Netflix continued to rake in subscribers, moving well above the 100 million mark despite earnings per share results that were slightly below expectations. In the April to June quarter, Netflix pulled in 5.2 million additional customers, raising its total subscriber figure from nearly 99 million in the first quarter to a hair under 104 million. […]
FirstNews Briefs: Sandvine and Procera, AT&T, Sprint, U.S. Cellular
Private equity firm Francisco Partners is set to acquire Sandvine for some $44 million ($562 million Canadian), and merge the company with Procera Networks. The cash price of $4.40 per share figures out to a 40 percent premium on top of Sandvine’s closing stock price of $2.48 per share on May 25. Ontario-based Sandvine is […]
Cable’s Malone, Buffett Reportedly Eyeing Billion-Dollar Sprint Investment
Buffett Reportedly Considering $20B Stake in Sprint, Cable’s Malone in Talks As Well
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett and cable magnate John Malone are reportedly weighing whether to pour billions of dollars into recovering U.S. wireless carrier Sprint. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, which was independently verified by Reuters, Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is considering taking between a $10 billion and $20 billion stake in […]
AT&T CEO: Reports of Restructuring for Time Warner Deal Are “Speculation”
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson on Friday sought to squash a Bloomberg report that claimed AT&T would reorganize as part of its Time Warner deal, saying the article was rife with “speculation.” Stephenson’s response was filed by CNBC early Friday morning, just a few hours after Bloomberg reported AT&T was planning to restructure to accommodate Time […]
AT&T Says New Platform Will Finally Bring Cloud DVR to DirecTV Now
Hang in there, DirecTV Now users, cloud DVR is finally on its way. Addressing a major omission from its DirecTV Now offering, AT&T says an upgraded platform will finally bring cloud DVR capabilities to the streaming service. According a Thursday release from the carrier, beta tests of the new platform are set to kick off […]
Michigan Seniors Get A Boost From Xfinity Communities
Senior residents in Novi, Michigan’s Fox Run Retirement Community will now be able to surf the web at lightning speeds thanks to internet and WiFi upgrades from Comcast. The operator this week announced it is providing its Advanced Communities Network (ACN) services to the more than 1,200 residents in the complex. Comcast’s Xfinity ACN is […]
Report: Smart Cities A $1.2B Market by 2022
Smart city announcements have been trickling out, as carriers like AT&T and Verizon and vendors like Nokia and Ericsson make acquisitions and form municipal partnerships in the nascent space. But that trickle will soon become a flood, according to a recent report from MarketsandMarkets. The firm’s research indicates smart cities are on track to grow […]
Grande Continues Texas Gig Deployments in Corpus Christi
Texas-based broadband company Grande Communications is continuing gigabit deployments in its home state, this time bringing the high-speed service to Corpus Christi. The company says its gigabit option for customers in the city went live Tuesday. The service reportedly offers improvements in speed, reliability, and capacity over the traditional internet offerings, and is available with […]
NAB Isn’t Happy About Microsoft’s White Space Broadband Plan
The National Association of Broadcasters had some sharp words for Microsoft Tuesday following the latter’s announcement of a plan to use TV white space spectrum to close the rural broadband gap. Specifically, Microsoft says it wants to use a hybrid approach that utilizes 600 MHz TV white space and satellite backup to provide coverage and […]