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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Charter Communications sells $1.25B in notes
August 23, 2012 3:31 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsCharter Communications closed on the public sale of $1.25 billion of senior unsecured notes due 2022 for about $1.22 billion in proceeds. The St. Louis-based cable-TV provider said the notes have an annual interest rate of 5.25 percent and were issued at a price of 99.026 percent of the aggregate principal amount.
MoCA ups Gelphman to VP of marketing, member relations
August 23, 2012 3:29 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsThe Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) recently promoted Rob Gelphman to the newly created position of vice president of marketing and member relations. Prior to his promotion, Gelphman was chair of the marketing work group, a position he held for the last seven years. He continues to report to MoCA president Charles Cerino and the entire board of directors.
Much of W.Va. lacks high-speed Internet access
August 23, 2012 3:25 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsA Federal Communications Commission report shows West Virginia has the highest percentage of residents in the nation without high-speed Internet, but state and company officials say the report is based on old data. About 845,000 West Virginians, or 46 percent of the state's residents, don't have access to broadband Internet service.
AT&T launches Mobile Share plans amid net neutrality debate
August 23, 2012 3:23 pm | by Andrew Berg, Wireless Week | News | CommentsAT&T launched its new shared data plans today, capping off a week marked by controversy over its FaceTime policy. Along with the new plans, AT&T has completely overhauled its online account management page, which now offers a quick overview of a user's account.
The Cable Center names theater after John Malone
August 23, 2012 3:20 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsFueled by a $1 million personal donation in honor of cable industry icon John Malone, The Cable Center announced it had named its theater the John Malone Theater at The Cable Center. The theater will be dedicated during a special celebration on Sept. 7 at The Cable Center.
Comcast RDK picks up steam with addition of Motorola
August 22, 2012 3:51 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsMotorola Mobility became the latest feather in the cap the Comcast Reference Design Kit after announcing this morning that it had struck a licensing agreement with Comcast. Previously announced licensees for the Reference Design Kit (RDK) include itaas, Entropic, Broadcom and, just last week, S3 Group.
Schooled: Cox Business connects students with enhanced technology
August 22, 2012 3:49 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsCox Business provides voice, video, data and Ethernet services to regional K-12 and higher education facilities across it footprint. It currently serves over 5,000 schools, representing more than 3.2 million students, with its services.
FCC: 19M Americans lack broadband access
August 22, 2012 3:47 pm | by Maisie Ramsay, Wireless Week | News | CommentsThe FCC reports that 19 million U.S. residents still lack access to high-speed Internet service, especially in rural and tribal areas. Even if broadband is available, about 100 million Americans - nearly one-third of the population - still don't subscribe to the service, the agency said in a report on broadband access and adoption.
AT&T: FaceTime policy within FCC net neutrality rules
August 22, 2012 3:45 pm | by Andrew Berg, Wireless Week | News | CommentsAT&T says its policy to reserve FaceTime use over a cellular connection for those customers who move to its new Mobile Share plans does not violate the FCC's net neutrality rules. An AT&T exec argued that it has not violated the FCC's rules on transparency or blocking by stopping customers who aren’t on a Mobile Share plan from using FaceTime on its cellular network.
Comcast, Music Choice cue up Hispanic music in VOD
August 22, 2012 3:43 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsComcast said the 500 videos, not all of which are available yet, represented the largest collection of Hispanic music videos and original artist content on a VOD platform. The videos span a variety of Spanish music genres, including pop, rock, romance, tropical, regional and children’s music.
T-Mo goes unlimited; op nixes throttling, tethering
August 22, 2012 3:41 pm | by Andrew Berg, Wireless Week | News | CommentsThe new "Unlimited Nationwide 4G Data" plan will cost $20 per month when added to a Value voice and text plan or $30 per month when added to a Classic voice and text plan. For example, a single line Value plan with unlimited talk and text combined with unlimited data will cost $69.99, or a single line Classic plan with unlimited talk, unlimited text and unlimited data will cost $89.99.
Ericsson debuts encoder for mobile video
August 22, 2012 3:40 pm | by Brian Santo | Products | CommentsEricsson is on the verge of hitting the market with a new HEVC/H.265 encoder for the delivery of live and linear TV over mobile networks to mobile devices. The device, based on the H.265 proposed standard, nearly doubles compression rates, making it especially desirable for transmission of video on LTE networks, where bandwidth is an even more limited resource than elsewhere.
Lantiq prepares for VoLTE home gateway
August 22, 2012 3:37 pm | by Brian Santo | Products | CommentsThe chip designer is working with two software companies, D2 Technologies and Ecrio, to create a gateway reference design that will support voice over LTE (VoLTE) services in consumers’ homes. VoLTE, a software stack built around the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), provides native voice and other rich media services on LTE networks.
Vecima hires financial firm
August 22, 2012 3:34 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsVecima Networks said it has retained the services of a financial advisor. Stifel Nicolaus & Co. will assist the Vecima board of directors in exploring and evaluating a range of strategic alternatives to maximize value for the company's shareholders.
Cox to commercialize home security services
August 22, 2012 3:32 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsAfter a trial in its Arizona market, the MSO is ready to start rolling out security services in other markets before the end of this year; the company promoted Vince Groff to continue to lead the operation. Now that the company is set to start commercializing the service, it has promoted Vince Groff to general manager of the new business.
