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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Liberty sees $2.13 B Q2 net loss, revenue up 34%
August 14, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsNewly independent Liberty Media saw its second-quarter revenue rise by 34 percent, but reports a net loss of $2.13 billion, or 82 cents a share. The company, which split from AT&T last week, also expects to acquire a 100 percent interest in six of Deutsche Telekom's nine cable TV companies sometime in the next few weeks.
MFN revenue exceeds guidance; misses finance deadline
August 14, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsMetromedia Fiber Networks Inc.'s contingency-heavy commitment from Citicorp ran out today with no resolution on the hoped-for financing. The company also reported a second-quarter net loss of $205 million, or 34 cents a share, although its $91.7 million in revenue exceeded its guidance. MFN on Aug. 1 had announced a two-week extension on a commitment letter from Citicorp, which would ensure $62.
TI strikes new alliance, expands a second
August 13, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsTexas Instruments launched one strategic alliance and expanded another. LightPointe will use TI's analog micro electro-mechanical system and digital signal processing technology in its Flight free-space-optics products. LightPointe says it's using the optical technology to develop a next-generation tracking system for customers' high-speed networks.
A Novo to buy BSI, shows Q3 net loss
August 13, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsA Novo Broadband Inc. agreed to buy Broadband Services Inc.'s repair business for about $8 million, expecting the deal to generate $10 million in revenue by the end of FY 2002. The company also showed a third-quarter net loss of $613,542 on revenue of $3 million. A Novo says it will pay $8 million in cash and assumed liabilities for BSI, resulting in $10 million in incremental broadband equipme...
NCTA: 5.5 M subs in four years 'Not bad'
August 13, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCable operators picked up an extra 920,000 cable modem subscribers during the second quarter, or more than 70,000 a month, bringing the U.S. total to 5.5 million. And don't be dissing that number, pollsters say. It's not bad for four-year growth. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association surveyed its members and says the industry showed solid increases in deployment of broadband s...
Covad settles Calif. class action suit
August 12, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCovad Communications Group Inc. signed a memorandum of understanding with lead plaintiffs in a securities class action lawsuit filed in a California federal court. The DSL provider says it will contribute to a settlement fund shares equal to 3.5 percent of its fully diluted common stock as of Aug. 10.
Narad: Chip set lets cable top DSL speed
August 12, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsNarad Networks Inc. took on the DSL world with a new chip set that it says allows 1,000 times the capacity of DSL over existing HFC infrastructures, it announced today. The Ultra Broadband Modem chip set enables full-duplex gigabit Ethernet transmission on the coaxial part of the HFC plant by using spectrum in the plant between 860 MHz and 2 GHz.
Excite approves S-A cable modem
August 12, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsScientific-Atlanta's WebStar DPX110 cable modem landed ExciteAtHome's AtHome Level 2 approval, confirming the modem's integration, interoperability and provisioning in Excite's DOCSIS network environment, S-A says. The modem is CableLabs certified, as well, S-A says, and is compatible with DOCSIS, Euro-DOCSIS and CE standards.
CS: Customers rate cable lower than low
August 9, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsThat's pretty bad. No, that's really bad. Cable companies are "their own worst enemies," and landed the lowest ratings of any service provider ever rated — "even lower than those for technical support from computer manufacturers," Consumer Reports magazine says. The magazine conducted a survey of satellite, cable and digital cable customers, in part to determine satisfaction levels, and f...
FCC: High-speed Internet access up 158% last year
August 9, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsInternet via cable modem jumped 57 percent in the second half of 2000, with a total 3.6 million connections, a Federal Communications Commission study says. Full-year growth reached 152 percent. By contrast, ADSL reached 2 million connections in the second half, a solid 108 percent growth for those six months.
Korea Thrunet to bid for Powercomm stake
August 8, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsKorea Thrunet Co. Ltd. says it intends to bid on Korea Electric Power Corp.'s 30 percent stake in Powercomm. KEPCO, which owns 89.5 percent of Powercomm, plans to sell the stake in a single block and transfer management control to the buyer. The buyer also will get an option to pick up an additional 5 percent in shares as part of the deal.
Nortel seeks $1 B in convertible stock offering
August 8, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsOn the heels of Lucent Technologies' landmark convertible stock offering last week, Nortel Networks Corp. announced its intent to follow suit. The company says it expects to raise $1 billion through a private offering of convertible senior notes, all or substantially all of which will go to its operating subsidiary, Nortel Networks Ltd.
Ergen: EchoStar 'pleased' at GM interest
August 8, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsIt's always nice when your sincere $32 billion offer is taken seriously. EchoStar Communications Corp. issued an announcement, stating it was "pleased" at General Motors' public interest in the satellite company's unsolicited pitch for Hughes Electronics Corp. GM's CFO John Devine has told reporters the company is treating EchoStar's offer as a serious bid.
EchoStar outlines combo company's place
August 7, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsEchoStar Chair and CEO Charles Ergen did the math for analysts in a conference call regarding his company's unsolicited bid for Hughes Electronics. Aside from financials, Ergen said a combined company would be slightly larger than AT&T, although AT&T Broadband's potential consolidation "by the time we would consummate this deal," would land EchoStar-Hughes a distant No.
Digital cable ads to hit Phoenix market
August 7, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCableRep Advertising and SeaChange International Inc. demonstrated digital cable ad insertion in Cox Communications' headends in Chandler, Ariz. Cox, parent of CableRep, reports that multiple insertions originating from a SeaChange spot ad insertion system, each comprising two, 30-second ads, were done in local breaks for 10 networks, including ESPNEWS, CNNSI and Discovery Wings.
