Delta Air Lines will equip its more than 19,000 flight attendants with the 5G iPhone 12, AT&T said Wednesday: Attendants will use the phones' augmented reality capabilities to inventory in-cabin supplies and “perform critical tasks -- from safety checks to passenger assistance.”
Cox Communications is buying fiber provider Segra and its commercial carrier business as part of its increasing push into broadband infrastructure, the company said Tuesday. It said Segra parent EQT Infrastructure will keep Segra's fiber-to-the-home residential and small business segment in Virginia and North Carolina. Segra CEO Timothy Biltz said the Cox deal will let it scale up operations and accelerate growth. Cox said the Segra brand will remain and operate as a stand-alone business, with Segra's existing management running its enterprise and carrier organization.
Adobe and FedEx began a multiyear collaboration that will start by integrating the ShopRunner e-commerce platform with Adobe Commerce, said the companies Tuesday. The partnership will give Adobe merchants access to FedEx “post-purchase logistics intelligence,” helping them drive demand, reduce costs and gain “customer insights,” they said. E-commerce with the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns “became a make-or-break capability for every company regardless of size or industry,” said the companies. FedEx completed its ShopRunner buy in December with the goal of playing a "larger role" in e-commerce (see 2012280031).
Corning's quarterly optical communications sales of $937 million rose 18% from the year-ago period. “Sales were up in both enterprise and carrier networks, driven by the accelerated pace of data center builds and increased capital spending on network capacity expansion and fiber-to-the-home projects,” Chief Financial Officer Tony Tripeny told investors Tuesday. Profit in the sector of $111 million, up 283%, was driven by “incremental volume” increases and “strong cost performance,” he said. (See Q1 materials here.) It was the optical sector’s second straight quarter of profitability, and he said he's "confident" the trend will continue: “There are some extremely encouraging announcements coming from leading network operators, as well as governments around the world, that point to the start of a strong investment phase.” Fiber technology is penetrating wireless with 5G network deployments, said CEO Wendell Weeks. 3G and 4G transitions “historically” were “fiber-poor,” he said. “With 5G, those cells need to be so much closer to the consumer,” requiring more “densification,” he said. “That’s driving a lot more glass into the wireless network.” Whichever network wins the 5G race, it will be "glass-rich," said the CEO.
Charter Communications plans to appeal a National Advertising Division finding the cable ISP should drop or modify its "fastest overall speeds" nationwide advertising claim about its Spectrum Mobile service, NAD said Tuesday. NAD said AT&T challenged the ad claim, saying Spectrum Mobile is faster only in certain markets or when connected to Spectrum Wi-Fi. NAD said Charter indicated the NAD decision was based on an archaic view of mobile communications, not accounting for how it commonly integrates Wi-Fi and cellular communications. The appeal will go to the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Review Board. Charter didn't comment.
FreedomFi and IoT network Helium announced an agreement Tuesday to use citizens broadband radio service spectrum. With Helium, users mount a radio device on their roof, connect it to the network using an app and help create a wireless network. Under the agreement, Helium will use FreedomFi gateways, which "augment the existing capacity of macro-cell tower operators,” said CEO Boris Renski: “We’re able to use CBRS small cells in urban areas to rapidly add density to the network at no expense to the operators.”
Amazon expanded its Key by Amazon in-garage grocery delivery, launched in November (see 2011120035), to more than 5,000 U.S. localities, it said Tuesday. The driver opens the garage with a handheld scanner, say FAQs.
Spotify announced integration with Facebook on a “miniplayer experience” based on social discovery. “Discovery is important to Spotify,” blogged the streaming audio service Monday, saying users can listen to Spotify from within the Facebook app.
SiriusXM bought 99% Invisible, the podcast company owned by Roman Mars, said SiriusXM Monday. Mars and his production team will continue operating 99% Invisible podcasts as part of SiriusXM subsidiary Stitcher, it said. SiriusXM reports Q1 results Wednesday.
After moderating declines in pay-TV subscriptions due to stay-at-home trends, losses will tick up to 6.6% this year, from 4.9% in 2020, S&P Global predicted Friday. Losses will be primarily from larger cable operators, as consumers continue to abandon pay TV’s “steadily increasing prices for less expensive streaming video options.” The cable industry’s indifference is increasing on “whether unprofitable customers get their video service from cable companies or a third-party service,” said the report. Though cord cutting’s impact and fewer pay-TV cable bundles are “negative for the U.S. television sector’s credit quality,” the effect on ratings in the cable sector will be "muted” due to the strength of providers’ broadband service, S&P said. Satellite pay-TV subscribers will drop by double digits, said the report. Though Dish Network’s focus on key rural subscribers slowed its losses, the sustainability of that trend is “uncertain,” said the report. Dish may “struggle to continue passing along rate increases as life normalizes and demand for in-home entertainment subsides,” it said. Churn could increase in 2021 as vaccination rates increase and consumers become more comfortable letting technicians into their homes to switch providers or move, it said. S&P cited bipartisan government support to increase broadband availability, which would “shrink the addressable market significantly” over several years. S&P sees DirecTV's subscriber retention “woes” continuing this year. It had expected such losses to moderate last year as the company cycled through circa-2017 subscribers on deeply discounted plans. That didn’t occur: The pace of subscriber defections remained at about 15%, it said. DirecTV's subscribers skew to urban and suburban markets, where they have access to broadband and streaming alternatives. Dish and NCTA declined to comment Monday. DirecTV owner AT&T didn't comment.