Revenue from products and services delivered via embedded consumer electronics devices will reach $6.4 billion in 2014, Juniper Research said Tuesday in a report. That would be double current revenue from such products, a clear sign that they are becoming a “key anchor” in the machine-to-machine industry, Juniper said. Sales of e-books and subscriptions to e-book services will be the most important service offered via wireless consumer electronics devices, outweighing emerging products like digital photo frames and the Sony PS Vita game console, Juniper said. “Cellular connectivity is slow to reach the lucrative gaming market since [Wi-Fi] is sufficient for most use cases,” said report author Anthony Cox in a news release (http://xrl.us/bn3rbm).
People lack traditional consumer protections when using new Internet Protocol-based technology, said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Public Knowledge, on the Institute for Local Self-Reliance’s Community Broadband Bits podcast (http://xrl.us/bn3raz). The rollout of LTE is making the change even more significant, he added. “We're moving to a world where everything’s going to be IP,” he said Tuesday, saying the U.S. lacks traditional “social policies” under the new technology. People “need to be very conscious about all the things we've taken for granted,” Feld said. AT&T’s push for IP makes sense economically for the company, said Feld. “I want competition but I don’t want competition that leaves people behind,” he said. “I don’t want us to be the first industrialized country to actually step back from nearly 100 percent penetration on voice service.” He called for “some basic rules of the road” in the new telecom world and a need to “look out for everybody,” citing concerns about 911 and last-resort rural customers. AT&T has disputed these consumer fears thus far: “One of the greatest misconceptions is that customers are going to be ‘left behind’ in this [IP] transition,” Senior Executive Vice President James Cicconi told state regulators in November at their Baltimore meeting, according to his prepared keynote remarks. The telco will be “bringing next-generation IP voice and broadband services to nearly all customer locations in our service area, and, indeed, virtually everyone nationwide,” he said.
SES Broadband Services will provide satellite broadband services for the Dec. 2 parliamentary elections in Burkina Faso, it said. Under the agreement, SES will provide satellite equipment and bandwidth “to enable connectivity between the 45 electoral district offices,” SES said in a press release (http://xrl.us/bn3q92). The system would be used for videoconferencing, surveillance, Internet access “and fast and secure communication of ballots,” SES said. The company plans to use capacity on one of its satellites at 5 degrees east and hardware and hub-infrastructure provided by Newtec, it added.
Discovery Communications said it agreed to buy Takhayal Entertainment, the Dubai-based owner of Fatafeat, the Middle East’s No. 1 food network. The U.S.-based acquirer said in a Tuesday news release (http://xrl.us/bn3q69) that the companies are “formalizing the transfer with the competent authorities,” and the deal is expected to close this year.
FairPoint received a $16 million four-year contract to build the New England Telehealth Consortium Network, which will serve upwards of 400 facilities throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, the company said Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bn3q6t). The consortium received $24.6 million in funding from the FCC’s Rural Health Care Pilot Program, said FairPoint. The telco promises “remote trauma consultation and expansive telemedicine” to participants who will only pay 15 percent of upfront initial costs, FairPoint said. The company will leverage its $190 million investment in fiber and infrastructure throughout the region, it said.
"Massive service outages” among Cablevision subscribers from Superstorm Sandy prompted an analyst to downgrade its stock to no longer recommend investors buy it. Because of outages after the superstorm, the company can’t raise rates in the first half of next year “without incurring material customer churn,” Canaccord Genuity’s Thomas Eagan wrote in a Tuesday report. “The company is in a difficult strategic position,” he said. “The chief risk is that the company does not raise rates and allows financials to deteriorate in order to increase market share.” Many subscribers lost power during the combination nor'easter and hurricane, and Cablevision offered credits to them if that meant they couldn’t use service from the operator (CD Nov 5 p18, Nov 7 p7). Credits and other costs from Sandy led Eagan to lower his Q4 sales estimate 2.4 percent to $1.68 billion, though he said that’s a “one-time” event and not why he downgraded the company to “hold."
Mediacom deployed a customer-service app from Synchronoss Technologies for troubleshooting problems, subscriber inquiries, scheduling technician appointments and viewing and paying bills, the cable operator said in a Tuesday news release (http://xrl.us/bn3q6a). It said MediacomConnect is for iPhone, tablet and Android devices, has voice-activated and on-screen searches and was tested by 2,000 of the operator’s customers.
Nexstar investors are selling as many as 9.2 million shares, with a market value of about $94 million. Funds affiliated with Abry Partners intend to sell Class A common stock in a secondary offering in which the broadcaster isn’t getting proceeds, Nexstar said in a news release Monday (http://xrl.us/bn3qz6).
The FCC should put off for the time being any decision on a Cordova Wireless petition for a waiver of Section 54.307(e) of the FCC’s USF rules, which establishes a methodology for determining support for competitive eligible telecommunications carriers starting Jan. 1, said Copper Valley Wireless (CVW) in comments filed at the agency. The Wireless Bureau sought comment on the waiver request Oct. 11 and replies are due Wednesday. “Copper Valley Wireless provides service to much of the same areas as Cordova Wireless,” the carrier said (http://xrl.us/bn3qxo). “Simply stated, Cordova is not the only company that is operating in the harsh environment of Prince William Sound. Communications companies operating in Alaska provide service to customers in some of the most remote and challenging areas in the country. CVW faces challenges equal to those faced by Cordova with regard to factors including sparse population, lack of highway infrastructure, and topography and climactic conditions.” Copper Valley said it’s likely to seek a waiver if it’s unable to obtain ongoing support through upcoming commission proceedings aimed at reforming wireless USF. “But, we believe it more appropriate to allow the Commission to complete its scheduled work on this matter. However, if the Commission should grant the waiver requested by Cordova Wireless, CVW will be submitting its own waiver request in order to remain competitive and provide a choice to the residents in the region."
Government-wide committees and federal departments and agencies haven’t effectively implemented established policies and procedures for coordinating investments in geospatial data, the Government Accountability Office said in a report (http://xrl.us/bn3mqb). Although the Federal Geographic Data Committee developed key standards and established a clearinghouse of metadata, the clearinghouse isn’t being used by agencies “to identify planned geospatial investments to promote coordination and reduce duplication,” the report said. Office of Management and Budget staff members acknowledged that OMB doesn’t have complete and reliable information “to identify potentially duplicative geospatial investments,” the report said. GAO recommended the FGDC steering committee develop and implement guidance for identifying planned geospatial investments using the geospatial platform and establish a time frame for completing a plan “to facilitate the implementation of OMB’s portfolio management guidance,” it said.