Ownership

Windstream will walk away from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy for good following a decision from the Federal Communications Commission to waive a rule that prohibits US telecommunications carriers from having more than 25% ownership by foreign companies. The FCC waiver is the final stamp of approval for Windstream’s plan of reorganization, for which the Bankruptcy Court gave the go-ahead in June 2020.

The European Commission has approved unconditionally, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Inmarsat by Viasat. The European  Commission concluded that the merger would not raise competition concerns in the European Economic Area (‘EEA') or any substantial part of it. The decision follows an in-depth investigation of the proposed acquisition of Inmarsat by Viasat. Both companies are providers of ‘two-way' satellite-based communication services.

Private equity (PE) money has been flooding into the broadband market over the past two years. Everywhere you look, someone has a PE partner of some kind.

WIA Connect(X) show panelists were asked if there is a magic number that developers should target for the cost per home passed with fiber. Beth Hoffman, managing director with Berkshire Partners, said that a lot of it depends on the density of the market. The cost per home passed in a dense city like San Francisco (CA) could be as low as $700.

In a period of only nine days—April 25 to May 3, 2023—the the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced initiatives to look at unfair and deceptive acts involving AI and proposed banning Meta Platforms from targeting young users. These come on top of two years of antitrust aggressiveness and consumer protection assertiveness. But both actions beg the question, “Are the tools strong enough for the task?” Both the AI and Meta activities are indications of the limitations that FTC Chair Lina Khan and the agency face as a result of being tied to industrial-era statutes and procedures.

North Carolina-based broadband provider Brightspeed has caught the eye of Abu Dhabi sovereign investor Mubadala, which will invest $500 million into the operator. The investment, subject to regulatory approvals and conditions, would make Mubadala a minority shareholder alongside Apollo Global Management, Brightspeed’s parent company.

Cogent Communications has completed the previously announced acquisition of T-Mobile’s Wireline Business.

30 years ago—on April 30, 1993—something called the World Wide Web launched into the public domain. The web made it simple for anyone to navigate the internet. All users had to do was launch a new program called a "browser," type in a URL, and hit return. This began the internet's transformation into the vibrant online canvas we use today. Anyone could build their own "web site" with pictures, video and sound. They could even send visitors to other sites using hyperlinked words or phrases underlined in blue.

Broadband partnerships have emerged as an attractive option for deployment in many areas of the country. However, in order to be successful in developing a mutually beneficial Network Operating Agreement (NOA), the parties should keep the big-picture goals of the project in mind throughout the negotiations. A successful NOA will typically address the following ten core issues:

The Federal Communications Commission proposed new rules that would require, for the first time, companies with existing authorizations to provide international telecommunications services to and from the US to file renewal applications at the FCC.