Connectivity Chronicles #20241011

Telecom Market Analysis: UScellular Pushes for T-Mobile Merger

UScellular executives met with FCC officials to advocate for their $4.4 billion merger with T-Mobile, citing financial and operational challenges. The company faces significant subscriber losses and intensifying competition from major carriers and cable companies. UScellular struggles with debt from 5G spectrum purchases and declining revenue, hampering network improvements. The proposed merger would see T-Mobile acquire about 30% of UScellular's spectrum and all 4 million customers, while UScellular retains ownership of nearly 4,400 towers. UScellular argues that joining T-Mobile is the best path forward in a challenging market, promising customers better coverage and faster speeds at the same or lower prices. This merger reflects the increasingly competitive landscape in the telecom industry and the struggles of smaller carriers to keep pace.

Media News: NBCUniversal, Charter Renew Streaming Deal

NBCUniversal and Charter Communications have announced a multi-year renewal agreement that enhances customer value by integrating linear video and direct-to-consumer streaming. This deal ensures continued carriage of NBCUniversal’s broadcast and cable networks, including NBC, Telemundo, Bravo, CNBC, and more, while adding Peacock Premium to Spectrum TV Select customers at no extra cost. The agreement lets Spectrum customers upgrade to Peacock Premium+ and includes streaming services like Disney+, ESPN+, and Paramount+. It aims to offer more flexibility by combining traditional TV with streaming, providing up to $65/month of streaming value for Spectrum TV Select customers, including AMC+, BET+, ViX, Max, and Discovery+.

Telecom Insights: Telecom Faces Year-End Slowdown

The telecom industry faces its typical year-end slowdown, amplified by the upcoming election. While IT departments pause major decisions, fiber company consolidation remains active. Recent deals include Verizon's $20 billion offer for Frontier and T-Mobile's joint ventures with Lumos and Metronet. FiberLight's CEO, Bill Major, predicts ongoing consolidation regardless of the election outcome, noting both recent administrations' favorable stance on broadband consolidation. FiberLight is preparing its own acquisition announcement for next year. The industry anticipates significant fiber deployments and merger activities in 2025, with T-Mobile's recent moves potentially encouraging other fiber companies to seek buyers . Despite short-term slowdowns, the telecom market remains dynamic, especially in fiber broadband.

Media Trend: AEW and Warner Bros. Renew Agreement

Warner Bros. Discovery and All Elite Wrestling (AEW) have announced a multi-year renewal of their media rights agreement, marking a new era in professional wrestling. This deal ensures that AEW’s popular shows, AEW Dynamite and AEW Collision, will continue to air on TBS and TNT, with enhanced distribution across social platforms. Starting January 2025, these shows will also stream live exclusively on Max, with AEW pay-per-view events offered at a discount for subscribers, expanding the reach and convenience for viewers. The deal reinforces their strong partnership since 2019 and aims to deliver fresh and authentic wrestling content, with plans to introduce more AEW programming on both linear and digital platforms. The deal also emphasizes the commitment to providing high-action sports and entertainment, ensuring that AEW continues to captivate its passionate fanbase with dynamic stories and diverse characters.

Telecom Trend: MSSA Partners with GSMA

The MSSA, a non-profit association with members like Viasat, Terrestar Solutions, Ligado Networks, Omnispace, and Yahsat, is partnering with GSMA to integrate terrestrial and satellite mobile networks. Their goal is to deliver affordable, high-performance cellular-like services globally using 3GPP standards. The collaboration aims to enhance satellite communication efficiency, enable seamless satellite-augmented capabilities, and support sustainable network design. While this partnership promises revolutionary connectivity, tensions exist in the industry. SpaceX recently accused major telcos of bullying in an FCC filing over power rule waivers, highlighting the complex dynamics between satellite and terrestrial network operators as they navigate the evolving telecom industry.

Media Spotlight: New Updates for YouTube Shorts

YouTube has introduced updates to its Shorts platform to better compete with TikTok. Creators can now upload videos up to three minutes long, new templates for easier trend participation, and a redesigned Shorts player that enhances video visibility by streamlining interaction buttons and compressing creator information. Additionally, YouTube is launching a new Shorts trends page on mobile devices, allowing users to discover popular trends in their country. The updates also include features that allow users to remix content directly from the Shorts camera, simplifying video creation. This move is similar to TikTok’s integration with CapCut but without requiring a separate app. These enhancements are part of YouTube’s broader effort to attract more users and content creators to its platform by offering more flexible and creative tools to provide a seamless experience for creators and viewers.

Media Shift: Streaming Service Usage Trends

A recent report by BB Media reveals that globally, users spend more time on subscription streaming services compared to free with ads platforms. This trend is particularly notable in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and United States-Canada (UCAN) regions, where users lead in weekly hours spent watching online content across both models. While users in the EMEA region watch both types of services at the same daily frequency, other regions show a slight preference for free with ads platforms, especially in APAC . Netflix dominates the subscription streaming market across all regions except China, while Tubi and Pluto TV are the leading free with ads platforms in UCAN and EMEA, respectively. The analysis also indicates that users tend to binge-watch content, with weekends being the most popular time for streaming. On weekdays, 60% of users watch one to two episodes, increasing to four or more on weekends. Despite spending more time on subscriptions, free with ads platforms still attract a significant daily audience, with 80% of viewers using at least one free streamer. This data underscores the growing importance of both subscription and free streaming services in the global entertainment field.

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