The dream of a nationwide public safety broadband network got a step closer to reality this week as the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee passed legislation designating spectrum and funding for a first-responder long-term evolution grid. The measure passed with bipartisan support 21-4 and now moves to the full Senate. (more…)
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Archive for the ‘Broadband/FTTX’ Category
How big is AT&T’s bet on T-Mobile? Report says $6B
AT&T is so confident it can win approval for its $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA, it’s putting down a $6 billion non-refundable deposit—at least according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters. AT&T had already named the $3 billion in cash it would have to fork over to Deutsche Telekom if the deal fell through, but it also promised to pony up an international roaming agreement and spectrum of unspecified value and quantity (CP: AT&T: T-mobile deal would produce bigger, better operator). According to the Reuters report, that spectrum is valued at $2 billion while the roaming agreement would be worth another $1 billion. (more…)
Will Comcast get to 100 Mb/s to the home fastest?
With all the talk of broadband this week, the timing is fishy for Comcast to start talking about how it believes it will be able to double the households it reaches with 100 Mb/s Internet service this year. The bump up in speed comes as the MSO continues to roll out DOCSIS 3.0-compatible gear across its network and will ultimately result in a new, high-bandwidth service tier, the company said. For the telco industry, the timing is even worse as Verizon this week seemed to confirm its fiber-fed FiOS deployments may be slowing, especially in smaller regions where it doesn’t already have a video franchise.
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Nortel’s name likely dies with Genband sale
When Nortel Networks decided to auction itself off in pieces, its name was of the items on block. But now with its last business unit slated to go to Genband, Nortel hasn’t found anyone interested in taking up the moniker despite its long history in the industry. (more…)
Wal-Mart buys Vudu; enters OTT delivery fray?
Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) has agreed to acquire over-the-top (OTT) content provider Vudu, according to a New York Times report today. Terms of the acquisition weren’t released, but the 
companies reportedly informed Vudu’s Hollywood studios and TV manufacturers of the deal today. The acquisition could make Wal-Mart, already a leader in DVD sales, a formidable competitor in OTT service delivery as well.
Vudu started offering its service with a required standalone set-top box (STB) three years ago. But, following a difficult business case, it transitioned to embedding its software into Blu-Ray players, IPTV STBs and high-definition TVs from LG Electronics, Vizio and Mitsubishi, and more recently announced partners Samsung, Sanyo and Toshiba. The company has also sought partnerships with independent telcos looking for a cheaper alternative than IPTV and distinguished itself with a focus on HD content and expansion into applications and Web services. (more…)
YouTube Dashboard puts undue pressure on ISPs
It seems that most of Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) attempts to help consumers end up hurting Internet Service Providers (ISPs) the most. Now it’s getting its video site YouTube involved in the fray as well. YouTube today launched a new Video Speed Dashboard, a graphical depiction of users’ download speed and how it compares to other users on their ISP, nearby subscribers to other ISPs and the state, national and global averages. (more…)
Is Google fiber network a product — or a prod to carriers?
If Google’s announcement today that it plans to “enter the fiber business” or “take on ISPs” — as many news outlets hyperbolically reported — had a familiar ring to it, it should.
The search giant’s move today to announce plans to build a test high-speed fiber-to-the-home network is right in line with earlier efforts to build an experimental wifi network. That wireless move was accompanied by expressed interest — or threats, depending on how you look at it — to take the next step and purchase then-at-auction 700 Mhz spectrum to build its own wireless infrastructure, as well as loud debate about how such a network would, and should, be open to all types of content and services.
As it turned out, Google never did get into the wireless network business. Not a big surprise if you run a network — which is a tough, capital-intensive industry nothing like Google’s core advertising, software and media businesses. But there’s no doubt Google’s prodding on the network front (and to be fair, it’s development and release of the Android operating system too) helped to lead to today’s much more “open” and competitive wireless market, even if only indirectly.
Without Google’s championing of open mobile, it’s unlikely the mobile ecosystem would look like it does today.
Which leads us to today’s fiber-to-the-home announcement.
Frontier goes OTT as telcos say IPTV isn’t selling
Frontier Communications (NYSE:FTR) launched a new Web site and service, my fitv, over the weekend that will act as a single source for Web content including local content, videos, entertainment and news. Frontier is pitching the free over-the-top search engine with the tag line “search less, watch more.” (more…)