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Tag: comcast

  • Verizon Signs Agreements for Four IP VoIP Interconnections despite Continuous Regulatory Issues


    Verizon has reached an agreement with four new service providers for IP VoIP program, though it has to overcome numerous regulatory challenges. The company has made agreements for IP VoIP interconnections with Comcast, Vonage as well as six other providers.

    Despite making progress on the deals, Verizon in a filing made to the FCC said that it is hoping to create an environment where service providers can deploy the services rapidly. The company holds that the commission should lead the IP transition on a natural and market driven migration of the clients to the packet-switched VoIP service from the circuit-switched TDM.

    Verizon has formulated its own agreement for IP interconnections that is hoped to provide a national structured agreement for service providers who are in need of exchanging VoIP traffic. However, the company notes that the recent regulatory decisions in Massachusetts and Michigan may interfere with the IP transition.

    The company notes that the backward looking regulations may disrupt the immense progress that has been made and is continuously being made in the industry through commercial agreements and negotiations.

    However, not everyone agrees with Verizon on the matter. The chief advocate of COMPTEL, Angie Kronenberg noted that states do not have to wait for IP interconnection issues to follow actions taken by the FCC. Kronenberg noted that states should be allowed to use their authority to address issues to do with interconnections in cases where the parties do not reach into an agreement.

  • Is Apple Manufacturing an HDTV?

    Even though it’s yet an unconfirmed rumor, it’s difficult not to get excited. According to a series of Tweets from industry insiders and an upcoming report by Jeffries, Apple is currently in production on their own HDTV, to come to market in 2013.

    The Jeffries report has not yet been released, so regrettably none of the details can be confirmed. But according to an industry analyst with access to the report, Apple will partner with Verizon and AT&T to handle the service for the Apple HDTV, or iTV as it will be called.

    Customers who don’t want to change out their current cable provider will still be able to get on the Apple bandwagon. The iTV will also sell as a set-top box for Comcast and the other regional providers. Initial reports put the first iTV at a retail price of $1,250, and Apple expects to ship as many as two million units by the end of 2013.

    Of course, this isn’t the first report on an Apple HDTV to come from Jeffries. Near the beginning of the year they suggested a forthcoming product called the iPanel, at around that same price break, and that five million of the devices would be produced by the end of 2012.

    Those rumors seem to be picking up more support as the months pass. The Wall Street Journal has started discussing Apple’s HDTV release, even suggesting it would link directly to the iCloud, to allow for both live and on-demand television services.

    Time will tell if any of these rumors are true. Hopefully Apple will shed some further light on their HDTV at this fall’s new product release conference.

  • Comcast and GE Form Venture and Take Control of NBC

    Comcast and General Electric announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture that will be 51 percent owned by Comcast, 49 percent owned by GE and managed by Comcast.

    The joint venture will consist of the NBC Universal businesses and Comcast’s cable networks, regional sports networks and certain digital properties and certain unconsolidated investments.

    A portfolio of cable networks and regional sports networks will account for about 80 percent of the new venture cash flow, including USA, Bravo, Syfy, E!, Versus, CNBC and MSNBC. The campanies assure the joint venture will be financially strong “with a robust cash-flow-generation capability.”

    GE will contribute to the joint venture NBCU’s businesses valued at $30 billion, including its cable networks, filmed entertainment, televised entertainment, theme parks, and unconsolidated investments, subject to $9.1 billion in debt to third party lenders.

    Comcast will contribute its cable networks including E!, Versus and the Golf Channel, its ten regional sports networks, and certain digital media properties, collectively valued at $7.25 billion, and make a payment to GE of approximately $6.5 billion of cash subject to certain adjustments based on various events between signing and closing.

    According to Jeff Immelt, GE Chairman and CEO, the combination of Comcast’s cable and regional sports networks and digital media properties and NBCU will deliver strong returns for GE shareholders and business partners.

    “NBCU has been a great business for GE over the past two decades. We have generated an average annual return of 11 percent, while expanding into cable, movies, parks and international media. We are reducing our ownership stake from 80 percent to 49 percent of a more valuable entity. By doing so, GE gets a good value for NBCU. This transaction will generate approximately $8 billion of cash at closing with an expected small after-tax gain,” he said.

    Comcast also announced the creation of Comcast Entertainment Group (CEG), which will house Comcast’s interest in the joint venture and will stand alongside Comcast Cable, which operates the company’s traditional cable business.

    Headquarters for the business will remain in New York. The joint venture board will have three directors nominated by Comcast and two nominated by GE.

    Jeff Zucker, current president and CEO of NBCU, will be CEO of the new joint venture and will report to Steve Burke, Comcast Chief Operating Officer. Zucker said, “I’m genuinely excited that I will be leading this wonderful organization, along with the Comcast team, at this important time in our history."

  • FCC Inquiry Into Comcast


    The departing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Kevin Martin announced another investigation is to be launched into Comcast shortly before leaving his post.

    The regulatory agency is to focus on allegations that Comcast is deliberately downgrading its rivals’ phone services.

    Among those whose sound quality is said to have been affected are Vonage and Skype, competitors of Comcast’s own VOIP service.

    The FCC has ordered Comcast to reply to the inquiry by 30 January.

    Comcast has responded by saying it has "fully complied" with the FCC’s so-called congestion-management practices and that it is "reviewing the FCC staff’s letter".

    Julius Genachowski is expected to be named as the next head of the FCC.

  • DirectTV says high definition content is helping attract new subscribers

    The US’s leading provider of HDTV has credited its 95 channels of HD content as one of the main reason for increasing subscribers even as the economy falters.
    Paul Guyardo, DirecTV’s chief marketing officer, said the company had not been greatly affected by the US economic slowdown.
    DirecTV added 275,000 subscribers in the first quarter, compared to just 35,000 for rival Dish Network.
    He attributed the satcaster’s market-leading HD offering as a major factor in the increase.
    “I don’t want to say that we are recession-proof, but I will say that we have not been dramatically affected by the recession,” Guyardo told Advertising Age.
    “Right now is a time when people don’t necessarily have those discretionary dollars to go out to entertainment outside of the house.
    “And so now more than ever, they’re turning to their television as a source of entertainment. And at the end of the day, DirecTV is an exceptional value.”
    Guyardo said that DirecTV launched an aggressive marketing campaign last year to promote its expanded HD lineup, at a time when many consumers were starting to tighten their belts.
    The satcaster expanded its high-def channel total from nine to more than 70 last Autumn.
    “All of our awareness studies would suggest that people clearly do understand that DirecTV is the undisputed leader in HD,” he said.
    Despite adding only a small number of new high-def channels this year DirecTV is currently the leading US provider of high definition TV programming.
    With a new satellite due to come on-stream, it is unlikely to lose the top spot in the near future and is expected to expand its current offering of 96 national HD channels.
    Dish Network lies in second place, with approximately 80 channels, while the cable operators Comcast, Cablevision and Time Warner offer 40-60 high-def channels in some markets.
    In other markets, this figure drops to less than 30 HD channels.
    Verizon currently has fewer than 40 HD channels but says it will up this to150 by the end of 2008.
    AT&T’s U-Verse TV service also offers around 40 HD channels and hasn’t announced any expansion plans.
    Guyardo said that DirecTV was well positioned to attract future HD subscribers.
    “People are still investing a ton of money in big, flat-screen TVs – HDTVs,” he said.
    “The growth has definitely levelled off, but the growth is still there. And I think they want a quality picture on their 50-inch Plasma.”

  • Sony commits to Tru2way TV

    Sony has signed an agreement with the US’s six largest cable companies to produce a TV that will receive digital signals without the need for a set-top box.
    The Japanese electronics company will make an LCD set based on the Tru2way cable platform introduced in January at CES by Comcast.
    Tru2way allows interactive cable services to be integrated directly into devices without the need for set-top boxes, which are made by companies such as Motorola Inc and Cisco Systems Inc, which owns Scientific Atlanta.
    The agreement is between Sony and Comcast Corp, Time Warner Cable Inc, Cox Communications Inc, Charter Communications Inc, Cablevision Systems Corp and Bright House Networks.
    Between them the six companies serve more than 82 per cent of cable subscribers in the US.
    The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), which represents cable television operators in the US, said customers would still be able to attach their own devices – such as TiVo digital video recorders.
    Under the new system, customers will still need to get a cable card from their provider.
    The cable association said it was hopeful other electronics manufacturers would also agree to use the same technology.
    Kyle McSlarrow, president of NCTA, said the Sony announcement meant they had headed off action by the US’s Federal Communications Commission to impose a two-way standard on the industry.
    Cable companies and consumer electronics manufacturers have been feuding for a decade about how best to deliver cable services to customers while allowing them to buy equipment of their own choosing.
    “Every member of the FCC has encouraged the parties to resolve these highly technical issues in private-sector negotiations,” said McSlarrow.
    “This is a landmark agreement which will provide a national, open and interactive platform resulting in more choices of services and products for consumers.”
    Sony is not the first consumer electronics company to announce a device based on the platform.
    At CES, Panasonic announced two HD televisions and a portable digital video recorder that use Tru2Way.
    And last month, Samsung, the world’s largest producer of HDTVs, announced its own Tru2way TV and high-definition DVR.