MERGERS
Antitrust Regulators Unlikely to Block union, Experts Say (SJM)
Liberty Snaps Up Deutsche Telekom Cable Operations (WP)
AOL Time Warner Loses U.S.-Mandated Net Access Partner (WP)
INTERNATIONAL
Western TV May Be Nearer for Chinese (NYT)
EDTECH
Distance Learning Yet to Hit Home (WIRED)
MERGERS
ANTITRUST REGULATORS UNLIKELY TO BLOCK UNION, EXPERTS SAY
Issue: Merger
Antitrust experts say that regulators are unlikely to block the proposed
deal between Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, despite the fact that the new HP
would lead the world in sales of computers and printers. The size of the
$20.3 billion buyout practically guarantees the deal will be examined by
either the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission. Herb
Hovenkamp, an antitrust professor at the University of Iowa says that if the
deal helps HP and Compaq to become more efficient PC makers, it could be
regarded as "pro-competitive." The key will be for executives at HP and
Compaq to demonstrate that the deal produces "offsetting efficiencies, like
a reduction in cost" in markets where the new company will enjoy a market
share greater than 25 percent, said Hovenkamp.
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury, AUTHOR: Elise Ackerman]
(http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/hottopics/hp/hp090501b.htm)
(requires registration)
LIBERTY SNAPS UP DEUTSCHE TELEKOM CABLE OPERATIONS
Issue: Merger
Deutsche Telekom, Germany's incumbent telephone carrier, has announced plans
to sell off its six remaining cable TV companies to Liberty Media, a U.S.
investment group headed by John Malone. The sell-off was apparently
motivated by heavy debts on Deutsche's side. Deutsche Telekom had previously
announced that it intended to reduce its debt of $59 billion dollars by
$14.5 billion by the end of next year. The sale to Liberty Media will have
to have regulatory approval, particularly as unlike Deutsche Telekom,
Liberty Media would bring content for cable systems to the purchase. The
regulator usually takes around a month to decide on whether to allow a deal
or to recommend further investigation of up to three months. If approved by
antitrust regulators, the deal will turn Liberty Media into Europe's largest
cable TV operator, with more than 20 million customers.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Steve Gold]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/telecom/12288-1.html)
AOL TIME WARNER LOSES U.S.-MANDATED NET ACCESS PARTNER
Issue: Mergers
AOL Time Warner is in a bit of a jam , a stew, a pickle. (Hmmm... should
have eaten breakfast). AOLTW has lost one of its partners in high-speed
Internet service. The loss of High Speed Access Corp. leaves the media giant
in search of a new partner to satisfy the conditions imposed by the Federal
Trade Commission when approving its merger. Under those conditions, America
Online Inc. and Time Warner, as a combined company, were ordered to open its
cable network to at least three rival Internet service providers. AOLTW has
already reached agreements with EarthLink and Juno Online Services. In
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, High Speed indicated it
was having trouble raising capital to fund its operations, which it believed
would make it difficult to follow through with its AOL Time Warner deal.
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Alec Klein]
(http://www.washtech.com/news/telecom/12299-1.html)
INTERNATIONAL
WESTERN TV MAY BE NEARER FOR CHINESE
Issue: International
AOL Time Warner and the News Corporation said yesterday that they had moved
closer to a long-sought goal of receiving permission from the Chinese
government to broadcast their television programs in China. In exchange for
their approval, Beijing officials want assurances that a Chinese- run
channel carrying government-approved English-language news broadcasts, as
well as Chinese cooking programs and Mandarin-language classes, will be
available to viewers in the United States. Several people close to the
discussions said that the recent round of talks represented a breakthrough
because of China's new willingness to invite more programming by foreign
companies.
[SOURCE: New York Times, AUTHOR: Geraldine Fabrikant With Craig S. Smith]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05CHIN.html)
(requires registration)
EDTECH
DISTANCE LEARNING YET TO HIT HOME
Issue: EdTech
Companies that had set their sights on making distance learning a reality
have largely suffered for their vision. After many e-learning start-ups have
gone belly up, the hard lessons of the enterprise have settled in: "The
e-learning market has come into focus," said Andy Rosenfield, CEO of
UNext.com. "People understand that it's not easy to provide quality
education online. You can't build out the offerings of a great university
overnight." But where the startups have failed some have succeeded. The
University of Phoenix Online is the nation's largest private university
serving working professionals. Also thriving are DeVry and Renaissance
Learning, which both address real needs among the vocational and K-12
markets. The next step for many universities and e-learning ventures is to
bring the online material to living rooms. As technology and bandwidth
constraints change, the notion of distance education will continue to evolve
to include elements such as video teleconferencing. Over 90 percent of U.S.
higher education institutions will offer some form of e-learning by 2005,
IDC predicts, a media research firm.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Kendra Mayfield]
(http://www.wired.com/news/school/0,1383,45855,00.html)
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