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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
NBC Sports democratizes streaming
April 12, 2013 1:51 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsCablevision, Comcast Xfinity TV, Suddenlink and Verizon FiOS customers are the first to receive NBC Sports Network content, with more to come. NBC, NBC Sports Network and Golf Channel plan to stream more than 4,000 hours and 1,000 events and programs in 2013.
DoJ signs off on Moto/Arris deal
April 12, 2013 12:29 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsArris announced this morning that the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) had signed off on its $2.235 billion deal to buy Motorola Mobility’s Home division from Google.With the DoJ stamp of approval in hand, Arris has cleared all of the regulatory hurdles and expects the transaction to close “on or about April 17.”
Aereo: Cable’s retrans friend
April 12, 2013 12:14 pm | by Mike Robuck | Blogs | CommentsIt was a busy week for Aereo, including comments that emerged from broadcasters at the NAB conference in Las Vegas. Aereo’s business model is a direct threat to broadcasters, but if it emerges victorious in court it could be beneficial to some cable operators. One cable operator executive said that Aereo’s use case was “more of an opportunity than a threat for the MSOs.”
Midcontinent authenticating via social media
April 11, 2013 1:49 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsMidcontinent is among the first service providers to offer their subscribers the Social Login feature from Synacor as a means to simultaneously authenticate for TV Everywhere content when their customers log in to their Facebook, Twitter or Google accounts.
United Fiber goes with Entone for hybrid TV
April 11, 2013 1:43 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsThe subsidiary of the United Electric Cooperative is using Entone’s FusionTV to deliver both linear and over-the-top content on the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network it is building in rural Missouri, using money from the Broadband Stimulus.
Cogeco’s Q2 buoyed by ABB acquisition
April 11, 2013 1:37 pm | by Brian Santo | News | CommentsThe MSO reported finishing the quarter with a total of 2.48 million, with 1.9 million Canadian customers and half a million U.S. customers (ABB). In the American cable services segment, PSU increased by 7K in the quarter, with growth in both television and internet subscribership.
Storey takes the helm as CEO of Level 3
April 11, 2013 1:09 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsLevel 3 announced this morning that its board of directors had promoted chief operating officer Jim Storey to CEO. Storey takes over the tiller from longtime CEO Jim Crowe, who announced last month that he was stepping down by year’s end.
Report: NTT top telecom service provider for spending, revenue
April 11, 2013 1:04 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsWhen it comes to revenue and capital expenditures, NTT still ruled the telecom service provider roost worldwide last year, according a recent study. Infonetics Research’s report said the world’s top-three service providers in 2012 by revenue were, in order, NTT, AT&T and Verizon.
TWBC expands fiber reach in Staten Island
April 11, 2013 12:54 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsIn order to better serve businesses, Time Warner Cable Business Class (TWCBC) has expanded its fiber-optic build out in the New York City area to the West Shore of Staten Island. TWCBC partnered with the Staten Island Economic Development Corp. (SIEDC) to bring faster data speeds into the West Shore area.
Aereo: Fox affiliates 'on board' with pay TV plan
April 10, 2013 12:59 pm | by Associated Press | News | CommentsTelevision stations that relay Fox programming are "on board" with a threat to transition the over-the-air network to cable and satellite TV if Internet startup Aereo keeps reselling Fox's signal without paying for rights, the chairman of a Fox group said Tuesday. Chase Carey, the chief operating officer of News Corp., raised the threat Monday amid a legal battle with Aereo.
SeaChange issues weak fiscal 1Q outlook
April 10, 2013 12:51 pm | by Associated Press | News | CommentsSeaChange International Inc. shares sank in after-hours trading Tuesday after the video software company issued a disappointing forecast. The Acton, Mass.-based company posted net income of $7 million, or 21 cents per share, for its fiscal fourth quarter that ended Jan. 31. That compares with a loss of $4.8 million, or 15 cents per share, for the same quarter of the prior year.
Adobe Primetime launches with Comcast, NBC Sports
April 10, 2013 12:45 pm | by Mike Robuck | Products | CommentsAdobe Systems’ Adobe Primetime got out of the starting blocks at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) conference this week in Las Vegas sporting Comcast Cable and NBC Sports Group as the first two customers for the multi-screen platform.
Cox, Verizon Wireless combo bundle drops into Vegas, Arizona
April 10, 2013 12:39 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsCox Communications and Verizon Wireless have launched their combined offering of cable, phone, Internet and wireless services in metro Phoenix, Southern Arizona and Las Vegas. The bundling deal, which was first announced in December of 2011, allows subscribers to pick their service preferences from a range of offers that include video, Internet, home phone and 4G LTE wireless services.
Aereo: Fox exec threatens to pull signal
April 9, 2013 12:39 pm | by Associated Press | News | CommentsA top executive with the owner of the Fox broadcast network on Monday threatened to convert the network to a pay-TV-only channel if Internet startup Aereo Inc. continues to "steal" Fox's over-the-air signal and sell it to consumers without paying for rights.
Shaw buys Enmax, field trials 400 Gbps
April 9, 2013 12:24 pm | by Mike Robuck | News | CommentsShaw Communications and Alcatel-Lucent have laid claim on the first successful field trial in North America for 400 Gbps data transmissions over a live network. Using Alcatel-Lucent's 1830 PSS with the 400G Photonic Service Engine (PSE), the trial ran over a 400 kilometer route between Calgary and Edmonton in Alberta, Canada.


