BBWN Bites: Apple's Smart Move Into Smart Homes
Also in the news today: Telstra has more layoffs, Frontier's western division to stay unchanged through year-end and BT's new logo to debut.
Telstra, Australia's largest operator, said it will lay off about 10,000 contractors over the next 24 months, Reuters reported today. This adds up to one fourth of the provider's payroll and comes after Telstra shared plans last week to axe 8,000 employees. The culprits are thinning margins, aging infrastructure and tight competition, Telstra CEO Andy Penn said during a conference. The investment-event audience appreciated this news more than those facing involuntary job loss: Telstra shares rose 1.8% in afternoon trading, Reuters said. For analysis and an in-depth look behind the numbers, read Iain Morris's story, Telstra's Chief Executioner Hones His Axe.
Between the giant cheese grater memes and the $35,000-plus price tag of its new MacBook with monitor, news that Apple has added security features to its smart home platform, HomeKit, sounds mundane. But, as Light Reading's Jeff Baumgartner notes in this week's LR podcast, Apple's becoming more trusted in the home and service providers should be aware of where that could lead. Check the Light Reading podcast on Google Play,
Apple podcasts,
Spotify and SoundCloud.
WaveDivision, which is set to acquire Frontier Communications' four-state western operations, for $1.36 billion in cash does not plan any immediate changes that will affect regional customers or employees, according to Herald.net, which serves Everett, Wash. The deal covers Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana, and Frontier intends it to reduce debt. Frontier, which serves about 350,000 in these western states, employed almost 600 people in its Western Washington headquarters, the news site said.
Insight TV debuted its high-def channel on Sky Deutschland pay-TV's platform, available to German and Austrian subscribers. Insight TV broadcasts 4K ultra-HD HDR and produces native ultra HD content, the company says.
As Light Reading's Paul Rainford describes, BT's "underwhelming new logo" will debut as part of the British incumbent's new five-year sponsorship deal with The FA, which runs football (a.k.a. soccer) in the UK. BT's mobile unit EE will deliver connectivity to London's Wembley Stadium, its branding prominently displayed for all to see. Although Rainford doesn't care for BT's new black-and-white branding, some BBWN readers prefer the stripped-down version. (See BBWN Bites: BT Shares With Employees.)
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— Alison Diana, Editor, Broadband World News. Follow us on Twitter or @alisoncdiana.
(Home page image source: Apple)
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Here's where you can find episode links for 'The Divide,' Light Reading's podcast series featuring conversations with broadband providers and policymakers working to close the digital divide.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will present our Cable Next-Gen Europe conference as a free digital symposium on June 21.
Charter has sparked RDOF work in all 24 states where it won bids. The cable op booked about $19 million in RDOF revenues in Q1, and expects to have about $9 million per month come in over the next ten years.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March.
Launch of 2-Gig and 5-Gig FTTP tiers in 70-plus markets puts more pressure on cable ops to enhance their existing DOCSIS 3.1 network or accelerate their upgrade activity centered on the new DOCSIS 4.0 specs.
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