January 4, 2007

News for telecom industry leaders

News of the Day

Showtime Networks delivers games to broadband providers
On Broadband, a CBS-owned Showtime Networks and Broadband Libraries joint venture, plans to deliver a selection of private-label downloadable and online video games to DSL and cable providers. The service, which will have a subscription option, is set to launch next quarter. Seattle Post-Intelligencer/Associated Press (1/4) , paidContent.org (1/3)

Business & Industry Watch

Hutchison Essar attracts another suitor
Hinduja group expressed an interest in trying to obtain at least a 51% stake in Hutchison Essar, making it the latest entity to want a piece of the Indian mobile-phone operator. Vodafone, Reliance Communications and Hutchison Essar stakeholder Essar also are said to be in the running. Financial Times/Reuters (1/4)

AT&T expands U-verse programming
AT&T has signed a deal to deliver the YES Network, which includes New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets programming, to its U-verse customer base in Connecticut. AT&T has set a goal of being able to deliver its U-verse TV service to 19 million homes by the end of next year. Broadcasting & Cable (1/3)

Suit: Apple, Google, Napster violate video patent
Intertainer -- a largely inactive VOD company run by veteran TV and film producer Jonathan T. Taplin -- has filed a federal lawsuit, alleging Apple, Google and Napster are infringing on a 2005 patent for the commercial distribution of audio and video on the Web. Apple, Google and Napster would not comment on the litigation. The New York Times (1/3)

Sprint seeks new direction with creative
Sprint Nextel, the nation's third-largest telecom, has put its creative account into review, with a spokeswoman saying the company is "open to any options to bring us back to a competitive position" among its rivals. It wasn't clear whether incumbents TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York (consumer ads) and/or Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco (B-to-B) would be invited or would opt to participate in the review. Sprint reportedly has an annual marketing budget of $1.6 billion. Advertising Age (1/3) , Adweek (1/3)

China Mobile, Google forge search pact
Google has signed on to deliver mobile and online search capabilities to China Mobile subscribers. The service will be available early this year, according to Google. The Washington Post/Reuters (1/4)

Judge OKs bankruptcy plan for Adelphia Communications
A Bankruptcy Court judge has approved Adelphia Communications' plan to pay more than $10 billion, or roughly 84% of the claims filed, to creditors. The plan was the eighth to be proposed in the more than four-year-long saga involving the collapse of the cable carrier. The New York Times/Bloomberg (1/4)

Turner takes advantage of Web success
Turner Broadcasting is turning to the Web to stay fresh as 24-hour network news and other once-innovative ideas become commonplace. The company has recently introduced sites including Very Funny Ads and ACC Select, which runs Atlantic Coast Conference basketball games and other college sports. "We're building businesses outside our core that allow us to compete for other pools of money," says Turner Entertainment Group President Mark Lazarus. The Wall Street Journal (free content) (1/4)

EarthLink CEO dies at 49
EarthLink CEO Garry Betty died Tuesday because of heart problems related to his battle with cancer. "I built the plane, but he was the pilot. ... There were a lot of dimensions to him," EarthLink founder Sky Dayton said of Betty. The New York Times (1/4)

Technology Trends

Samsung aims to improve video technology for cell phones
Samsung Electronics unveiled technology designed to improve the delivery of video to cell phones by making use of TV broadcasters' digital signals. New Samsung handsets would enable wireless users to receive video via the wireless network as well. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) (1/4)

Analysis: FMC on the verge
Fixed-mobile convergence will likely grow in importance as an issue in the telecom space now that AT&T has completed its union with BellSouth, according to one writer who speculates that Cingular Wireless will help spur more competition in the space. T-Mobile USA launched an unlicensed mobile-access service in Seattle last year and Cingular confirms its work in the space continues. Light Reading (1/3)

LeadQuote

Sportsmanship and easygoing methods are all right, but it is the prospect of a hot fight that brings out the crowds."

--John McGraw,
baseball player and manager

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