Ownership

A new report saying billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong has sunk hundreds of millions of his own money into an unprofitable Los Angeles Times underscores how desperate the news industry is to chart a plan for survival in the digital era. If billionaire owners can't make the L.A. Times or the Washington Post profitable, then the news industry has to ask itself: What can?

Apple's new App Store payment policies are stirring outrage among software developers who say the iPhone maker is skirting the intention of a court ruling. Apple will require developers to pay it a 27% commission if they use an alternative payment method, much like the company did in the Netherlands and South Korea in response to legal rulings over related issues in those countries. With this change, Apple is effectively saying “we refuse to back down,” said Fiona Scott Morton, a former antitrust official in the Obama administration.

After years of operational cuts and consumer price increases, Altice USA, under the direction of recently appointed CEO Dennis Mathew, has instituted fairly massive price decreases across its fiber-to-the-home and cable broadband product lines. According to Analyst Craig Moffett, the cable operator, which touts around 4.6 million broadband customers, is trying to undo the aftereffects of the “Altice Way,” the strategy of increasing EBITDA through cost cuts and price increases, which proliferated amid the aggressive expansion set forth by French-Israeli cable titan Patrick Drahi a decade ago

After closing on his re-merger of Dish Network and EchoStar, Chairman Charlie Ergen outlined a series of strategic asset shifts that shield certain spectrum assets, as well as the cash generated by about three million Dish pay-TV subscribers, from existing creditors. The moves “further unlock incremental strategic, financial and operating flexibility for its business following completion of its merger” with Dish Network.

Archtop Fiber, a 2022-founded startup focused on rebuilding broadband providers with all-fiber networks in underserved markets, completed its third acquisition in five months, buying Warwick Valley Telephone with plans to upgrade its network operating in New York's Orange County, the Mid-Hudson Valley and northwestern New Jersey. Archtop is rebranding the latest acquisition as WVT Fiber and is “over-lashing fiber onto WVT’s existing lines and making preparations to power up its state-of-the-art XGS-PON network,” the company said.

NOVOS FiBER publicized itself with an announcement that Arlington (TX)will soon have a new broadband provider. NOVOS FiBER was founded in 2022, funded by InLight Capital, a private investment firm based in Sugar Land (TX). NOVOS Fiber is entering both the retail and wholesale markets and plans to serve a “significant number” of homes over the next two years. First focusing on Texas, NOVOS will eventually expand beyond state lines. Founder and CEO Andrew Snead said he and the company have a strong conviction to go against the grain of the “internet service is primarily a utility” mentality.

Oak Hill Capital has made yet another investment in telecommunications, announcing its acquisition of Florida-based fiber-to-the-home provider Wire 3 from Guggenheim Investments. The price was not disclosed. Oak Hill Capital has committed to invest up to $250 million out of its sixth flagship fund to accelerate the expansion of Wire 3’s fiber network in underserved communities across Florida. Wire 3’s existing management team members will continue leading the business, now as shareholders. Wire 3 provides symmetrical internet speeds of up to 10 Gigabits per second (Gbps).

Archtop Fiber closed its acquisition of New York-based Warwick Valley Telephone (WVT), marking the provider’s third acquisition in five months as it continues expanding in the northeast US. With WVT under its belt, Archtop will serve customers in New York’s Orange County, the Mid-Hudson Valley and northwestern New Jersey with an XGS-PON network. Archtop will overlash fiber onto WVT’s existing lines and rebrand the company to WVT Fiber. The acquisition came via a stock purchase agreement with Momentum Telecom, WVT’s previous owner and a provider of managed cloud communications services.

EchoStar Corporation completed its acquisition of DISH Network Corporation on December 31, 2023. To complete the acquisition, a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar merged with and into DISH Network, with DISH Network surviving the merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar. The transaction combines DISH Network’s satellite technology, streaming services, and nationwide 5G network with EchoStar’s premier satellite communications solutions.

With this Report and Order, the Federal Communications Commission brings to a close the 2018 Quadrennial Review proceeding. In this Order, the FCC retains the existing media ownership rules and adopts minor modifications that better tailor them to the current media marketplace.