Also: LTE users more likely to chuck wired broadband; local groups to try Wi-Fi link-up with Google Fiber; DirecTV 3-D channel goes part-time

Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor

June 25, 2012

2 Min Read
TiVo Makes IPTV Breakthrough at Com Hem

Welcome to today's cable and broadband news roundup.

  • TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) said Com Hem AB , a Swedish cable operator with 1.74 million homes passed, will use the company's platform to launch a service that integrates traditional TV, video-on-demand, over-the-top video and apps, marking the DVR pioneer's first deal involving an IPTV network. Com Hem expects to start its TiVo-powered rollout in the spring of 2013. The deployment will also factor in TiVo's tablet, smartphone and browser-based systems, and builds on TiVo's recent momentum in Europe with Virgin Media Inc. (Nasdaq: VMED) in the U.K. and ONO in Spain.

  • Users of Long Term Evolution (LTE) services are five times more likely to consider 4G as a replacement for their home broadband connection, according to a study by The Nielsen Co. The study found that adoption of 4G mobile phones has jumped to 7.6 percent of U.S. consumers in the first quarter of 2012, compared with just 1.4 percent of U.S. consumers a year earlier. The findings come into view as Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) broadens the rollout of HomeFusion Broadband, its fixed LTE broadband service. (See LTE in a Can and Verizon Brings LTE Home.)

  • Two groups have partnered to create a Wi-Fi cooperative that, they hope, will be able to tap into Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)'s fiber-to-the-home project in the Kansas Cities, reports The Kansas City Star. The Rosedale Development Center and a non-profit called Connecting For Good aim to bring free or discounted Internet access to the area via Wi-Fi, but acknowledge that they're still trying to obtain funds for a full engineering plan. Despite the groups' intentions, Google has not announced any network-sharing partners. "One of the reasons we're here in Kansas City is because the community is passionate about broadband issues. We think it's great groups like Connecting for Good are thinking about how to get everyone in the community online," a Google Fiber spokeswoman told Light Reading Cable, in a statement. (See Google Drops Another Video Hint and Google Fiber Goes 100 Miles & Counting .)

  • DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV) confirmed that it's moved its standalone n3D channel, offered via a partnership with Panasonic Corp. (NYSE: PC), to part-time status as of June 1, and will continue to offer access to its Cinema 3D channel, ESPN 3D, and 3net, a full-time 3-D entertainment channel developed in tandem with IMAX, Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE) and Discovery Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK). DirecTV launched n3D in mid-2010. (See DirecTV Gets More 3DTV Game .)

    — 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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