T-Mobile doesn’t fear the FCC will clamp down on Binge On, its zero-rated streaming video service, CEO John Legere said Tuesday. T-Mobile reported Tuesday it continued its strong growth in Q1 and executives said it's positioning itself to potentially go big in the TV incentive auction. “Binge On was really a first shot across the bow touching into the content area, kind of disrupting some of data monetization strategies” of Verizon in particular, Legere said on Bloomberg TV. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler “has been very clear” that he sees Binge On “as innovative and highly competitive,” he said.
Lobbying on encryption policy increased significantly in Q1, while interest in copyright and other tech sector policy issues remained largely on par with previous quarterly filings. At least 60 companies and groups lobbied on encryption issues and specific pieces of legislation during Q1, compared with just seven entities during the same period last year and 24 entities during Q4, according to available lobbying filings. Apple and Google reduced their lobbying expenditures in Q1 from the same period in 2015, while Amazon and Facebook posted significant increases (see 1604200036).
The rise in lobbying spending from tech companies and related trade associations continued in Q4, according to federal lobbying disclosure forms filed this week. Google spent more on lobbying than any other tech or communications company in 2014, while Amazon, Apple and Facebook set company lobbying expenditure records (see 1501210035). Google’s $16.83 million in 2014 was also a company record. MPAA and RIAA spent less on lobbying in 2014 overall than in 2013. Telecom companies also reported Q4 spending (see 1501220051).
Telecom giants often cut lobbying spending in Q4 despite myriad priorities ahead, currently ranging from net neutrality to a broader telecom law rewrite. Forms for last quarter were due this week. Observers told us not to let any dips in spending create the impression that industry is not deeply engaged in lobbying at a high level and likely to spend more this coming year. High-technology lobbying spending has been on the rise (see 1501220060).
Google, at $16.83 million, spent more on its federal lobbying efforts than any other tech or communications company in 2014, Consumer Watchdog said in a news release Wednesday. Google’s 2014 lobbying spending was a company record, it said. Amazon ($4.74 million), Apple ($4.11 million), Comcast ($16.8 million) and Facebook ($9.34 million) each set company lobbying expenditure records in 2014, said CW. “It’s important to understand just how much money these companies are throwing around in Washington,” said John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project director, in the release. “Policymaking is now all about big bucks, not big ideas.” AT&T’s $14.56 million in 2014 was a 9 percent decrease from the previous year, said the release. Verizon’s $11.22 million in 2014 was a 17 percent decrease from 2013. Sprint’s lobbying spending jumped by 9 percent in 2014, to $2.99 million. Cisco’s lobbying total of $2.35 million in 2014 was a 25 percent decrease from 2013. IBM 2014 spending dipped by 30 percent to $4.95 million compared with 2013. Intel spent $3.8 million in 2014, a 13 percent decrease from the previous year. Oracle’s $5.83 million in 2014 was 3 percent less than 2013. Yahoo’s spending increased by 6 percent in 2014 to $2.94 million.
More than 22 million British consumers bought a video on DVD or Blu-ray in 2013, compared with just 3.3 million who subscribe to a streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime Instant, “proving the overwhelming popularity of Blu-ray Discs and DVDs for watching video entertainment,” the British Video Association said in its annual “yearbook” report Wednesday. The BVA values the 2013 British video market at just under $3.8 billion and estimates 73 percent of that was spent on physical media rather than digital delivery.
Capitol Hill lobbying spending on video marketplace issues largely rose in the latest quarter, as it did in the fourth quarter of 2013 (CD Jan 23 p7). Various factors propelled spending spikes, largely involving the possibility of overhauling retransmission consent rules, the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act reauthorization process, and the brewing debate over the Comcast purchase of Time Warner Cable.
Video interests reign, as industry has spent tens of millions of dollars lobbying Capitol Hill on key communications issues, Q4 lobbying disclosure reports showed this week. Spending was often significantly up from the same period last year, particularly for stakeholders with video interests, but not always. Many disclosure reports highlighted pending priorities before Congress, such as the reauthorization of the Satellite Television Extension and Localism Act (STELA), which expires at the end of 2014 and is the source of much debate -- such as whether the reauthorization should address updates to retransmission consent law. Lobbying is widely expected to spike in 2014 as the House takes on an overhaul of the Communications Act.
T-Mobile US is getting the lower band spectrum it has long coveted, buying Verizon Wireless’s 700 MHz A-block licenses for $3.3 billion, in a deal announced Monday. The transaction must clear the FCC and get antitrust approval from an agency that’s expected to be the Department of Justice. Most FCC watchers we asked don’t expect that to be a major hurdle. Combined with the low-band spectrum T-Mobile already has in the Boston area, the carrier said it would have low-band spectrum in 21 of the 30 top U.S. markets -- including nine of the top 10. Major markets in the new spectrum include New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The spectrum covers an area with 158 million potential subscribers, T-Mobile said.
AT&T said Wednesday it added more than 2 million wireless and high-speed Internet subscribers in Q3, and reported $32.2 billion revenue, up 2.2 percent over the year-earlier quarter. Net income was up 4.9 percent over last year to $3.8 billion. AT&T now has more than 10 million U-verse subscribers and U-verse revenue was up 28.1 percent year-over-year. AT&T reported 655,000 high-speed Internet and 265,000 U-verse TV net subscriber adds. Wireless data revenue was up 17.6 percent over last year and wireless subscribers increased by nearly 1 million. Smartphones now make up 89 percent of the company’s postpaid phone sales. Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said on a call with investors AT&T is building a “strong runway” for its LTE expansion and continues to add spectrum, with most of the 700 MHz B-block spectrum the carrier recently acquired already in service. In Q3 AT&T increased U-verse speeds up to 45 Mbps, Stephens said. “We're moving forward plans for speeds of 75 Mbps and faster,” he said. A 100 percent fiber broadband network AT&T is installing in Austin, Texas, will deliver speeds up to 1 Gbps, he said.