Ben Munson

AT&T’s proposed $85 billion takeover of Time Warner will, in part, help the combined companies push video distribution innovation that may have been slowed by cable companies. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said various cable companies and other distributors “took a long time” to create direct-to-consumer video on demand (VOD) offerings across all networks because negotiations between various pay-TV providers and network groups held up the process. “We’ve been trying at Time Warner to get more video-on-demand on, not just our networks, but have it become a universal thing for every American. You go to your set-top or television and that whole dial of networks, hundreds of channels, they should all be VOD just like HBO and Netflix,” said Bewkes. Bewkes said AT&T, which he called the largest and best at mobile delivery, will help drive more choices and different price points of video distribution for different consumers.

Of course, right now, two of the best examples of that kind of video distribution innovation is AT&T’s upcoming virtual MVPD DirecTV Now – which AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson today said would officially launch in November – and HBO Now, one of the most successful early direct-to-consumer video services. BTIG analyst Rich Greenfield said that HBO Now is likely one of the key assets driving AT&T to the deal with Time Warner. “AT&T is not buying Time Warner for its basic cable networks. AT&T is buying Time Warner to get at its content creation engines Warner Bros. and HBO, with HBO one of the only legacy media assets to establish a direct-to-consumer business (HBO Now),” wrote Greenfield in a research note.

[Commentary] With continually expanding Wi-Fi footprints and enough backhaul to choke a horse, Comcast and Charter could finally succeed where past cable efforts to break into wireless failed. And there’s good reason to be excited about that opportunity. As Shaw CTO Zoran Stakic put it, since his company was able to acquire Wind Mobile in Canada, he’s been in disbelief at how powerful a combination it is once a company can offer broadband, Wi-Fi and LTE. “I think we’ll be able to deliver solutions for our customers that we didn’t think were possible a few years ago,” said Stakic. And Nair offered a glowing review of the full mobile virtual network operator deals that Liberty Global has been able to do, which have given the multiple-system operators the flexibility to control its own SIM and switch wholesalers should the need arise because of price changes.

But perhaps the most hopeful sign for cable operators looking toward wireless is that, as wireless network architecture is shifting away from the macro tower paradigm and toward smaller, denser infrastructure schemes, telecommunication company and cable nodes are getting closer and closer to one another in the network. Options abound for cable companies seeking that wireless service piece that will help augment their video and broadband strategies as well as help them gain foothold in emerging markets like the Internet of Things. Now it’s up to the likes of Comcast and Charter to choose the right path to make sure another wireless flop doesn’t lie in cable’s future.

Cox Communications has again in 2016 raised its broadband rates for customers, citing "product and technology investments and increases in business costs" as the reason for the increase. DSL Reports forum users posted the text from an e-mail Cox is sending out to its customers, alerting them that the new rates will go into effect on Oct. 6. Specifically, Cox’s Starter tier will change from $37.99 to $39.99, Essential from $56.99 to $62.99, Preferred from $72.99 to $77.99 and Premier from $84.99 to $87.99. Those increases come after Cox in January raised its broadband service rates.