3 posts tagged “time warner”
After rumors of its demise and resurrection, it looks like WiMax will finally get the push it needs in the U.S. to become a viable contender in the wireless communications space.
Sprint and Clearwire finally rekindled a deal to launch a nationwide service--thanks to a multi-billion-dollar push from investors Comcast, Intel, Time Warner Cable, and Google. The new service will be marketed under the Clearwire brand, and it could offer true wireless broadband Internet access a year or two ahead of Verizon and AT&T's planned offerings.
For those not familiar with WiMax or some of its potential uses (ranging from cars to rural broadband service to virtually free mobile calling), see "WiMax Network's Rollout Abroad" in Popular Mechanics, "Web Surfers Can Take the Internet Along for the Ride" in The New York Times, and "Beyond WiMax" in PC Magazine.
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One wonders when Yahoo will wake up and smell the cat food. (Microsoft's cat food, that is, to contort a musical sub-reference into a tech marketing quasi cliche.)
Naturally, Yahoo had to at least nominally (and oh so predictably) reject Microsoft's initial offer, but as the days of speculation drag on, the discussion seems about as serious as considering another Nader run for the presidency (okay, never mind the fact that Ralph is actually taking that idea seriously).
Sitting in the green room at Fox the other day and watching the Yahoo-Microsoft banter (which included the possibility that some of the largest Yahoo shareholders could sue if management doesn't take the deal), I could not help noticing that no one's heart was really in it. What everyone wanted to say but simply couldn't say on the air is that this deal is done. It's logical, obvious, and necessary for both parties. It's even a necessity for Google (they desperately need the competition or they'll die like Woody Allen's shark, and it will blunt the growing anti-trust problems Google faces).
And the idea that has been floated of melding AOL and Yahoo is such a terrifically terrible idea (and the source of endless jokes in New York), it only serves to underscore the fact that the Microhoo deal is all but done. The preposterous AOL idea--let's give Time Warner Yahoo so that it drive it straight into the ground like its other online endeavors (as if that would preserve Time Warner's core businesses)--illustrates in high-contrast colors that Yahoo has no other option than to accept the Microsoft offer. Joining with AOL is almost as crazy an idea as letting Mr. Potter "help" George Bailey (hello, Google?).
The cynics among us, of course, are going to point to the rather half-hearted rejection from Yahoo as being utterly disingenuous. There wasn't even any indignation in the tone, they'll say, which has been standard operating procedure in dealing with Microsoft proposals for over a decade and a half. A lack of indignation means you (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) really want to be acquired.
So, Yahoo's apparent rejection reminds me of those wonderfully subversive Nancy Reagan era "Just Say No" buttons that when tilted said "Yes!" Maybe someone should get a box of the buttons and send then to Yahoo HQ.
Those who want to bet on when Yahoo will officially accept a Microsoft bid can post their bets in the comments section here....
Update: Apparently some major Yahoo shareholders agree that this is all but over. See The Deal's Legg Mason: Yahoo! in a "tough spot."
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Time Warner was unable to deliver the Fox channel in high definition during the Super Bowl Sunday night in one of its biggest and most lucrative markets, New York, home of the New York Giants.
Flooded with complaints, the cable provider was unable to resolve a long-standing problem with its HD service. Customers who jammed the company's technical support lines were not offered a refund or credit. Instead, the cable provider lamely offered those who hung on for over 30-minutes on the phone a free premimum channel for one month. (And the problem with Fox persisted.)
No word yet on lost revenues due to the outage with the biggest, most expensive advertisements of the entire year on the line. However, doubtless Fox's Murdoch will be looking for some payback from the collapsing cable firm. As for customers of Time Warner, they have endured outages on the cable company's HD service for at least 8 months, yet Time Warner has been unwilling or unable to correct the problems.
Such technical imcompetence on the part of Time Warner calls into question the company's ability to deliver everything from digital phone service to high-speed Internet service. If it can't even deliver a televison picture, one wonders how on earth the company can ever hope to hijack the Internet and defeat the net neutrality movement.
No word on how many New York Super Bowl parties were blown out by Time Warner's fumble.
PS: Time Warner's HD service for the Super Bowl also reportedly crashed in the Cleveland area.
PPS: Time Warner also reportedly botched the Super Bowl in the California towns of Twentynine Palms , Yucca Valley, and Barstow.
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