Also: Dr. Malone buys into Caribbean cable; two old-time cable operators combine; Cox expands its home security footprint

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

January 23, 2013

3 Min Read
1-Gig Google Fiber Project Is 'Not a Hobby'

Welcome to the broadband and cable news roundup, Hump Day edition.

  • Google CFO Patrick Pichette stressed that the company's 1Gbit/s Google Fiber project in the Kansas Cities is more than an experiment; it's a potential revenue-driving business opportunity. "It's not a hobby," Pichette said on Tuesday's fourth-quarter earnings call. He reiterated that Google will continue to look at the possibility of expanding Google Fiber into other markets. Google must "nail Kansas City. It's a perfect place for us to kind of debug all of the elements of the product and the experience for the users," Pichette added.

    Google Fiber began to connect homes to the Hanover Heights section of Kansas City, Kan., last November. Looking ahead, Google Fiber is expected to connect another handful of "fiberhoods" (areas with 250 to 1,500 homes) this winter, followed by more than a dozen more in the spring. (See Google Fiber Starts to Hook Up Customers and Google Fiber's Non-Experimental Experiment.)

  • Cable and TV mogul Dr. John Malone has become the largest single minority investor in Columbus International Inc., a cable provider that serves about 500,000 customers in parts of the Caribbean, Central American and Andean regions, and is eying potential future acquisitions. Malone purchased the stake (amount of the investment was undisclosed) on his own, and not through Liberty Media Corp., where he serves as chairman. Columbus provides services under the FLOW brand in Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada and Curacao.

  • Motorola Mobility LLC's Home unit posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $21 million on revenues of $820 million. Google broke out those figures Tuesday as it prepares to close its sale of Motorola Home, which it now labels as "discontinued operations," to Arris Group Inc. for $2.35 billion. Motorola Home had 5,204 employees as of Dec. 31, 2012. Google and Arris intend to seal up the deal by April. (See Closing the Door on Motorola Home and Google Sells Moto home to Arris for $2.35B.)

  • Two old-time cable operators are about to become one. Service Electric Cablevision Inc., which launched cable services in 1948, has inked a deal to buy Pennsylvania-based Shen-Heights TV Associates Inc., another family-owned operator that's been around since 1951, reports the Republican Herald.

  • Cox Communications Inc. has launched home security services in Virginia, pitching service plans that start at $29.99 per month when bundled with other services. The latest launch follows earlier product debuts in Arizona, California, Oklahoma City and Cox's Northeast markets, which include Rhode Island, Connecticut and Cleveland, Ohio. Several other service providers, including Comcast Corp., Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., are also ramping up similar home security and automation services strategies. (See Will Service Providers Steal ADT's Customers?)

    — Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Light Reading Cable

About the Author(s)

Jeff Baumgartner

Senior Editor, Light Reading

Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X and LinkedIn.

Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers.

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