Yahoo! takeover rumors surface; OTE rolls out FTTC in phase 1 of Greece broadband expansion

> Is Yahoo! ripe for a takeover? Rumors are floating around that rival AOL (NYSE: AOL), perhaps with one or two investment firms to back it, is sniffing around the embattled company, the Washington Post reports. Yahoo! snubbed a buyout offer from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) in 2008 but hasn't been able to lift its financial performance at all. Story.

> San Francisco, not nearby Silicon Valley, is experiencing a technology renaissance as Web start-ups and digital media companies move into the city or expand, according to the Wall Street Journal. Twitter and Zynga are notable examples, although with the flash-in-the-pan reputation of many small start-ups, it's unknown how sustainable this revival really is. Story.

> A Pew Research Center study reports that 23 percent of Internet users in the U.S. have tried video calling, the New York Times says. Four percent of Internet users participate in a video call on any given day. Story.

> Syniverse Technologies (NYSE:SVR) is providing roaming business management services across 11 Latin American countries for Telefonica S.A. (NYSE: TEF). The company will help speed implementation of roaming agreements and decrease time to market. News release.

> Cincinnati Bell (NYSE: CBB) will release its third quarter earnings on Nov. 3 after the market closes for the day, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET. News release.

> Greece's former monopoly, OTE, is beginning rollout of direct fiber/VDSL2 broadband services in several municipalities around Athens, Telegeography reports. The first phase of its broadband expansion will be primarily FTTC (fiber to the cabinet) based, with 1,000 street cabinets slated for installation. Story.

> The UK government's announcement that, to improve efficiency, it might reduce its annual telecom services budget sent BT (NYSE: BT) and Cable and Wireless (LSE: CW.L) stocks downward on Tuesday. Fixed-line spending cuts might total GBP 600-800 million ($948 million to $1.26 billion) Story.

And finally... It still isn't part of your spell-check dictionary, but colocation is hot, Connected Planet reports--so much so that colocation centers are having trouble keeping up with demand, with locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. at 75 percent occupied and London's available space averaging less than 10 percent. Story.