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☆ Comcast tops expectations as it squeezes out a small gain in broadband subscribers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Comcast on Thursday reported third-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates, despite seeing revenue slightly decline and continued softness in broadband customer growth. Still, it's a sign that cable broadband providers are facing increased competition from telecom and wireless internet companies. Meanwhile, Comcast's cable unit, which includes pay-TV, mobile and traditional phone services in addition to broadband, saw revenue increase 2.6% to $16.5 billion. The company said broadband revenue jumped 5.7% due to an increase in average rates and the number of its residential broadband customers. Peacock, the company's fledgling streaming service, surpassed 15 million paying customers, an increase of more than 70% year-to-date, the company Thursday.

☆ Vodafone and Altice launch 7 bln euro German broadband company
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) and Altice launched a joint venture on Monday to challenge Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) by building a 7 billion euro ($6.8 billion) fibre broadband network in Germany. Vodafone said the FibreCo venture would build a "fibre-to-the-home" broadband network available to 7 million German homes, allowing Britain-based Vodafone to upgrade its existing network in Germany, its biggest market. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterConstruction will be contracted to Altice subsidiary Geodesia, with Vodafone Germany responsible for marketing the faster broadband to new customers. Vodafone said it would receive cash proceeds from Altice of up to 1.2 billion euros, which would exceed its equity contributions to the joint venture over time. Altice is the Amsterdam-based holding company bundling the assets of Franco-Israeli cable magnate Patrick Drahi.

☆ Vodafone and Altice in German tie-up to bring fibre broadband to homes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Britain's Vodafone (VOD.L) and France's Altice said they would create a joint venture in Germany named FibreCo to provide faster fibre broadband to up to 7 million homes over a six-year period. Vodafone said in a statement on Monday that FibreCo, which will provide fibre-to-the-home connectivity, would invest up to 7 billion euros to build the network, and that the project was in line with its plan to upgrade Vodafone's existing hybrid fibre cable network. Both companies will own 50% in FibreCo in a deal that will be subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in the first-half of 2023. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Citi upgrades Comcast to buy, says investors should take another look at cable companies
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It's time to take another look at Comcast , according to Citi. Analyst Michael Rollins upgraded shares of Comcast to buy from neutral, saying that cable companies broadly have some advantages despite the challenges they face. "However, we also see an increasing likelihood that the cable firms promptly respond to stabilize or improve value for shareholders," Rollins added. Cable companies have broadly come under pressure this year as investors question whether they can continue to grow subscriptions next year while competing with streaming. The analyst also upgraded cable companies Altice USA to buy, and maintained Charter at neutral.

Europe has nearly half a million telecom towers and most of them have battery backups that last around 30 minutes to run the mobile antennas. Swedish telecom regulator PTS is working with telecom operators and other government agencies to find solutions, it said. The telecom operators are also working with national governments to check if plans are in place to maintain critical services. Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) will use mobile emergency power systems which mainly rely on diesel in the event of prolonged power failures, it said. France has about 62,000 mobile towers, and the industry will not be able to equip all antennas with new batteries, the FFT's president Liza Bellulo said.

☆ EXCLUSIVE With eye on Big Tech, energy crisis, EU telcos call for shared network costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and 13 other European telecoms providers on Monday made their strongest push for Big Tech to share network costs, citing the energy crisis and EU climate change goals. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"Costs of planning and construction works are increasing. Similarly, the hikes in energy prices and in the prices of other inputs are also hitting the connectivity sector," they said. Big Tech has rebuffed such requests, saying they are already investing in equipment and technologies to deliver content more efficiently. ($1 = 1.0301 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Foo Yun Chee;Editing by Elaine HardcastleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Initial offers for RTL's 48% stake in French TV channel M6 are expected by Friday after a failed tie-up with France's TF1 broadcaster, a person familiar with the matter said. RTL has been "inundated" with expressions of interest in the M6 stake since TF1 and M6 called off their planned merger last week, its boss Thomas Rabe told the Financial Times on Thursday. Other potential buyers include French media group Vivendi (VIV.PA) and Altice, owned by billionaire Patrick Drahi, alongside Italian media conglomerate MediaForEurope (MFE), Reuters reported on Monday. If RTL wants to sell M6, a deal must be completed by spring 2023, because M6's broadcasting license comes up for renewal in May. In March 2021, when Bertelsmann confirmed talks to sell its stake, French media reported the RTL's stake was worth 1.5 billion euros ($1.48 billion), valuing all of M6 at around 3 billion euros.

PARIS/MILAN, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The collapse of a deal to form a French TV giant to challenge U.S. streaming services such as Netflix (NFLX.O) knocked shares in M6 Group (MMTP.PA) and TF1 (TFFP.PA) on Monday. France's two biggest private broadcasters gave up their merger plan on Friday citing French antitrust requirements that rendered the deal unworkable. read moreRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register"It is extremely disappointing, it shows the incapacity in France of pushing a unifying project to create a French media champion," said Mikael Jacoby, head of continental trading at Oddo Securities. At 1424 GMT, TF1 shares were down 3.3% and shares in M6 were 3% lower. "Hedge funds don't want exposure to the advertising sector, people are very worried about next year," a merger arbitrage analyst said.

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