance, said council Director General Hartwig Tauber. For a nation the size of Germany “time is of the essence” in adopting FTTH if the country wants to maintain its leading role as the driving force of the European economy, he said.
The Office of Textiles and Apparel has issued monthly reports containing official November 2011 trade data from the Census Bureau for U.S. imports and exports of textiles and apparel.
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the January 18, 2012 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
A listing of recent antidumping and countervailing duty messages posted to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Web site as of January 17, 2012, along with the case number(s) and CBP message number, is provided below. These messages are available by searching on the listed CBP message number at http://addcvd.cbp.gov.
The International Trade Administration has issued the final results of the antidumping duty administrative review of tapered roller bearings and parts thereof from China (A-570-601) which sets an AD cash deposit rate for three exporters. These rates, which are effective January 17, 2012, are expected to be implemented by U.S. Customs and Border Protection soon.
The Xbox 360 was the best-selling videogame system of 2011 and for December in the U.S., according to data released late last week by NPD. But sales of it and every other system that was available a year ago were weaker last month on a year-over-year basis. The 360 and PS3 were the only systems available the prior year that saw a sales increase for all of 2011 from 2010, NPD said.
The International Trade Administration is publishing notices in the January 13, 2012 Federal Register on the following AD/CV proceedings (any notices that announce changes to AD/CV duty rates, the scope, affected firms, or effective dates will be detailed in another ITT article):
The International Trade Administration has issued the preliminary results of its administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain cut-to-length carbon-quality steel plate products (steel plate) from Korea (A-580-836) for one producer/exporter. These preliminary results are not in effect. They may change in the final results and could affect the estimated cash deposit rate for this company.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has posted a memorandum announcing that the 2012 TRQ for tuna and skipjack, in airtight containers, not in oil, in containers, weighing with their contents not over 7 kg each, which opened on January 3, 2012, exceeded the preliminary TRQ limit at the opening. All entries presented at the over-quota (high) rate since the opening have been charged and may be released. Entries should continue to be submitted at the over-quota rate.