Broadband

Roku raises $60M from Hearst, News Corp, others

May 29, 2013 4:09 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments

Roku Inc., the streaming video device maker, said Wednesday that it has raised $60 million in its sixth round of funding. Media giant Hearst Corp. and an unnamed institutional investor joined existing backers such as News Corp. and its subsidiary British Sky Broadcasting in the round.

Cisco: M2M manifests; video still driving global traffic

May 29, 2013 1:51 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

According to the company's latest global Internet traffic report, M2M Internet traffic has begun to have a measurable impact on global IP networks. The latest version of the annual Visual Networking Index also attested to the ongoing nature of other well-known trends: on a global basis, more people are getting connected, data consumption is increasing, and video represents a growing constituent element of global traffic.

HomeGrid Forum and HomePNA Alliance merge

May 28, 2013 2:13 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

The merged organization, operating under the HomeGrid Forum name, will continue to support both G.hn and HomePNA. With G.hn-based products beginning to hit the market, the merger creates an organization that will guide those planning new networks based on G.hn as well as migrating from earlier network technologies to G.hn.

Oi taps home Wi-Fi routers for public access

May 28, 2013 2:05 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

The Brazilian telecommunications provider is preparing to commercialize a technology that North American MSOs have been only talking about so far: the ability to partition residential Wi-Fi routers to use some of the bandwidth for public mobile access. Oi is using enabling technology from Aptilo Networks.

Casa Systems debuts CCAP platform

May 28, 2013 1:59 pm | by Brian Santo | Product Releases | Comments

When fully loaded, the C100G can support 8,000 downstreams. The system is a highly available, fully redundant, integrated CCAP (I-CCAP) platform does exactly what CCAP was meant to do: it enables MSOs to deploy MPEG video, IP video (IPTV) and/or DOCSIS broadband over any single port.

Report: Some smart TV owners not connecting to Internet

May 28, 2013 12:31 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

Smart TVs are making their way into living rooms, but fewer than half of them are actually connecting to the Internet, according to a recent study by Analysys Mason. The consumer survey included five responses from five European companies and the United States,

Dish and Ntelos forge broadband pact

May 24, 2013 1:20 pm | by Associated Press | News | Comments

Satellite TV provider Dish Network and regional cellphone company Ntelos said Friday that they have agreed to develop a fixed-mobile broadband service within Ntelos' coverage area. The area in question covers customers in Virginia, West Virginia and parts of Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kentucky.

MEF unveils new service operations committee

May 24, 2013 12:17 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

The Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) recently formed its services operations committee, which was designed to define, streamline and standardize processes for buying, selling, delivering and operating MEF-defined services. Allan Langfield, senior director of product development at Comcast Business, and Shahar Steiff, AVP business operations at PCCW Global, were tabbed as the co-chairs of the service operations committee.

FCC kicks off Phase II of Connect America Fund

May 23, 2013 1:32 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

The FCC announced Phase II of the Connect America Fund, extending the program designed to encourage the extension of broadband networks to reach unserved and underserved Americans, mostly in rural areas. The announcement was hailed by phone companies, but was met with disappointment by the smaller cable operators who typically provide services in the areas targeted by the fund.

Cox steps up to aid Oklahoma tornado victims

May 23, 2013 12:56 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

Cox Communications and parent company Cox Enterprises have stepped up to the plate to help customers that were impacted by the tornado that hit the Oklahoma City area on Monday. Cox is offering its TV Everywhere app outside of customers' homes in the affected area.

TWC promotes Picciolo to SVP of technical operations, residential

May 23, 2013 12:49 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | Comments

Effective immediately, Time Warner Cable executive Deborah Picciolo was promoted to the newly created position of senior vice president of technical operations, residential. In her new role, Picciolo reports to John Keib, executive vice president, chief care and technical operations officer.

Clearwire board likes new Sprint bid

May 22, 2013 1:52 pm | by Ben Munsen, Wireless Week | News | Comments

Clearwire’s board of directors is recommending its shareholders vote in favor of Sprint’s revised bid to buy out the wireless wholesaler. Only hours before Clearwire’s shareholders were scheduled to vote Tuesday on Sprint’s offer to buy the nearly half of Clearwire it doesn’t already own, Sprint boosted the offer. Sprint’s new bid of $3.40 per share represents a 14 percent premium over the previous offer of $2.97 per share.

Consoles from Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony compared

May 22, 2013 1:49 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments

The new Xbox One debuts nearly eight years after the Xbox 360 went on sale. It follows last fall's debut of Nintendo's Wii U and a preview in February of the upcoming PlayStation 4 from Sony. Each machine has a set of features designed to draw gamers away from rival consoles, but the one thing all three have in common is that they are about more than gaming and include entertainment services such as television, movies and music.

Microsoft touts Xbox One as all-in-1 entertainment

May 22, 2013 1:36 pm | by The Associated Press | News | Comments

The new console wants to be the one system households will need for games, television, movies, sports and other entertainment. People will be able to connect their cable or satellite set-top box and watch TV through the Xbox One. It will have its own channel guide and allow viewers to change channels by voice command.

Broadband adoption up in Q1

May 21, 2013 2:03 pm | by Brian Santo | News | Comments

Broadband adoption continues to increase, with the biggest Internet service providers in the U.S., estimated to have attracted a net of 1.1 million additional subscribers in the first quarter of 2013. Meanwhile, the most recent quarter’s results indicate total video subscribership may actually be shrinking.