---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20160208225023.GA11288@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2016 17:50:23 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon going after Yahoo Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has confirmed that the company is interested in bidding for Yahoo! , after the beleaguered company indicated that it was open to consider any "qualified strategic proposals" for its struggling flagship Internet business. The move would be largely in line with Verizon's recent strategy of building a broad mobile advertising network and bolstering its ad tech capability, as it looks to grow beyond its core wireless business. In this note, we take a look at what Yahoo's Internet business could bring to the table for Verizon and how it might augment the company's $4.4 billion acquisition of AOL last year. Why Is Verizon Betting On Mobile Advertising And Content? The U.S. wireless market is becoming increasingly saturated, and driving meaningful growth from Verizon's core business could become challenging. Mobile advertising, on the other hand, is growing fast, as people spend more time on their mobile devices. For instance, Verizon estimated that mobile will account for 80% of consumers' media consumption time in the coming years. Ad spending is quickly moving away from traditional media such as TV and newspapers, and onto mobile devices. U.S. Mobile ad spending is expected to grow 38% this year to $42 billion, according to estimates from eMarketer, accounting for close to 21.6% of total media ad spending and 62.6% of digital ad spending. ((Mobile to Account for More than Half of Digital Ad Spending in 2015, eMarketer, September 2015)) Mobile advertising seems like a natural fit for Verizon, given its massive wireless subscriber base (roughly 112 million subscribers), customer data sets and its control over the "wireless last mile." http://www.forbes.com -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20160208230816.GA11908@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2016 18:08:16 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Verizon may be facing SCOTUS over benefits Verizon participants petition SCOTUS on right to sue over de-risking deal BY NICK THORNTON The Supreme Court is being petitioned to review a claim that could clarify when participants in defined benefit pension plans have a right to sue sponsors under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The case, Pundt v. Verizon, derives from the landmark case, Lee v. Verizon, which challenged the $8.4 billion pension buyout contract the telecommunications giant purchased from Prudential in 2012. http://www.benefitspro.com/2016/02/08/verizon-participants-petition-scotus-on-right-to-s -- Bill Horne ------------------------------ Message-ID: <292a2805-f634-47ee-9701-5c855ac6d13e@googlegroups.com> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2016 09:50:17 -0800 (PST) From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com> Subject: Insider Q&A: Competing With Cable's Internet Offerings By Tali Arbel, CED, 02/08/2016 NEW YORK (AP) -- Chet Kanojia, the founder of startup TV service Aereo, has a new offering that could shake up the cable industry again. His new Internet service, Starry, would compete with cable companies in big cities. Across the country, only one-third of homes have a choice of broadband providers, according to government figures. Starry will use a wireless technology that has long existed, but hasn't been used extensively before. The service is expected to launch this summer, starting in Boston. Kanojia hasn't disclosed prices, though. http://www.cedmagazine.com/news/2016/02/insider-q-competing-cables-internet-o fferings?et_cid=5104952&et_rid=652835436&type=headline&et_cid=5104952&et_rid= 652835436&linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.cedmagazine.com%2fnews%2f2016%2f02%2finside r-q-competing-cables-internet-offerings%3fet_cid%3d5104952%26et_rid%3d%%subsc riberid%%%26type%3dheadline -or- http://tinyurl.com/httspc9 Neal McLain ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20160208231200.GA12040@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2016 18:12:00 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Amid ongoing clash, Verizon and N.J. officials meet by Spencer Kent BRIDGETON - For the first time, representatives from Verizon and a group of South Jersey towns angry over copper phone service issues met Friday to discuss the company's infrastructure upkeep. The group - made up of 16 municipalities in Atlantic, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties - filed a joint petition with the state in December claiming Verizon wasn't adequately maintaining its copper landlines and demanded that if the company wasn't going to install fiber-optic broadband (Fios), it should at least maintain the municipalities' copper networks. http://www.nj.com/cumberland/index.ssf/2016/02/verizon_and_south_jersey_officials_meet_over_compl.html -- Bill Horne ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Tue, 09 Feb 2016