Verizon, Comcast, and Time Warner partnering up: the story so far – The Verge

Verizon pulls plug on joint venture with cable companies, but cross-promotion will continue

2013-10-17T17:53:40-04:00

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Alongside Verizon's purchase of valuable spectrum from Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and a few other cable providers, the companies also entered into a sales and innovation "joint venture." In addition to sales partnerships (like Verizon selling Comcast services at its stores and Comcast bunding Verizon Wireless products), the companies also put together an "innovation technology joint venture for the development of technology to better integrate wireline and wireless products and services." It was a potentially interesting partnership, but now at least one aspect of it has been dissolved. CFO Fran Shammo said today on Verizon's Q3 earnings ca …

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Verizon begins beefing up LTE network with acquired AWS spectrum

2013-10-16T11:16:45-04:00

Verizon 4G LTE (STOCK)

Verizon is finally starting to take advantage of the all AWS spectrum it acquired in a controversial deal with cable providers. GigaOm reports that, at least in New York City, the carrier has quietly flipped the switch and enabled LTE signals on the 2.1 GHz AWS band. Thanks to the beefed-up network, one user - who happened to be carrying a spectrum analyzer - saw download speeds that topped out at 80Mbps on an iPhone 5S. Those data transfer rates are unlikely to remain so high once more smartphones and tablets hop on to the AWS band (and there are already plenty of compatible devices in Verizon's lineup).

But the added network resources wil …

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FCC approves Verizon’s controversial spectrum purchase from cable companies

2012-08-23T15:56:40-04:00

Verizon Wireless Neon Logo Stock 1020

Following the Department of Justice's lead last week, the FCC has now approved Verizon's acquisition of a large swath of AWS spectrum from a consortium of cable companies operating as SpectrumCo that includes Comcast and Time Warner. As with the DoJ, the FCC's approval specifies "a number of binding commitments and conditions" including a spectrum swap of certain licenses between Verizon and Leap (better known in the market as Cricket) and a transfer of certain AWS holdings to T-Mobile upon completion of the purchase. In fact, the Commission says in its final report that the approval was based largely on "unprecedented divestiture of spectru …

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US Justice Department approves spectrum deal between Verizon and cable companies

2012-08-16T10:52:49-04:00

Verizon logo (STOCK)

The US Department of Justice has signed off on a major $3.6 billion deal between Verizon Wireless and several cable companies that will see America's largest carrier gain valuable new spectrum, according to Bloomberg. Final approval of the controversial agreement will rest with the FCC, which is expected to give the go-ahead in the near future. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowksi issued a statement in support of the agreement today, revealing that his agency is currently circulating a draft order that will make things official.

FCC approval expected in near future

The original proposal faced heavy scrutiny from regulators who raised competition …

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Verizon’s deal with cable companies may be approved in ‘next few weeks’

2012-08-14T09:12:05-04:00

Verizon FiOS TV DVR Remote (STOCK)

The US Justice Department and the Federal Communications Commission are set to approve a spectrum deal between Verizon and several cable companies, The Wall Street Journal reports, but a few compromises were made in the negotiations. Anonymous agency officials say that the deal could be approved in the next few weeks, allowing Verizon to purchase spectrum from companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable and collaborate for limited cross-selling, a controversial provision that would allow one company to sell services from another.

As we've heard before, federal agencies are trying to limit the impact this could have on competition and total …

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Regulators expected to approve spectrum deal between Verizon and cable companies, demand significant concessions

2012-08-03T11:41:06-04:00

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According to Reuters, the FCC and Department of Justice are poised to approve Verizon's purchase of spectrum from a variety of cable companies including Comcast and Time Warner Cable. However, the government is expected to heavily modify the cross marketing portions of the original proposal due to mounting antitrust concerns. Verizon and Comcast will be forbidden from pushing the other's services in all FiOS markets, and will only be permitted to do so for a limited timeframe in other regions.

Citing three unnamed sources, Reuters describes the ongoing negotiations as "bruising," though it seems Verizon should ultimately come away rather pl …

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Verizon spectrum deal stalled by Justice Department’s concerns about competition

2012-07-12T21:41:11-04:00

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that while the FCC is "essentially prepared to sign off" on Verizon Wireless's $3.9 billion deal to acquire AWS spectrum for LTE devices from a consortium of cable companies, Justice Department officials are still worried about the deal's antitrust implications. The office's major concern is cross-selling - Verizon's re-selling of cable service from Comcast or Time Warner, and vice versa - which it thinks could inhibit competition in the broadband internet market, and leave many customers without coverage.

So far, the cross-selling is only happening where Verizon's own FiOS service is unavailable, and t …

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Verizon’s controversial spectrum purchase from cable companies nearing FCC approval, Reuters reports

2012-07-09T17:56:57-04:00

Verizon Wireless store (1020)

Reuters is reporting this afternoon that the FCC is close to approving Verizon's planned acquisition of AWS spectrum from a consortium of cable companies - most notably Comcast and Time Warner - that it would use to deploy additional LTE coverage beyond the 700MHz footprint that it uses today. The deal has been under intense scrutiny by Congress and from other wireless providers over the last several months, arguing that other carriers like T-Mobile would be able to make better use of the spectrum in question and that related deals that allow the cable companies to sell cable service in Verizon stores and vice versa put an unhealthy cap on c …

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AT&T says it’s interested in Verizon’s unused 700MHz spectrum

2012-06-12T15:15:38-04:00

AT&T logo (STOCK)

Speaking at a conference this week, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson indicated strong interest in the 700MHz spectrum that Verizon has offered to sell on the condition that it be allowed to buy SpectrumCo's AWS holdings - a controversial purchase that's been questioned by the FCC, Congress, and other carriers in recent weeks. He said that the offering "pairs perfectly" with AT&T's own spectrum and that it could "be up and running and hot" inside of 60 days of sale, which is just about as close to a stamp of approval on a competitor's strategic move as you're going to get. Of course, it stands to reason that a lack of government intervention on Ve …

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Senator Herb Kohl expresses ‘serious concerns’ about Verizon’s spectrum proposal

2012-05-25T13:11:04-04:00

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The US Federal Communications Commission is still quizzing Verizon on its recent proposal to buy spectrum from cable companies, and now at least one member of Congress has raised concerns as well. Senator Herb Kohl has written to both the FCC and the Department of Justice, urging them to examine the "serious competition concerns" implicit in the deal, which would allow Verizon to purchase $3.6 billion worth of spectrum from the Comcast / Time Warner / Bright House partnership known as SpectrumCo.

Although Kohl is not unconditionally against approving the deal, he urges regulators to make Verizon sell off spectrum in order to reduce its domi …

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