Ericsson agreed to acquire Wi-Fi company BelAir Networks. The deal “will accelerate the integration of Wi-Fi and cellular technologies,” and lets Ericsson “acquire a strong carrier grade Wi-Fi portfolio, technological expertise, IPR, and established customer contracts and relationships,” the acquirer said.
The SEC charged the owner of consulting firm Broadband Research Corp. with insider trading Friday. John Kinnucan’s Oregon-based firm allegedly claimed to offer clients legitimate research about publicly traded technology companies, but instead gave clients nonpublic information from insider sources. Kinnucan allegedly befriended sources to obtain confidential information and used clients’ consulting fees to compensate his sources with meals, cash and vacations. “Obtaining important and unreported financial results from company insiders and selling that information to hedge funds is not legitimate expert networking services -- it’s old-fashioned insider trading,” said Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC Division of Enforcement.
Feb. 21 Broadband Breakfast panel on cybersecurity legislation, 8 a.m., Clyde’s Gallery Place, Washington -- 646-262-4630
The passage of the spectrum legislation is one of the four tower sector “catalysts” for 2012, said analyst Jonathan Schildkraut of Evercore. Others are the continuation of data growth, a potential Amazon smartphone and tower spending by the four biggest national carriers and Clearwire, he said. Among the major tower companies, Crown Castle is the biggest potential beneficiary from spectrum legislation, he said. The construction of a public safety network would be targeted toward urban markets, he said, noting Crown Castle is “over-indexed to these major markets.” The approval is negative for Clearwire given the increased likelihood of new spectrum introduction, the analyst said.
The FTC will involve itself with mobile privacy and security even more this year, said Jessica Rich, FTC financial practices division director, at a Privacy in 2012 panel Thursday. She said the FTC has been more involved recently, referring specifically to a report issued Thursday about how mobile app data practices affect children (WID Feb 16 p5). The FCC’s goals for mobile security are aligned with the FTC’s, said Jennifer Tatel of the FCC. She said privacy concerns among customers can hinder broadband deployment, so the FCC wants to crack down on potential privacy issues. The CTIA is concerned with mobile and app security because the group foresees more innovation, bringing more risks as well as opportunities, said CTIA Senior Vice President Michael Altschul.
The debate about how much pay-TV affiliate fees will increase each year seems to be resolved at around the 8 to 9 percent range, Nomura analysts Mike McCormack and Mike Liddell wrote in a note to investors. Based on Nomura’s estimates and the guidance from both pay-TV distributors and programmers this quarter, “the trend is not expected to soften through the investable horizon,” they wrote. But distributors may be able to afford the higher programming rights, they said. “With capital intensity declining, we see strategic value in securing enhanced rights to differentiate video and accentuate the broadband products,” they wrote. “Even if video gross margins are in decline, there is value in selling an incremental broadband subscription, or a higher-speed tier,” which contribute much higher margin with low capital intensity, they said. But that scenario only benefits ISPs, they said. “Similar to the HD channel advantage that DBS providers had in the mid-2000s, bundled providers are advantaged today, and everyone will likely have to pay,” they said.
The Vermont Public Service Board approved a plan that will redirect the penalty assessments on FairPoint into broadband expansion in the state, the agency said. Under the agreement, FairPoint will invest up to $7 million to expand its broadband network in the state. The VPSB had proposed penalties on FairPoint due to service issues resulting from the operator’s acquisition of Verizon’s New England lines in 2008. FairPoint will work with the Vermont Department of Public Service and Vermont Telecom Authority to determine areas for expansion. The work is scheduled to be completed by 2013.
Leap Wireless narrowed its Q4 loss to $84.4 million from $249 million in Q4 2010. The carrier added 179,000 net new customers during the quarter, up from 107,000 net additions it posted in the year-ago quarter. The figure includes 209,000 net new voice customers and the loss of 30,000 broadband customers. The company remains on track with its LTE network rollout, expecting to cover 25 million people by the end of the year, it said.
Websites operated by the FTC were hacked Friday. The Business Center website of the commission’s Consumer Protection Bureau, www.business.ftc.gov, and the National Consumer Protection Week site, www.NCPW.gov, were disrupted, the FTC said on its Facebook page. The commission “takes these malicious acts seriously,” a spokeswoman said in a statement. “The sites have been taken down and will be brought back up when we're satisfied that any vulnerability has been addressed.” The hacker collective Anonymous claimed responsibility for the attack on their Twitter page, as it has for other denial-of-service attacks on U.S. government websites.
The FCC Wireline Bureau seeks comment on InComm Solutions’ request for review of a decision by the Universal Service Administrative Company to deny a request for credit, according to a public notice released Friday (http://xrl.us/bmsk2a). InComm requested reversal of the decision, which denied its request for credit against its universal service obligation for the contributions made by its underlying carrier based on revenue received from Oct. 2008 through June 2011. Comments are due March 19; replies April 3. The bureau also seeks comment on a request for review filed by Steelville (Mo.) Telephone Exchange, in which USAC denied its appeal of audit findings leading USAC to request recovery for universal service support overpayments (http://xrl.us/bmsk34).