Editor’s Note: RCR Wireless News goes all in for “Throwback Thursdays,” tapping into our archives to resuscitate the top headlines from the past. Fire up the time machine, put on those sepia-tinted shades, set the date for #TBT and enjoy the memories!
Verizon wants to be in the AwesomenessTV business
Verizon Communications plans to launch a new video service as part of its Go90 platform, and is jump starting its effort by buying a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV, a media company controlled by DreamWorks Animation. “AwesomenessTV has demonstrated an ability to zero in on programming that Gen Z and millennials want to watch,” said Verizon EVP Marni Walden. “The content AwesomenessTV has produced for Go90 has exceeded all our expectations with shows such as ‘Guidance’ and ‘Top Five Live’. That’s why we want to be in the AwesomenessTV business.” Verizon said its investment values AwesomenessTV at $650 million, implying a purchase price of $162 million for the 24.5% stake. DreamWorks Animation, which bought the company in 2013, will remain its majority shareholder. The new video service is set to operate as an independent brand, according to Verizon, and feature “premium transactional content for a variety of audiences on par with the highest-end content seen on television today.” In the U.S., the service will only be available through the Go90 platform, which is available to customers of other wireless carriers, not just to Verizon Wireless customers. … Read more
Huawei exceeds Nokia, Ericsson in revenues
Huawei recorded CNY 395 billion ($60.8 billion) in 2015 revenues, climbing 37% year-on-year. Net profit for the year was reported at CNY 36.9 billion, a 33% increase compared to the previous year. Huawei’s Carrier Business Group generated CNY 232.3 billion in annual revenue, a 21% increase compared to 2014, with the company attributing most of the growth to the widespread rollout of LTE networks. Huawei’s Enterprise Business Group generated CNY 27.6 billion in revenues last year, surging 44% year-over-year. Huawei’s enterprise business experienced rapid growth in the public safety, finance, transportation and energy sectors. Meanwhile, Huawei’s Consumer Business Group reported a 73% increase in revenue to CNY 129.1 billion ($19.9 billion). “In part, Huawei owes its long-term growth to the sheer size of the ICT market, which is the driving force of digital economies around the world,” said Guo Ping, deputy chairman and rotating CEO at Huawei. … Read more
Brocade to buy Ruckus
Brocade Communications has agreed to buy Ruckus Wireless in a deal worth $1.2 billion, which the companies say will create a “pure-play networking company.” The goal is to deliver products and solutions that span the continuum from the heart of the data center to the edge of the network. Brocade sells routers and switches and is focused on storage area networking, software-defined networking and network functions virtualization. Ruckus sells Wi-Fi access points and routers and is focused on cloud-controlled service provider Wi-Fi solutions. Ruckus Wireless, which went public less than four years ago, saw its stock price soar more than 30% on the news. Ruckus shareholders are set to receive 0.75 Brocade shares and $6.45 in cash for each share of Ruckus stock they own. Shares of Brocade slipped more than 14% this morning. The value of the deal will fluctuate until closing based on the price of Brocade’s stock. Brocade said the combined company will be the market leader in storage area networking, service provider Wi-Fi and hospitality Wi-Fi. The company also said it is not planning any immediate changes to the sales and service channels. … Read more
AWS hits $10b in annual sales
Highlighting the increasing importance of cloud-based computing and attendant data center needs, Amazon Web Services hit $10 billion in annual sales in 2015, according to a company filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The mark comes 10 years after the service was launched. According to the April 5 filing, Amazon.com as a whole generated $100 billion in sales with AWS, which provides compute, storage, content delivery, networking and database services, contributed a full 10% to that figure. Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, in commentary contained in the filing, said the “most noteworthy” aspect of AWS is “the pace of innovation continues to accelerate – we announced 722 significant new features and services in 2015, a 40% increase over 2014.” Bezos wrote a “customer-obsessed” approach underlies the success of both Amazon and AWS. … Read more
Orange scuttles merger talks with Bouygues
French telecom operator Orange decided to put an end to merger talks with smaller rival Bouygues Telecom, according to Orange. “After in-depth discussions, the board of directors of Orange has concluded that an agreement regarding a possible consolidation with Bouygues Telecom has not been reached. The decision has therefore been taken to end the discussions with Bouygues,” the company said in a statement. The French telco said it will pursue deployment of its strategic plan, launched in 2015, and focused on investment in high-speed broadband networks and providing an improved customer experience. In the statement, Orange also confirmed all of its financial objectives. Orange reached said it reached 8 million LTE subscribers at the end of 2015, posting 1.4 million net additions during the last quarter of the year. The telco ended 2015 with 28.42 million mobile connections. … Read more
FCC moves on USF reform, $20b over 10 years
The Federal Communications Commission approved what it’s calling modernization and reform of its universal service program in a rare unanimous vote. The FCC said the program will provide approximately $20 billion in support over the next 10 years to “small rural carriers” offering broadband services in “high-cost areas.” The government agency said the reforms will better target financial support “to communities that need it the most,” with claims that around 20% of all homes in areas served by “rate-of-return” carriers still lack access to broadband services. The FCC moves include modernizing existing Universal Service program rules to encourage investment by rural carriers by providing greater capital expenditure allowances for operators with below average deployment and limiting allowable investment for those with above average deployment; require broadband deployment, based on number of locations lacking service, the cost of providing service and support to be received; and directs Universal Service funds to areas without broadband competition. For carriers, the FCC is also offering a voluntarily transition from legacy rate-of-return support to a new model-based support similar to a model used for the Connect America Fund Phase II. Carriers accepting USF support must deploy service providing download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second and upload speeds of at least 1 Mbps to all funded locations, with faster 25 Mbps downlink and 3 Mbps uplink service required in areas of higher population density; with a 40% build out requirement within four years, increasing by 10% each year until reaching 100% by year 10. … Read more
Check out the RCR Wireless News Archives for more stories from the past.
