Cobham Satcom and LiveU partnered to offer broadcasters a high performance hybrid solution for live video transmission in diverse locations. LiveU’s LU70 backpack will support the most advanced Satcom Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) Explorer terminal product line, LiveU said in a press release (http://bit.ly/16nYQyP). Camera operators will be able to control all BGAN interfaces locally with the LU70 interface, “enabling them easily to switch between satellite and cellular connectivity based on the available network conditions,” it said.
Connect2Compete, the public-private partnership set up by the FCC last year to attempt to close the digital divide (CD Feb 14/12 p10), is partnering with Solix for the “EveryoneOn” digital literacy campaign. The program will help people access free digital literacy training in their communities, with the website EveryoneOn.org listing training programs by ZIP code, the company said. Solix has been providing program support services for Connect2Compete since 2012.
Time Warner Cable petitioned this week to be excluded from municipal rate-setting for basic-video and some other prices in three Massachusetts communities, said a filing posted in FCC docket 12-1. The petition cited video competition from DirecTV and Dish Network. The proposed deregulation would affect just under 10,000 households total in the towns of Adams, North Adams and Clarksburg (http://bit.ly/Z4UeQH).
A news report about a potential joint Verizon Communications and AT&T bid to buy Vodafone appears to bring “more credibility” to recent speculation, Wells Fargo analyst Jennifer Fritzsche said Tuesday in an email to investors. The Financial Times reported Tuesday that the two telcos are looking at a deal with an enterprise value of $245 billion. Verizon would acquire Vodafone’s 45 percent ownership of Verizon Wireless, while AT&T would acquire Vodafone’s remaining assets. Such a transaction would be complex, but makes sense given Verizon’s longtime desire to gain full control of Verizon Wireless and AT&T’s recent interest in international expansion, said Fritzsche. If the report is true, “we question what [AT&T’s] strategy is here,” she said. “In our view, while [Vodafone’s] European assets bring in cash flow, these also would bring a large regulatory complexity to the company.” Spokesmen for AT&T and Verizon declined to comment.
The FCC International Bureau granted EchoStar a special temporary authority license for operation of tracking, telemetry and command frequencies necessary to move EchoStar 6 from 76.8 degrees west to 96.2 degrees west. The STA also allows EchoStar to operate EchoStar 6 at 96.2 degrees west using the 12.2-12.7 GHz and 17.3-17.8 GHz bands, the bureau said in an order (http://fcc.us/XosOnE). The bureau said the proposed EchoStar 6 operations “will have no foreseeable adverse impact on U.S.-licensed operations or related U.S. ITU filings,” it said.
Cable operator Cogeco will launch Rovi’s TotalGuide xD with remote recording capability, bringing to market technology that’s been in trials for a year. Canada-based Cogeco, which operates cable systems in Canada and the U.S., will use Rovi’s TotalGuide xD iPad app to allow subscribers to access TV listings on their DVR to schedule recordings. TotalGuide xD also allows users to tune channels from a smartphone or tablet. It initially only will be available in Ontario and Quebec, Canada to Cogeco subscribers with a DVR, a Cogeco spokeswoman said. Subscribers also will be able to use the app to browse listings and search for programs. The free Cogeco Remote Recorder app starts as a Rovi reference interface before switching to the cable operator’s brand. Cogeco also has licensed Rovi’s TotalGuide for cable set-top boxes. Cogeco has been making a push into managed hosting, and acquired Web hosting provider Peer 1 for $526 million earlier this year. It entered the U.S. in July, buying Atlantic Broadband for $1.36 billion. Atlantic had customers in western Pennsylvania, southern Florida, Delaware, Maryland and South Carolina. Cogeco had 863,115 television services customers as August 31, 2102, the Cogeco spokeswoman said. Armstrong Cable and BendBroadband began trials with TotalGuide xD a year ago, and are among the other cable operators expected to deploy the technology along with TotalGuide for set-tops.
Digital analytic firm comScore enhanced its mobile operator analytic suite, Subscriber Analytix, the company said Tuesday (http://bit.ly/10nfei8). It said the enhancements will allow mobile operators to identify voice, data and SMS quality of service issues, reduce device return rates through identifying device, profile and network performance issues, use subscriber data to identify the best data allotment and pricing options, and identify “rising star apps.”
Dish Network filed for a $1 billion debt offering, potentially using the funds for wireless and spectrum-related acquisitions, the company said. The offering, filed with the SEC Tuesday, comes in the form of $1 billion in senior notes. Dish in January made a $3.30 per share bid for Clearwire, countering a $2.97 bid made by Clearwire’s majority owner, Sprint Nextel. Clearwire, which had already agreed to sell itself to Sprint, has said it would continue talks with Dish, but hadn’t changed its recommendation which is in favor of Sprint. Dish, which built up a wireless portfolio in buying the assets of TerreStar and DBSD, has said it plans to run trials with wireless technology by year-end. Meanwhile, Dish plans to hire 90 customer service representatives for its call center in Hilliard, Ohio, to meet demand for its Hopper whole-home DVR service, The Columbus Dispatch newspaper reported.
Sinclair plans to begin broadcasting mobile DTV signals over 10 stations in nine markets over the next six months. Consumers in mobile DTV markets who have portable devices “will be able to enjoy, for free, over-the-air content from their local broadcast stations by simply adding a plug-in adaptor,” Sinclair said in a press release (http://bit.ly/XbIrN4). Sinclair will support the mobile DTV effort through its stations in markets including Austin, Texas; Baltimore; and Cincinnati it said. It’s already providing mobile DTV on its Columbus, Ohio, stations WSYX (ABC) and WTTE (Fox), it said.
An Epix streaming app launched on the PS3 Tuesday and will be added to the PS Vita “in the coming weeks,” the joint venture of Viacom, its Paramount Pictures division, MGM and Lionsgate said Tuesday. Subscribers will get access to more than 3,000 HD titles, including recent movies The Avengers, Skyfall, The Hunger Games and Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, along with original Epix programs that include documentaries, music concerts, comedy specials and boxing, it said. PlayStation Network (PSN) users in the U.S. can sign up for a free two-week trial to Epix and access all its programming, it said. Epix will offer exclusive content including songs from Epix Original Concert Events and, in the future, a free movie or special each week to PSN users who are paying members of PlayStation Plus, it said. The Epix app is available as a free download for PS3 users in the U.S. But the service is only being provided in the U.S. now via a limited number of cable and satellite providers, including Charter Communications, Cox Communications, Dish Network and Verizon FiOS, Epix said. The service is available to more than 30 million U.S. homes, it said. Epix was already made available on devices including the Xbox 360, Android tablets and smartphones, Roku players, iPads, iPhones, Kindle Fire tablets, and Samsung Smart TVs and Blu-ray players, said Epix.