Sony and Samsung are said to have reached basic agreement on joint venture to produce so-called 7th-generation LCD panels. Samsung had said earlier it would spend $2 billion to establish 7th-generation production using 1.9x2.2 m glass substrates by 2005.
Three FCC bureaus approved the transfer of Global Crossing to Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT) and a group of creditors, with conditions, the agency announced late Wed. The approval by the FCC International, Wireless and Wireline bureaus came with a caveat that Global Crossing’s owners would have to meet certain conditions on foreign investment.
Advocates of competing plans for mitigating public safety interference at 800 MHz wrangled in an occasionally heated panel discussion Thurs. about possible technical fixes and funding. At the Industrial Telecom Assn.’s (ITA) Private Wireless Summit in Washington, backers of different solutions for alleviating interference showed how far apart the factions continued to be, even as the FCC was set to move ahead as soon as year-end. One of the few factors on which most panelists agreed was that whatever the FCC did in that area was likely to end up in court.
Wireline Bureau Chief William Maher told an FCBA lunch Fri. his bureau was interested in intercarrier compensation changes that were more cost-based and “less open to arbitrage.” Fraud allegations against MCI on least cost routing have focused attention on the complexity of the intercarrier compensation regime and the importance that investments not be based on “unintended disparities among compensation regimes,” he told the FCBA Wireless Committee. He also echoed plans outlined by Chmn. Powell last week for a voice-over-IP (VoIP) proceeding and said he was interested in “competitive neutrality” when it came to local number portability among wireline and wireless carriers.
More than 3 years after declaring bankruptcy, Iridium announced the company finally had reached cash flow break- even. The company’s new CEO, Carmen Lloyd (see separate item, this issue), said the milestone was nice because there was no requirement for additional capital: “As we continue to grow, we have a positive cash flow to allow us to repay investors, pay down debt, or reinvest in the company.”
Latest publisher that agreed to contribute titles to Yahoo Games on Demand service is Microsoft Game Studios, terms of deal not announced. Yahoo Games Gen. Mgr. Dan Hart said “this relationship gives” his company “the ability to meet the growing demand for direct rental and streaming play via the Internet and lets consumers choose from more than 100 PC game titles through Yahoo Games on Demand.” Company also said “15 new titles will be added to Yahoo Games in Demand through this relationship with Microsoft.” Titles available through deal include Age of Mythology, Combat Flight Simulator 3, Dungeon Siege, Freelancer, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, Rise of Nations, Zoo Tycoon. In other online game news, digital game distribution company Trymedia Systems said “as soon as the 4th quarter of this year, sales of downloadable games can be expected to noticeably impact the PC game market, which has in recent years struggled to grow.” Trymedia Vp-Strategy & Communications Gabe Zichermann said: “We're seeing a record number of game publishers giving consumers the option to download and share files [and they include] big names like Atari, Capcom and EA… For most PC game companies it’s no longer a matter of if they'll offer games digitally… but how soon.” Trymedia said game download market had “grown in double digits each month for the past year” and, “in the same period, more than 20 million legitimate games have been downloaded using Trymedia’s ActiveMarm technology. This pace of growth is expected to continue well into the next few years as new game download offerings come online.” Company said “most Trymedia-enabled games are available for download on a free trial basis, with the option to purchase upon completion of the trial.” In addition to providing technology, Trymedia said it “connects game publishers with a network of game distribution outlets that includes portals and other high-traffic Internet sites, as well as many of the leading peer-to-peer networks.” Company said that entering holiday season, “Trymedia and its affiliates plan to offer a choice of over 250 downloadable games for consumers to try, buy and share.” It said most recent additions to its catalog of downloadable games included Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Mith Drannor from Ubisoft; Capcom Arcade Classics, Dino Crisis 2, Mega Man X3, Mega Man X5, Resident Evil 3 and Street Fighter Alpha 2 from Capcom; Golf Adventure Galaxy from Katana Games; Vietnam War: Ho Chi Minh Trail from Epie; Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 and Wacky Worlds Expansion from Atari; Super Candy Cruncher, Super Gamehouse Solitaire 2, Super Pileup and Super Pop ‘n’ Drop from Gamehouse; Navy Seals -- Sea Air Land and Navy Seals -- Weapons of Mass Destruction from ValuSoft; Emperor’s Mahjongg from Hexacto; The Walls of Jehrico from Full Armor Studios.
The bond requirement for future satellite licensees still is a major concern among satellite manufacturers and operators, based on comments filed with the FCC on its new licensing order. A joint filing by 7 satellite companies says the Commission has “gone too far” in establishing the requirement and asks that it be eliminated. The bond proposal was a part of the Commission’s space station licensing order adopted in April that established new licensing methods (CD April 24 p6). The FCC has questioned whether the original proposal of $7.5 million bond for nongeostationary and $5 million for geostationary should be lowered and whether companies should have the option of establishing an escrow account instead.
The FCC should defer action on an application from Xantic until certain national security, public safety and law enforcement concerns can be resolved, the Dept. of Justice (DoJ) and FBI said. Xantic is 65% owned by Netherlands’ KPN Satcom and Australian’s Telestra, which said: “The use of foreign land-earth stations may place technical or legal limitations on the ability of [U.S.] law enforcement authorities to lawfully intercept communications or obtain call-related information with respect to callers located in the [U.S.].” By deferring action, they said, the FCC would allow the agencies additional time for further investigation of such risks.
Representatives of state cable public affairs channels met with FCC Comrs. Abernathy, Martin, Copps and Adelstein Thurs. to make their case against must-carry and multicasting. The group also met with Chmn. Powell’s staff, as well as Media Bureau Chief Kenneth Ferree. In a briefing with reporters at NCTA hq before going to the FCC, the representatives said they believed the political winds had shifted away from must-carry at the Commission, but they still were concerned about the possibility the agency might pass some sort of multicasting mandate. Such a regulation could devastate their channels, they said, because they easily could be pushed off the dial since they arguably already were a financial drain on the cable companies that funded and carried the channels without the ability to place ads. The contingent was composed of C-SPAN Corp. Vp Bruce Collins, Pa. Cable Network Pres. Brian Lockman, Cal. Channel Pres. John Hancock and Mich. Govt. TV (MGTV) Pres. Bill Trevarthen. “The reason we're meeting with the Commission today is that we have grave concerns about the well-being of our networks should multiple must-carry become the law of the land,” Lockman said. The 3 state nonprofit channels in Pa. let viewers see their state govt. in action, showing House and Senate debates and votes, speeches by local candidates and public officials, such as the governor, as well as court cases. There are 21 such networks nationwide, some of them part-time, while others are on 24 hours a day. Even with compression technology, the representatives argued that channels still were finite and that there always was greater demand than there was capacity. They said they were among the most vulnerable channels, despite their stated mission of offering public service programming. Cal.’s Hancock said he already had lost access to more than 300,000 homes in the first go-around on must-carry to shopping channels “disguised as local signals” in Pasadena and Orange Co. Hancock said he had just completed one-on-one half-hour interviews with 60 of 135 gubernatorial candidates, having extended invitations to all, yet not everyone could see that information because the channel had been pushed off the dial in some areas. With Powell and the other commissioners stressing their interest in localism, the cable group said it thinks now would be an opportune time to tell their story. The channels’ revenue comes from cable subscriber fees and their boards are made up of cable operators. They generally are built on the same model as C-SPAN.
Sony attempted Mon. to throw water on pervasive news reports originating from Seoul that it had tied up with Samsung in joint venture to produce LCD panels for TVs and PC monitors.