Under the Act, the Secretary of State, as well as British Telecom, could licence other operators to run telecom systems.

BBC: BT: From telegraphs to the internet

Telco makes electronic components and undersea telecom systems.

FORBES: This is a transcript of the After Hours Market Update.

North America accounted for 83% of LTE device shipments in 2011, according to Signals and Systems Telecom.

WSJ: U.K.'s 4G Auction a Missed Opportunity for Real Competition

Several HomePlug member companies are making significant contributions to the development of IEEE P1905, including Broadcom, Cisco Systems, France Telecom, Qualcomm Atheros, Ralink, Sigma Designs, SPiDCOM Technologies and STMicroelectronics.

ENGADGET: HomePlug and IEEE want our home networks to play nice, talk to each other

While few rural Africans have landlines, mobile telephone ownership is rapidly increasing, and companies such as Kenyan telecom provider, Safaricom, have already introduced systems that allow subscribers to transfer money via cell-phones.

WSJ: Unlocking Africa's Energy Potential

Its systems are in 12 of the 20 largest global telecom firms, a third of the 50 largest banks, 3 of the 4 largest retailers, and 7 of the 10 largest international airlines.

FORBES: The Resurrection of NCR

Among the largest underlying components of VBK, in trading today Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. ( NASD: LECO) is down about 0.1%, TW Telecom Inc ( NASD: TWTC) is trading flat, and Cadence Design Systems Inc ( NASD: CDNS) is higher by about 0.9%.

FORBES: Noteworthy ETF Inflows: VBK, LECO, TWTC, CDNS

Telecom gear maker UTStarcom grew tenfold in four years by selling low-cost phone systems in China, then suddenly stumbled.

FORBES: China's Richest 200

Cisco Systems (nasdaq: CSCO - news - people) signed a contract with China Telecom to provide 500 Cisco 12000 and 12400 Internet routers.

FORBES: Focus On The Forbes 500s