cable

Sprint Nextel has sued several cable providers over what it claims is the illegal use of its digital phone technology, further fraying an already strained relationship between the carrier and the cable industry.

In separate lawsuits filed yesterday, Sprint alleged that Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, and the Washington Post's Cable One all infringed on 12 patents related to digital phone technology it secured in the '90s.

The lawsuits represent just the latest development in an increasingly rocky relationship. Sprint and the cable providers were once strong allies, partnering up to buy spectrum and resell wireless service, and … Read more

Not long ago, I wrote a piece speculating on what T-Mobile would do if the AT&T deal fell apart.

Well, looks like "if" has come true. So I thought I'd go back to some highlights from the earlier post.

By itself, T-Mobile is a wireless operator struggling to keep its best customers from leaving. Over the past several months, the carrier has aggressively cut prices and made itself a haven for bargain seekers--all for the sake of sparking a little growth. As a result, it resembles a large prepaid carrier more than one of the … Read more

A few months after making the first MHL-HDMI adapter available for existing HDMI displays, Kanex announced today that it's now shipping a 10-foot MHL Passive Cable for use with HDTVs that have built-in support for the MHL standard. … Read more

You found your perfect TV. You've driven/carried/dragged it home. You have this big cardboard box sitting in your living room. Now what?

Well, after you follow the instructions for getting the TV on its stand (if it isn't already), the real setup begins. There are countless settings, options, and potential issues between box and beautiful picture. This how-to guide should help you navigate the waters of TV technology. … Read more

Your wireless network at home, and possibly in your car, is about to get a huge dose of networking supercharge.

In a pre-CES meeting with the press today, Broadcom, maker of chipsets that power popular networking devices, unveiled its plan for the new Wi-Fi specification, called 802.11ac, and demoed its new development in in-car Ethernet cabling technology.

The 802.11ac specification--an industry wireless networking standard confirmed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) back in January--is the upgrade to the existing 802.11n specification and is considered by Broadcom to be the standard for the "post-PC era" of data connectivity. Broadcom cited a report saying that currently 55 percent of wireless clients are non-PC, which includes game consoles, set-top boxes, and mobile devices.

Unlike 802.11n, which is available in both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, the new 802.11ac uses only the 5GHz band and incorporates many standardized techniques that help greatly increase both the data rates and wireless range. It's also backward-compatible with 802.11n clients. According to Rahul Patel, vice president of Broadcom's Mobile and Wireless Group, Broadcom's new 802.11ac chips will offer the following benefits.… Read more

Verizon Communications considered buying Hulu when the streaming-video site was shopping itself around to potential acquirers earlier this year.

Hulu was just one of the online video options Verizon looked at, CEO Lowell McAdam said at a UBS investor conference today in New York.

"We continue to look at alternatives," he said during a one-on-one discussion onstage, which was Webcast.

Verizon was among many potential suitors looking at Hulu when it was seeking a buyer this summer. Hulu ultimately did not find a partner.

That Verizon looked at Hulu, which streams television shows and movies, underscores the growing … Read more

Verizon Wireless' move to buy 20MHz of AWS wireless spectrum from cable operators has caused a seismic shift in the wireless industry.

The deal announced today will give Verizon access to spectrum licenses that cover about 259 million potential customers. The company plans to pay the cable consortium SpectrumCo--which consists of Comcast, Time Warner, and Bright House Networks--$3.6 billion for the spectrum licenses.

In a market where wireless operators are all jockeying for more spectrum resources, Verizon has scored a major win by taking a huge swath of unused spectrum for itself. Spectrum is the lifeblood of the … Read more

Cable providers Comcast and Time Warner Cable will stop reselling Clearwire's 4G wireless service following their agreement to hand off their unused mobile spectrum to Verizon Wireless for $3.6 billion, CNET has learned.

Part of the Verizon deal gives the cable companies the right to resell Verizon's wireless service, which will become the cable providers' exclusive partner once the spectrum aspect of the agreement goes through, said Time Warner Cable spokesman Alexander Dudley.

Both companies will slowly wind down their Clearwire business over the next six months, and plan to move their existing customers to other options. … Read more

Verizon Wireless will acquire a swath of spectrum that cable providers have been sitting on, bolstering its own position even as its competitors scramble for more of the limited resource.

In a joint announcement today, Verizon said it would pay $3.6 billion to Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks--collectively known as SpectrumCo--to get what's known as AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum. The deal also includes the option for Verizon to sell cable service in its stores and for the cable companies to get access to the wireless network on a wholesale basis.

The deal underscores the … Read more