According to a report by a United Nations agency the population of the Internet will exceed two billion users this year which is close to the 1/3 of the world population. However, developing countries are significantly far behind the developed world.

 Mintel Compremedia, a service providing competitive intelligence for businesses looking to advance and improve their direct marketing strategy, conducted a survey which showed that people would still prefer contacting their bank at a branch instead of online or email communication. 

 Richard Ketchum, the chief executive of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), said on Wednesday that the financial regulators are facing serious challenges posed by social networking sites as more and more businesses express their desire to communicate with their customers through Facebook and LinkedIn websites.

U.S. wireless carriers Verizon Communications and AT&T declined allegations that their prices for text messages were set in breach of the anti-trust regulation. Sen. Herb Kohl, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee, said he was concerned that the four largest cell phone companies doubled their text message rates from 10 cents in 2006 to 20 cents in 2008.

T-Mobile plans to launch a series of communication devices that will use Google's new Android operating software, reports the New York Times.The paper stated, there were confidential documents that T-Mobile was aiming at selling a home phone running on Android in the beginning of the next year and a tablet computer later.Company spokesman, Peter Dobrow, did not disclose any particular products, although he confirmed plans for devices based on Android, continued the paper.Google’s Android operating system handles basic functions for mobile devices. The system is already run on a T-Mobile cell phone.

Wells Fargo is the latest bank that intends to launch a Twitter feed for its customers under the name The Ask_WellsFargo feed. The site for communication with customers was launched on Thursday and manned by "Joel", that said the bank was "testing this Twitter channel to learn how to best service our customers".

Skype and Nokia announced today that they set up a partnership in the intention to reach the world leadership in Internet communications experience. Skype will be integrated into Nokia devices, starting with the Nokia Nseries, according to the conditions of the collaboration.The Nokia N97 flagship device will be the first to incorporate the Skype experience in the third quarter of 2009.

Verizon Business is a global leader in communications and IT solutions, announced about a continued strong demand for IP-based solution in Q4 of 2008. Sales of strategic services - such as security and IT solutions and a full spectrum of professional and managed IP services that help customers make the most of IP communications, infrastructure, network and technology -- generated $1.5 billion in income in the Q4, up 8.4 percent from the Q4 0f 2007.

CheckFree, now part of Fiserv, Inc., has announced that Raymond James Financial, Inc. has selected the CheckFree UMA solution for its models-only program, deepening an extensive client relationship that began in 2004. As part of its models-only program, which is scheduled to launch during the first quarter of 2009, CheckFree will provide Raymond James with its CheckFree Model Management Solution (MMS) to serve as a communications portal for model updates and further streamline the UMA program.

[img_assist|nid=11029|title=|desc=|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=90]As per recent reports the US Justice Department released an approval to Verizon's acquisition of Alltel which is selling off its assets in 22 states. This will allow Verizon to establish the largest mobile operator in the USA. Verizon has been working with the Justice Department to identify areas where the combined company might be at risk of holding a monopoly and the total number of such areas amounted 100.