Communications Workers of America said the FCC should closely review Verizon buying Tracfone from America Movil (see 2009140052). “Verizon and TracFone continue to avoid providing detailed plans for TracFone -- and its millions of Lifeline customers -- post-merger,” said a filing posted Thursday. “They argue that greater concentration in this industry … would somehow benefit consumers.”

Public Knowledge officials told FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington they oppose Verizon buying Tracfone from America Movil (see 2009140052). The deal “could impede successful implementation of the Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) due to the scope of Lifeline subscribers that enroll through" Tracfone, said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 20-445. It's the largest Lifeline provider with more than 1.7 million such customers, PK said.

Charter Communications dropped its quest to have the FCC sunset two conditions put on the Time Warner Cable/Bright House Networks transaction (see 2006180050), the Wireline Bureau said in a public notice Tuesday. That means the data caps and settlement-free interconnection conditions will remain until May 18, 2023, it said. Charter told us that with some conditions vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (see 2008140040) and the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on subscribers, "we want to offer them the assurance that they will continue to benefit from unlimited access to broadband and the accompanying financial certainty it provides during these trying times" and thus withdrew the petition. Incompas said the withdrawal "is good news for consumers and open internet advocates. Pressure from Congress, consumer groups and small business leaders helped walk back the cable giant, but it’s a clear sign for why we need strong interconnection and open internet policy on the books to prevent these attempts to raise prices and inflate consumers’ bills.”

Google's “unilateral decision” declaring its Fitbit buy closed (see 2101140006), despite ongoing DOJ oversight of the transaction, “is a stark demonstration of the corporation's disregard for democratic governance,” said Open Markets Institute Executive Director Barry Lynn Friday. He urged the incoming Biden administration to “immediately make clear that it intends to block” Google/Fitbit because the deal “is bad for Americans and to demonstrate that it will not abide further disrespect by Google of democratic rule of law.” DOJ and Google didn’t respond to questions.

Google, despite regulatory headwinds (see 2008040050), completed its $2.1 billion Fitbit buy, blogged Rick Osterloh, senior vice president-devices and services, Thursday. Google was “clear since the beginning” that it will protect Fitbit users’ privacy, he said. “We worked with global regulators on an approach which safeguards consumers' privacy expectations, including a series of binding commitments that confirm Fitbit users’ health and wellness data won't be used for Google ads and this data will be separated from other Google ads data.” Google also will continue “to allow Fitbit users to choose to connect to third-party services so you’ll still be able to sync your favorite health and fitness apps to your Fitbit account,” said Osterloh. Google will work with regulators around the world “so that they can be assured that we are living up to these commitments,” he said. Closing Google/Fitbit "will add competition to the wearable health device market," said Computer & Communications Industry Association President Matt Schruers. "This transaction stands to increase competition in wearables, which will benefit consumers on everything from prices to innovation.”

Qualcomm agreed to buy CPU supplier Nuvia for $1.4 billion, said the chipmaker Wednesday. Qualcomm expects to embed Nuvia CPUs across its “broad portfolio,” including Snapdragon processors for smartphones. “5G, the convergence of computing and mobile architectures, and the expansion of mobile technologies into other industries are significant opportunities for Qualcomm,” said President Cristiano Amon, who succeeds Steve Mollenkopf as CEO June 30. The combined companies are “very well positioned to redefine computing and enable our ecosystem of partners to drive innovation and deliver a new class of products and experiences for the 5G era,” Amon said.

FuboTV is an “interesting opportunity, but we’re not banking on it yet,” Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter wrote investors Tuesday after the streaming media service announced a second planned acquisition in sports wagering. FuboTV is buying sportsbook technology company Vigtory. The sports-focused TV service plans to complete the deal this quarter and make inroads in the sports betting business by year-end. Before integrating wagering, fuboTV plans to launch a stand-alone, free-to-play app from Balto Sports, which it bought in December, that will eventually be integrated into its platform. “We expect the introduction of sports wagering to drive engagement in sporting events, new subscriber growth, and the company’s monetization capabilities,” Pachter said, noting sports betting adds another layer of customer monetization beyond premium subscription plans and valuable advertising inventory. “For new and existing subscribers looking to wager, fuboTV’s platform will be a compelling choice as the company currently maintains over 6.3 million billing relationships with former, existing, and trial subscribers.” It has an active subscriber base of 455,000 as of Q3, he noted. “Leveraging these billing relationships means eliminating the dreaded pain for many customers of ‘pulling out the wallet,'" he said,

Equifax agreed to buy Kount, a supplier of artificial intelligence-based fraud prevention and digital identity solutions, for $640 million. “Businesses require new ways to establish digital identity trust in real time to fight the growing problem of online fraud while reducing customer friction,” said Equifax Friday. This will expand its global “footprint” in fraud prevention and “identity trust,” it said. The transaction is expected to close this quarter.

Comscore is getting a $204 million cash infusion from Charter Communications, Qurate Retail and a Cerberus Capital Management affiliate in exchange for stock, it said Thursday evening. It said the funding will go in part to retiring debt. Charter will provide more access to consumer-level data sets.

LG Electronics is buying a majority interest in TV data and measurement specialist Alphonso, said LG Wednesday. It plans to use Alphonso software and services within its “broad range” of home entertainment products, especially smart TVs. LG is making the investment through its U.S.-based Zenith technology, and Alphonso will continue to operate as an independent business under its current brand and leadership.