Charter Communications said it had reached an agreement in principle with a debt holders committee on terms of a financial restructuring, to be done under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to reduce Charter's debt by about $8 billion. The cable operator, controlled by Microsoft's co-founder, Paul Allen, said in a statement it would file for Chapter […]

The telco broadband market experienced a significant downturn in new subscriber additions during 2008, according to iSuppli Corp. "New telco broadband subscriber growth saw a 9.1 per cent decline in 2008 following double-digit gains during the prior five years," said Steve Rago, principal analyst, broadband and digital Home for iSuppli. Hardest hit was North America, […]

Cable Europe, the industry representing Europe's cable industry, has expressed disappointment at a European Commission decision to allow the Dutch communications regulator, OPTA, to impose new regulatory rules on cable operators (See Daily News 11/02/09). The Commission has effectively approved a move by the Dutch regulator to mandate cable operators to allow third party services […]

The European Commission has backed plans from Dutch telecoms regulator OPTA to open up the country's cable TV market. OPTA plans to force the country's four largest cable operators Ziggo, UPC, Delta and CAIW to open up their digital networks to third parties. According to OPTA, the regulations are needed to boost competition in the […]

In a landmark case, leading Aussie ISP iiNet has formally defended itself against claims by movie studios that it willingly permitted customers to download movies illegally. In the Federal Court Australia’s third largest ISP – which could face millions in damages – argued the case was “like suing the electricity company for things people do […]

Research firm Light Reading has compiled a report that scopes out the types of cross-platform services that cable operators may roll out, focusing on service features and the emerging technologies that will support them. Even though it will cost more to implement new technologies, cable operators are likely to move to cross-platform technologies to improve […]

Almost a quarter of Portuguese pay-TV operator Zon Multimedia's subscribers took triple-play services at the end of 2008. That's a 400% growth on a year earlier. Zon credited the growth in triple-play customers to the launch of the ZON3 bundle in May, which includes over 90 channels, a minimum of 8Mbps broadband speed and unlimited […]

From Colin Mann in London The UK's Competition Commission has decided to block the proposed video on demand (VOD) joint venture between the BBC through BBC Worldwide Limited (BBCW), ITV plc (ITV) and Channel Four Television Corporation (C4)—UKVOD, also known as 'Project Kangaroo'. It has concluded that none of the other remedies proposed could remove […]

Milan based BS Private Equity and BS Investimenti are to acquire Tiscali’s international network business for E47 million. Parent group Tiscali has been in play for much of the last year, with BSkyB still believed to be in negotiations regarding the purchase of its UK activities with a price tag of up to £500 million. […]

Despite the difficult financial climate, the progression of fibre upgrades is now inevitable, according to a report from Pyramid Research, the telecom research arm of the Light Reading Communications Network. “We found that telcos’ need for fibre to the home remains strong, especially in developed markets, where deployments are driven by the maturity of the […]