Jim Barthold
Olivier Pascal
Anna-Maria KovacsFor Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, data overtakes the coax pipeline from TV
Data is becoming such a key element in a cable operator's subscriber pitch that more MSOs are starting to offer broadband-only options--a policy unthinkable only a few years ago in the video-centric industry. FierceCable editor Steve Donohue takes a close look at this trend.
Pay TV operators should invest with customer needs in mind
Customers are satisfied with the pay TV product, but they are still unhappy with how they interface with the pay TV provider--on their websites or via their call centers. Why won't providers invest more into these key areas of their service?
TiVo's CEO says IPTV, cloud to play bigger roles
IPTV and cloud-based services will play a bigger role in TiVo's business plans going forward, President and CEO Tom Rogers said during a first quarter earnings call with analysts.
Ericsson's Nandlall: Mediaroom acquisition positions us as a video space player
The recent acquisition of Microsoft's Mediaroom IPTV platform left some questioning how Ericsson would approach IPTV--from the wireless or wireline perspective. Vish Nandlall, Head of Strategy, Marketing and Chief Technology Officer clarified Ericsson's perception of the video space and explained what the company plans to do with Mediaroom during a chat with Fierce editor Jim Barthold.
TDS Telecom updates its Mediaroom platform to give subscribers more control
Even as it awaits final approval of its pending Mediaroom acquisition from Microsoft, Ericsson is getting some good news. TDS Telecom has said it's not only sticking with the IPTV platform but is updating it to give subscribers more features and control.
SingTel ready to expand pay TV service
Singapore Telephone wants to expand its Mio pay TV service beyond the Singapore market as part of a change of focus--and direction--from voice to video that is following the transition from analog to digital TV.
Fiber-based pay TV providers top U.S. customer satisfaction survey
As a whole, pay TV service providers don't meet customer expectations thanks to ongoing price hikes and reliability issues. And, in a twist of sorts, cable is seen as "an inferior mechanism for delivering television compared to fiber optics and satellite," according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index Information Sector for 2013.
AT&T ready to follow Google Fiber trail in Austin, says Stephenson
AT&T is more than willing to build its own fiber network in Austin, Texas--as long as it gets the same terms the city is offering to Google for its vaunted 1 Gbps buildout.
AT&T juices up U-verse on-demand features, redesigns user interface
AT&T has redesigned its U-verse user interface to "provide a more intuitive and convenient way" to discover television content, the carrier said.
A national broadband network would foster IPTV progress
It is remarkable that the United States still has no national broadband network. The idea has bubbled around like newt eyes in a witch's brew but it never gets progresses beyond PowerPoint slides before being packed away and carted to the next presentation.
Videotron exec Sian Morgan leads company from video to voice
It's almost man-bites-dog when a service provider offers voice as an addition to a video business. That's what Canadian MSO Videotron is doing and, according to Sian Morgan, senior director of telephony and multimedia networks, it's a good place to be.
Aereo announces Atlanta metro launch, changes pricing plan to $8 monthly
Aereo, continuing its business-as-usual approach even as broadcasters and others try to shut it down, has announced a new pricing structure for its TV streaming service and said that it will launch in the Atlanta metro area beginning June 17.
Australian broadcaster Seven West Media eyes hybrid IPTV
Australian broadcaster Seven West Media plans to create a "broadcast to broadband" operation next year, leveraging IPTV technology and the country's national broadband network to deliver its over-the-air service over the Internet.
StarHub offering IPTV to commercial customers via Malaysia's nationwide broadband network
StarHub is doing things a little bit backwards in Malaysia, where it is marketing its StarHub TV on Fibre service to commercial customers such as restaurants, pubs, hotels and hospitals first with plans to eventually offer the service to residential customers.
Telstra wants to make IPTV its 'go to' service, relies on Foxtel for flexible content
Australian telco Telstra plans to use a T-Box personal video recorder unit as the linchpin and a strengthened relationship with content provider Foxtel to make its IPTV service the lever that pries more revenue from a legacy mobile and fixed line subscriber base.
BCE's Fibe TV gaining at the expense of satellite business
Bell Canada continues to grow its Fibe TV IPTV subscriber base, although at least a chunk of that growth is coming via cannibalization of the carrier's existing satellite TV service, BCE President and CEO George Cope said during a call with analysts discussing first quarter earnings.
CenturyLink: Prism TV subscriber numbers rise to 120,000 in Q1
CenturyLink's Prism TV IPTV service provided a much-needed revenue and subscriber boost to the carrier's first quarter earnings and continued to play an integral role in the telco's overall "broadband initiative," company executives said during comments on those Q1 results.
Wireline execs still raking in the big bucks—but compensations fluctuate
There are no surprises on a list of the highest paid wireline executives: the biggest are the best paid (AT&T and Verizon). What's different this year, according to a report compiled by FierceTelecom, is the movement in pay.
IPTV not getting the attention it deserves from service providers
First quarter earnings results are pouring in, and it's again apparent that IPTV as a service, application or just part of an overall broadband bundle is a winner. But not all service providers have realized this yet, and they continue to put their potentially biggest profit baby in a corner.
ADTRAN boosts Sycamore Telephone's $4.1 million FTTH upgrade in rural Ohio
About 4,200 residents in and around Sycamore, Ohio, are getting state-of-the-art fiber-fed broadband services thanks to a $4.1 million fiber to the home upgrade that Sycamore Telephone undertook using broadband stimulus funding awarded by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.
