Chinese telecom Tencent Holdings agreed to buy an unspecified minority stake in U.S. game developer Epic Games, the companies said Tuesday. After the strategic investment, Epic will “continue to operate independently and seek to further expand its game franchises across multiple platforms,” the companies said. The deal is expected to close “within one month, subject to customary closing conditions,” they said.
SES is increasing its fleet investment in the Asia-Pacific region, signing an agreement with Telikom PNG in Papua New Guinea for satellite capacity. The deal involves a renewal of capacity on NSS-9 at 183 degrees east and NSS-6 at 95 degrees east, SES said. The deal will allow Telikom PNG “to continue expanding its cellular services into new regions and provide telephone services over challenging mountainous terrain by providing cellular backhaul between a large number of sites around the country and the capital.” SES’ investment in the region also includes the 2013 launch of SES-8, which will “deliver vital expansion capacity to thriving Asian video neighborhoods in South Asia and Indochina,” SES said.
South Korea’s SK Broadband successfully deployed IPv6 services to its HFC network customers, Arris Group said. Arris designed the IPv6 equipment it used to create more addresses, necessary because of the exponential growth of Internet traffic, it said.
Eutelsat bought the GE-23 satellite from GE Capital for $228 million. The satellite will be integrated into the Eutelsat Communications fleet and be renamed Eutelsat 172A, Eutelsat said. It will allow the company to expand its footprint to high growth Asia-Pacific markets with “a payload of 20 Ku-band transponders accessing five interconnecting beams and 18 C-band transponders connected to a trans-Pacific beam.” The purchase is expected to close this year, Eutelsat said.
The FCC should regulate the rates of interstate prison telephone calling, several public interest groups told Commissioner Ajit Pai and an aide to Commissioner Robert McDowell Thursday, said an ex parte filing. “It has been more than 10 years since the D.C. District Court referred this matter to the Commission for treatment ‘with dispatch,'” wrote the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (http://xrl.us/bnb86t). Communication with families could combat recidivism, but the current market for prison phone service drives up rates to family members who call prisons because the telcos “compete to offer the highest commission to prisons,” the groups said. A review of the request for proposal processes in several states shows that the costs of providing service are not driving the costs, they said. “Revenue from telephone calls placed to family members or friends is not an appropriate way to subsidize prison services.” Also at the meetings were representatives from Free Press, the National Urban League, Public Knowledge and United Church of Christ.
NTIA plans to hold a meeting on July 12 with privacy stakeholders to help online and mobile companies develop a code of conduct for the collection, use and control of consumer information. The announcement follows release of the White House privacy blueprint which tasked the agency with developing legally enforceable codes of conduct for companies and organizations that handle personal data. The agency will focus on mobile application transparency in the first meeting, with the goal of giving consumers more transparent disclosures on how mobile apps treat their personal information. NTIA said the meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. in the Washington, D.C., metro area, though it didn’t say exactly where (http://xrl.us/bnb89y).
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, urged the Supreme Court to televise its ruling of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. That would “permit millions of citizens the opportunity to view what so few can from the court’s small and limited public gallery,” he wrote Chief Justice John Roberts Tuesday (http://xrl.us/bnb832). Adding cameras into the courtroom “would provide live coverage of what may be one of the most historic rulings of our time,” wrote the sponsor of the Sunshine in the Courtroom Act (S-410) which would require cameras in the courtrooms. The high court has never allowed reporters to bring cameras or tape recorders inside, and didn’t allow cameras to record oral argument about the national health care law in March (CD March 19 p16).
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case Monday, effectively affirming a lower court ruling that a Texas law outlining how video franchises are issued, and intended to streamline the process, is unconstitutional. The Texas Cable Association filed a federal lawsuit against Texas in 2005, alleging the law granted disparate treatment to video providers. The association’s challenges continued through the 5th U.S. Court of Appeals, which ruled the law was unconstitutional on Jan. 13, 2012 (http://xrl.us/bnb8zs). Texas appealed the 5th Circuit’s ruling to the Supreme Court. The high court declining to hear the case will guarantee “a more level playing field” for video operators in Texas, an association spokeswoman said. “More importantly, this critically important case law affirms cable companies’ First Amendment rights and will be cited in the future as legal precedent.” “We will honor the decisions,” said Terry Hadley, communications director for the Public Utility Commission of Texas, “and welcome the cable providers to file at the Commission for franchise authority, based on the decisions, and we'll deal with those."
4G spectrum licenses should include conditions requiring open access as a means of creating a long-term solution to two decades of the “curious phenomenon” known as roaming, the International Telecommunications Users Group said in a submission to an ITU Council working group meeting this week to prepare for the World Conference on International Telecommunications. The conference, in December, will revise the International Telecommunication Regulations. “Licensing of spectrum for the next generation of mobile communications infrastructure therefore needs to be built on the principles of shared investment and open access,” the users group said.
Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, want a Senate compromise to enable passage of cybersecurity legislation. Their letter (http://xrl.us/bnb8wx) urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to “reach an agreement to ensure cybersecurity legislation receives a full and open debate” in the Senate. “Bridging the divide on this consequential issue and avoiding a partisan dispute will be critical to safeguarding the credibility of any cybersecurity proposal passed by the chamber,” they said. There’s “tremendous potential” for the Senate to design a “viable solution that incentivizes private sector participation and collaboration,” they said. “If the process for deliberating cyber security legislation is sound, then we are confident such a practical solution for protecting those systems whose disruption could result in a national catastrophe is entirely within reach.” Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., echoed Snowe and Warner’s request to act on cybersecurity legislation “without delay.” “Our military and intelligence leaders have given us clear advice and urgent requests about what they need from us. We need to act now.”