If no news is good news, then the winter holidays were mostly kind to the industry. A look at some highlights:
AOL Time Warner applied to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for approval of Web One Inc. as a non-affiliated ISP, FTC says. FTC will take comments on the issue, as well as an application for approval of an alternative cable broadband ISP service agreement between TWC and Web One to provide service in TWC’s Kansas City area. FTC also approved AOLTW’s nonaffiliated ISP applications for New York Connect in the New York City cable unit; Internet Junction in the Tampa Bay and Central Florida divisions; Inter.net in all TWC’s divisions; and STIC.NET in San Antonio, Houston and Austin, Texas. …
America Online Inc. topped 33 million members worldwide for its service, citing its newly launched version 7.0 for the growth. Moreover, members spend nearly 70 minutes online each day, the company says. The company also reports that online retail purchases by members last year jumped 67 percent to more than $33 billion …
The company also reports it completed rolling out its service in 20 Time Warner Cable markets, with more to come this year. Like EarthLink Inc., AOL is launching its service over TWC systems as part of a multiple-ISP mandate TWC has followed as part of the AOL Time Warner merger. …
CSG Systems International said it would acquire Lucent Technologies ‘ billing and customer care assets for about $300 million in cash. As part of the deal, CSG will supply Lucent with billing and customer care software for Lucent’s networking pro
ducts. The BCC business consists of software and consulting services Lucent acquired with Kenan Systems Corp. in February 1999. …
Optical Cable Corp. reported a $6.7 million loss, or 12 cents per diluted share, on $60.4 million in revenue in 2001. The company reported an $8.3 million net income, or 15 cents a diluted share, in 2000. Losses for Q4 reached $3.8 million, or 7 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.1 million, or 2 cents a diluted share, a year ago. The numbers reflect several nonrecurring charges, including an anticipated settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and deferred costs from an aborted offering, the company says. …
Charter Communications Inc. appointed John H. Tory to its board. Tory is president and CEO of Toronto, Ontario-based Rogers Cable Inc. …
CLEC XO Communications will use Advanced Fiber Optic Inc.’s OSP InSight platform to standardize documentation on XO’s fiber optic networks in the United States. XO’s network serves 63 metro markets and is comprised of more than 5,500 route miles of both owned and leased cable. …
e-VideoTV Inc. and Macrovision Corp. cancelled their exclusive licensing deal by mutual agreement. The deal entailed Macrovision using e-VideoTV’s analog video copy protection for less than real time pay-per-view vide transmissions in the United States, e-Video says. E-VideoTV cites general market conditions and their impact on set-top manufacturing, as well as “a further delay by the major Hollywood studios in defining VOD rules for at least another year” for the decision. The company reassessed its financial obligations in the deal, including its ability to generate revenue, it says. Macrovision will return all e-VideoTV shares and e-VideoTV will focus on marketing its video compression technology. …
