Ownership

Private equity firms have been investing heavily in broadband providers in recent years, typically infusing cash into their acquisitions to expand operations, increase a company’s value and then do an initial public offering or sell the company at a profit several years later. What do private equity firms look for in a broadband acquisition? How involved are they in a provider’s operations? For EQT Group, fiber is a top selection criterion in making acquisitions.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew tried to allay mounting national security concerns about the Chinese-owned video app but encountered open hostility in his first appearance before Congress, a five-hour thrashing that underscored the popular app’s precarious future in the United States. Lawmakers from both parties sought to tie Chew personally to the Chinese Communist Party, frequently interrupted him and called him “evasive.” While he p

The hardest question I get asked by counties and cities is how to know if they can trust an ISP to fulfill its promises. I suggest a series of questions that makes them dig deeper into the real nature of a given ISP and why they want the local funding.

Every 15 years or so, it seems, the US economy rolls into a ditch — and the tech industry pulls something remarkable out of its labs. Here we are again! Silicon Valley's favorite bank has failed, while its top firms continue to lay off hordes of workers — but, at the same time, industry leaders foresee vast new growth spurred by artificial intelligence (AI).

Texas-based broadband provider Element8 is looking to make a name for itself in rural America. The company snagged a $200 million infusion of cash from private equity firm Digital Alpha to push its fixed wireless access and fiber services deeper into the central US. Founded in 2020, Element8 has focused on serving broadband in its home state primarily using fixed wireless access technology and a sprinkle of fiber.

Community decision-making is the foundation of Maine’s DNA. Town meetings, volunteer school boards, and local planning efforts are all central to what makes this Maine. Dozens of communities have started this process with local people identifying locations and groups needing better service to develop plans addressing these gaps. But these community-led efforts are under threat from big monopoly internet service providers, who fear competition will lose customers.

T-Mobile US is buying Mint Mobile, the budget wireless provider part owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, for as much as $1.35 billion in an effort to bolster its prepaid phone business and reach more lower-income customers. T-Mobile is acquiring Mint’s closely held parent company, Ka’ena Corp., with a combination of 39% cash and 61% stock.

Cal.net, a service provider focused on offering fixed wireless access (FWA) and fiber broadband to California’s Central Valley and rural northern California, has a new CEO and new funding.

John Malone and his former colleagues on Charter’s board agreed to an $87.5 million settlement of claims the billionaire unfairly benefited from the $79 billion purchase of Time Warner Cable he helped finance. The accord disclosed in a Delaware court filing resolves an investor’s lawsuit against directors of the second-largest US cable company over their handling of the 2016 deal. The money will come from insurance covering directors named in the suit and will go into Charter’s coffers, not to the shareholder who filed the case.

With Altice USA revamping its management with a slew of Comcast veterans, investors are wondering if the latter might be eyeing an acquisition of the former.