Earlier this month, T-Mobile went to Washington to protest Verizon's planned purchase of Advanced Wireless Services airwaves from cable companies, writing a letter (PDF) to the FCC urging the regulatory body to block the spectrum sale. Now, Verizon is turning the tables on its competitor, accusing T-Mobile of hypocrisy in a letter of its own.
Verizon has said it would put up some of its 700MHz wireless spectrum up for sale if it's cleared to go ahead with its cable company spectrum deal. The move would give up sections of the A and B blocks of 700MHz space it runs in Austin, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Its plan wouldn't directly affect the existing LTE network, which runs on the C block.
As promised, Comcast on Monday switched on its HBO Go support for the Xbox 360 on Monday. Viewers who have a Comcast cable subscription and the console can sign in and watch nearly all of HBO's catalog on-demand. Unlike the Xfinity TV app, though, viewing counts towards the 250GB data transfer cap.
A currently ongoing trial US Congress' Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony from Verizon about its buy of AWS spectrum from cable companies that include Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House. During the meeting, Verizon said it would continue to develop its FiOS fiber optic service into which it's already invested some $23 billion and that customers will see no decrease in choices or increased prices from the move due to marketing agreements between cable companies and Verizon, John Eggerton tweeted. The provider's representatives also said it's a good steward of spectrum and is more efficient than some others at using it.
T-Mobile USA has urged the FCC to block the $3.9 billion sale of wireless spectrum by cable companies to Verizon Wireless on Tuesday. Possibly frustrated after its own deal with AT&T was denied, the provider argued the deal between Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, and Cox Communications would give Verizon an "excessive concentration" of wireless spectrum. Verizon is already the biggest cellphone company in the US, while T-Mobile is fourth largest.
The Department of Justice on Tuesday said it was investigating Verizon's plans to buy cable companies' wireless spectrum. The agency was investigating whether or not taking the usually 1,700MHz space from Bright House, Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner Cable raised competitive problems. Officials are reportedly concerned that the deal amounted to collusion rather than fostering competition.
Cox on Friday joined other cable companies in selling spectrum to Verizon. The deal, worth $315 million, will give it licenses for 20MHz of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) space in areas that cover about 28 million Americans. The two will echo earlier deals in letting each sell the other's home and business services, and Cox would have the option of selling cellphone service at wholesale prices.
As part of the recent AWS spectrum sale from cable providers to Verizon, Comcast will begin selling Verizon's mobile devices early next year. At the same time, Comcast will compete with Verizon in markets where it sells its FiOS TV and Internet service, said Comcast Cable president Neil Smit. Time Warner Cable will also sell Verizon products in bundled packages, though it will do so nearly immediately.
As part of the very recent $3.6 billion spectrum sale to Verizon, the communications provider will wholesale its spectrum to Time Warner Cable and Comcast, CNET found. It will replace Clearwire in this respect, as it's one of the conditions of the multi-billion dollar sale. Verizon will be the exclusive partner of the two providers, Time Warner Cable spokesperson Alexander Dudley said. The transition will be done over the course of the next six months, and TWC and Comcast will need to move their existing customers elsewhere.
ESPN gave iPhone and iPod touch owners a bonus for being subscribed to traditional TV on Thurdsay through its new WatchESPN app (free, App Store). The app lets viewers watch live ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, and ESPNU with a schedule to show both active and upcoming events. The system tries to shelter TV providers and requires a sign-in from a cable or satellite account to get access.
Clearwire in an SEC filing revealed that its board chairman Craig McCaw was leaving the company on Friday. The executive had given the company just two days' notice and didn't give a personal reason. His exit wasn't due to disagreements with the company, the WiMAX company said in its official point of view.
Sprint and Clearwire today announced the unification of their two WiMAX Internet services into a single company that they hope will drive the 4G wireless standard. Simply titled Clearwire, the business will share the services of both the old Clearwire and Sprint's Xohm network in a single national WiMAX provider and is said to help promote the concept of an open wireless standard that allows any device and software to run; the combined build-out of the two should cover between 120 and 140 million Americans by the end of 2010, the involved companies say.
Multiple cable providers as well as other key technology companies are helping fund Sprint's still young WiMAX-based Xohm network, according to tips provided to the Wall Street Journal. Those allegedly aware of the situation explain that the 4G, wide-area wireless network is slated to receive as much as $1 billion from cable giant Comcast to help expand the Sprint service beyond its three-city trial; opposing cable providers Time Warner and Bright House are also believed to have pledged support of up to $500 million and $200 million.
