Welcome to today's broadband and cable news roundup.
Sprint Corp. (NYSE: S) is seeking a partnership with Dish Network LLC (Nasdaq: DISH) that would let the satellite TV giant offer its own brand of mobile services over the Sprint network, Bloomberg reports. In exchange, Sprint would obtain access to Dish's wireless spectrum and give Dish the opportunity to enter the mobile phone and data business without having to build its own wireless network. But everything's on hold as Dish waits for a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) vote on Wednesday (Dec. 12) that reportedly will allow the company to use 40MHz of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS)-4 spectrum in the 2GHz band without having to support its satellite-based access requirements. Dish has already agreed to release 5MHz of that spectrum for use as a guard band with the adjacent H-block, which Sprint is eyeing for its Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. (See Dish's Wireless Fate to Be Sealed Next Week and Dish's Wireless Plans Could Get 'Crippled'.)
Media streaming firm Videon Central Inc. has licensedComcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK)'s Reference Design Kit (RDK), a pre-integrated software bundle for hybrid QAM/IP set-tops and gateways and IP-only video client devices. Videon said the license will enable it to offer software products and services to its semiconductor and consumer electronics customers. (See Comcast's Set-Top Accelerator Gains Traction .)
Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Comcast-owned NBC Sports Group have struck a joint content and promotions deal covering the Web and regular television. The deal includes provisions to develop original video programs for the Web and the rights for Yahoo! Sports to offer live streams from NBC's top live sporting events, including Sunday Night Football. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Netflix Inc. (Nasdaq: NFLX) and CEO Reed Hastings received a "Wells Notice" from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)threatening civil action over alleged disclosure violations about five months after Hastings posted on Facebook that the company's streaming totals "exceeded 1 billion hours" in June. Hastings maintained in an SEC statement that the disclosure was not material, that a posting to more than 200,000 people on Facebook is "very public," and that Netflix is optimistic that it will quickly clear up the matter. Netflix stock spiked more than 6 percent after the post on July 3, but Hastings argues that shares were rising before that, and "likely driven" by a positive research report from Citigroup the evening before. (See Netflix Sets Streaming Record .)
HBO CTO Bob Zitter is retiring on March 31, 2013, after more than three decades with the premium programmer, reports Multichannel News, noting that the cable pioneer will continue to serve the company as a consultant "for several months afterward" as a yet-to-be-named successor moves into the role. Among his achievements, Zitter oversaw HBO's digital transition in 1992, its move into HDTV in 1999 and he was the technical lead for HBO's jump into video-on-demand and multi-screen, TV Everywhere services. He joined HBO in 1981, and was inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame in 2006.
Seen some debate on both sides regarding whether Reed Hastings violated disclosure rules with that FB post. Breaking a streaming record could be construed as material, so does posting something on FB qualify as a public disclosure? Should it qualify as such as more investors look for news on social networks? JB
My question on how big of a deal was in reference to the item on the Netflix/Facebook disclosure fiasco, but, yes, a Dish-Sprint hook-up will be a very big deal, if they can get it pulled together, and that Clearwire/LTE connection is an interesting component that we've been covering right along.
But Sprint has teamed up with others before, notably the cable guys, and those multiple efforts just didn't pan out, so we'd have to see if Dish could reverse that trend...if such a partnership happens, of course. JB
Light Reading’s Upskill U is a FREE, interactive, online educational resource that delivers must-have education on themes that relate to the overall business transformation taking place in the communications industry.
NEXT COURSE
Wednesday, October 5, 1:00PM EDT Gigabit & Smart Cities Joe Kochan, COO & Co-Founder, US Ignite
UPCOMING COURSE SCHEDULE
Friday, October 7, 1:00PM EDT Gigabit & DOCSIS 3.1 Ty Pearman, Director, Access Architecture, Comcast
Wednesday, October 19, 1:00PM EDT Securing a Virtual World Rita Marty, Executive Director, Mobility and Cloud Security, Chief Security Office, AT&T
Friday, October 21, 1:00PM EDT Security: Evolving the Data Center Rasool Kareem Irfan, Head, Telecom & Infrastructure Security Practice, Tata Communications Transformation Services Ltd (TCTS)
Six different communications service providers join to debate their visions of the future CSP, following a landmark presentation from AT&T on its massive virtualization efforts and a look back on where the telecom industry has been and where it's going from two industry veterans.
Join Alan Breznick, cable's answer to the Italian Stallion, as he runs through the highlights of SCTE Cable-Tec Expo, lumbers along in Rocky Balboa's footsteps and searches for the perfect Philadelphia cheesesteak.
At NFV & Carrier SDN in Denver, CenturyLink's Eric Nowak told Light Reading that when customers launch SD-WAN, they aren't necessary looking to save money, but instead they are looking for more value from what they're spending. He also shared some unique case studies and lessons learned from launching SD-WAN services.
For many operators, the gigabit evolution begins with the shift from DOCSIS 3.0 to DOCSIS 3.1. But that move represents a change not only in the protocol itself, but in the approach to architecting their entire DOCSIS delivery chain -- from the headend to the outside plant and home gateway components.
Jonathan Ruff, senior director of global technical ...
Andrew Dugan, Level 3 group vice president of global technology and IT, says enterprises need more bandwidth and they need it faster and with greater security, but they want to spend less, if possible. They are looking to carriers to reduce their network complexity and help protect them from cyberattacks as well.
Network operators should develop new APIs and business processes for reselling virtual assets to each other, says CenturyLink's Bill Walker. That will enable them to build digital business portfolios that help them avoid becoming commodity transport providers.
At Light Reading's NFV & Carrier SDN event in Denver, Travis Ewert of Level 3 Communications said there is terror in becoming supplier, integrator and developer, but it can be overcome and be cost effective.
Self-driving cars, medical sensors, smart cities... and refrigerators. In order to address the huge scope of IoT, KNect365 has created a unique online community that will help businesses to understand and monetize the opportunities that live within the IoT market. We look forward to welcoming you to IoT World News -- your gateway to a better connected future.
At Light Reading's NFV & Carrier SDN event in Denver, Ray Watson, vice president of Global Technology at Masergy, says that because of the growth in virtualization, the threat landscape is shifting in favor of the attackers. As a result, service providers need to think beyond just defending the perimeter and take a more holistic approach to security.
At September's NFV & Carrier SDN event in Denver, Light Reading sat down with Victoria Lonker, director of Product and New Business Innovation at Verizon, to chat about where the carrier is with delivering virtualized services to business customers.
More service providers than ever before are battling it out to win a slice of what is now a $40 billion global communications services pie, explains Ovum Principal Analyst David Molony.
For many operators, the gigabit evolution begins with the shift from DOCSIS 3.0 to DOCSIS 3.1. But that move represents a change not only in the protocol itself, but in the approach to architecting their entire DOCSIS delivery chain -- from the headend to the outside plant and home gateway components.
Jonathan Ruff, senior director of global technical ...
Self-driving cars, medical sensors, smart cities... and refrigerators. In order to address the huge scope of IoT, KNect365 has created a unique online community that will help businesses to understand and monetize the opportunities that live within the IoT market. We look forward to welcoming you to IoT World News -- your gateway to a better connected future.
One of the main challenges for network operators introducing NFV is to combine performance and flexibility in a cost-effective way, but there is a solution, explains Napatech's Dan Joe Barry.
F5's Kishore Patnam, product manager for F5's service provider solutions, discusses why service providers are moving towards virtualization and how his clients are utilizing F5's solutions.
Heavy Reading Senior Analyst Jim Hodges speaks with Accenture's Larry Socher and Matt Anderson about what service providers must do to transform their business to get the benefits of SDN and NFV including: leveraging DevOps, introducing real-time OSS and implementing analytics.
VeEX's Senior Director of Business Development, Perry Romano, explains how VeEX provides tools to help install, maintain, monitor and manage network infrastructure efficiently and effectively. The portfolio of products on display include the RXT-6000, MTTplus and TX300s.
Light Reading Editor Mitch Wagner talks to NetScout CMO Jim McNiel about maximizing the benefits of enterprise cloud and digital transformation while minimizing potential pitfalls with a proper monitoring and instrumentation strategy.
Many of the initial use case implementations are single-vendor and self-contained. The industry is still climbing the virtualization maturity curve, needing further clarity and stability in the NFV infrastructure (NFVi) and greater availability and choice of virtualized network functions (VNFs). Interoperability between NFVis and VNFs from different vendors ...
Senior Juniper Networks executives talk to Light Reading Founder & CEO Steve Saunders about NFV developments and the recent independent evaluation by test lab EANTC of Juniper's Cloud CPE solution.
Light Reading CEO Steve Saunders and UXP Systems CEO Gemini Waghmare discuss the strategic importance of digital identity for operators in the midst of transformation.
Join us for an in-depth interview between Steve Saunders of Light Reading and Alexis Black Bjorlin of Intel as they discuss the release of the company's Silicon Photonics platform, its performance, long-term prospects, customer expectations and much more.
A vital part of increasing the number of women in comms is transforming the ways companies can support and empower women. While progressive company policies that support both men and women in achieving work-life balance are a step in the right direction, creating a company culture that supports those policies can at times be more challenging.
During this show, we'll talk to Lynn Comp, Senior Director of Industry and Sales Enabling (ISE) in the Network Platforms Group at Intel, about why those challenges exist and how companies can overcome them. She'll provide insight into how Intel has worked to create a culture that supports work-life balance, and provide steps and guidance for other companies wishing to do the same. We will also leave plenty of time to get your questions answered live on the air.
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Light Reading today starts a new voyage as part of a larger Enterprise.
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