Welcome to the broadband and cable news roundup, Hump Day edition.
Dish Network Corp. is required to provide wireless broadband service to at least 40 percent of its terrestrial license areas within four years, according to the buildout requirements set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)order (PDF) that gives Dish permission to use its AWS-4 spectrum without having to support satellite links. The order, published Monday, also requires Dish to provide service to at least 70 percent of the population in each of its license areas within seven years, or be "subject to appropriate penalties if these benchmarks are not met."
These conditions become important if Dish decides to build its own Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network. The company has already discussed the idea of selling the spectrum and forging a partnership with a larger carrier and nothing in the order prevents Dish from selling its spectrum. Recent reports suggest that Dish and Sprint Nextel Corp. could form a partnership whereby Dish would sell its spectrum in exchange for a deal that would let Dish sell services on the Sprint network. Dish was coy about its plans when the FCC approved the spectrum for terrestrial use, saying only that it would consider its "strategic options." To add to the intrigue, Dish announced Wednesday that its DISH DBS Corp. subsidiary plans to commence an offering that "may include spectrum-related strategic transactions."
Comcast Corp.'s market capitalization breached the $100 billion mark for the first time after the markets closed Tuesday, reports Bloomberg, noting that Comcast's stock has jumped by more than two-thirds since buying a controlling stake in NBC Universal on Jan. 29, 2011. Comcast's market value is greater than that of companies such as McDonald's Corp., Home Depot Inc. and Walt Disney Co., and is closing in on Intel Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc.
Casa Systems Inc. has won a deal to supply its flagship cable modem termination system, the C10G, to Citycable, a cable operator in Lausanne, Switzerland, that serves more than 70,000 subscribers. Citycable plans to migrate to a full Converged Cable Access Platform (CCAP) using a new line card from Casa that combines Docsis and video traffic and snaps into the C10G.
Symmetricom Inc. has lowered its second-quarter guidance, citing slower sales from U.S. government and domestic communications service provider spending. Symmetricom, which provides a clock synchronizer for modular cable modem termination systems (CMTSs) and mobile backhaul systems, now expects revenues of $46 million to $49 million and a net loss of 11 cents to 5 cents per share, compared with earlier guidance of $55 million to $62 million and a loss of 5 cents to 1 cent per share.
Time Warner Cable Inc.'s business services unit is expediting installation of phone, Internet, TV and cloud services to customers in Lower Manhattan as part of an effort to help customers recover from superstorm Sandy. The faster hookups are coming in handy for businesses that had to relocate their operations. TWC said its business services infrastructure in the area suffered "minimal damage" from the storm's floods.
The FCC build-out requirement gives Dish some wiggle-room to play this out, though I will still be surprised if it doesn't end up selling and partnering. The bond offer with the spectrum deal potential is for $1B, according to Bloomberg. JB
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