Drew FitzGerald

During months of merger talks with T-Mobole, Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son sought a way to merge the two wireless rivals without really having to hand over the keys. There was discussion over inserting a provision to buy the combined company back after two years. The companies explored giving the Japanese billionaire the right to increase his stake over time. He was offered the role of co-chairman.

Apparently, the Justice Department is considering a lawsuit challenging AT&T's planned acquisition of Time Warner if the government and companies can’t agree on terms that would satisfy antitrust concerns. The department’s antitrust division is preparing for litigation in case it decides to sue to block the deal. Simultaneously, the department and the companies are discussing possible settlement terms that would lead to the deal winning government approval with conditions attached.

Verizon Communications will buy Straight Path Communications for about $3.1 billion, after beating rival AT&T in an unusually intense bidding war for the wireless-spectrum holder.

Hackers used an army of hijacked security cameras and video recorders to launch several massive internet attacks last week, prompting fresh concern about the vulnerability of millions of “smart” devices in homes and businesses connected to the internet.

Network engineers are buzzing as the Internet outgrows some of its gear.

While a precise count is elusive, many technicians are reporting that the total number of world-wide Internet routes is near or already past half a million, usually abbreviated 512K. Older network routers from Cisco Systems and other makers can't hold any more unless they are tweaked.

The problem also draws attention to a real, if arcane, issue with the Internet's plumbing: the shrinking number of addresses available under the most popular routing system. That system, called IPv4, can handle only a few billion addresses. But there are already nearly 13 billion devices hooked up to the Internet, and the number is quickly growing, Cisco said.

Version 6, or IPv6, can hold many orders of magnitude more addresses but has been slow to catch on.

If US regulators end up allowing telecom companies to set up fast lanes on the public Internet, companies that make the needed gear say the remaining service would inevitably get a little slower.

The idea of a fast lane, or "paid prioritization," means preferred traffic moving inside broadband providers' networks would be ushered through congested spots first.

The process works a bit like cars moving through a tollgate. When packets of data show up, the equipment that routes them along their way checks to see which ones have paid for priority access and slots those packets into faster moving queues. The rest would have to wait a little longer than they would have otherwise.

"You can reallocate what's in the pipe, but it can't get wider," said Don Bowman, chief technology officer for network-gear maker Sandvine. As an alternative, broadband providers could instead route traffic down separate channels for "managed services" that telecom and cable companies currently use to carry their own services, like video.