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Today's report from Web Editor
Susan Rush
• FTC Postpones Merger Vote, Stocks Dip
• Pluris Raises $100M
• Home Networking Hits Gateway Country
• Broadband Briefs
• Next Week In Broadband
FTC Postpones Merger Vote; Stocks Dip Open
access remains an issue, and the Federal Trade
Commission will hold out a little longer. U.S. regulators postponed
Thursday's vote to approve or block America Online's purchase of
Time Warner. "The parties have committed in the last 24 hours to offer new
proposals to address competitive issues," according to a prepared
Commission statement. AOL did not return BroadbandWeek Direct's
calls for comment before deadline.
Both companies' stock dipped following the announcement;
yesterday, AOL's shares dropped $3.62 and TW's fell $4.36. This morning,
stocks for both companies continued to sink. AOL's share price sank $1.17 to
$51.51 and TW's stock dipped another $1.84 to $77.00 as of 10:00 a.m. EST.
Yesterday's postponement was not the first, and investors are obviously
growing a little impatient.
"[Open access] is the maximum point of leverage for the
FTC, where they basically get to set the rules for what are the terms and
conditions under which competitors to AOL get access to the AOL-TW
plant," explained Bill Whyman, president of research firm The
Precursor Group, during an online interview with News.com.
The FTC says it will delay its action for "no more than three
weeks." The consensus in the industry is that the deal will go
through. he question is when. "They just ought to make the concessions
and get on with it," said Whyman. "We think [AOL-TW] will be one
of the dominant players in the residential broadband market."
Related Stories:
AOL-TW:
The Vote Looms, BroadbandWeek Direct, 11/08/00
AOL-TW:
Access Remains An Issue At FTC, BroadbandWeek Direct, 10/16/00
Pluris Raises $100M
It looks like the fourth time is the charm for high-speed
networking developer Pluris. The
three-year old start-up snagged $100 million in fourth round financing, and
added to the $67 million it raised during its three previous rounds, the
company believes it is just about ready to begin shipping products.
Pluris plans to commercially ship its first high-speed
routing device in the first quarter of next year The additional funds will
enable the company to continue product development and create a worldwide
sales force to support the launch. Sands
Brothers & Co. led Pluris' latest round of financing.
Funding is crucial if Pluris plans to compete in a market
that already includes networking powerhouses like Cisco
Systems and Juniper Networks. The
market, including IP routers, ATM switches and IP/ATM hybrids, is expected
to reach $15.8 billion by 2003, according to RHK,
a market research firm.
Related Story:
Next-Generation
Routers Join Next-Wave Optic Technology, Multichannel News, 4/17/00
Home Networking Hits Gateway Country
Trying to live up to its slogan, "In Gateway Country,
People Rule," Gateway Inc. unveils
its Web appliance for the connected home market. The Gateway Connected Touch
Pad features Instant AOL, a customized service that connects a consumer to
AOL as soon as the device is turned on.
The device also enables users to touch icons on the screens
to retrieve e-mail, use a wireless keyboard to write or enter commands,
create a digital music library and access personalized information like
news, investments and weather.
Yesterday, Gateway announced an agreement with Broadcom
Corp. to deliver shared broadband Internet access between digital
devices in the homes of gateway customers. The companies plan to expand
their agreement in the future to jointly develop products that will move
streaming audio and video content between music players, TVs, PCs, cable
modems and Internet appliances. They also plan to deliver IP telephony
(VoIP) in the home and office. No release dates have been set for these
devices.
Last month, 3Com unveiled
Audrey, its own version of an Internet appliance.
Related Stories:
Gateway
Inc. Teams With Broadcom, BroadbandWeek Direct, 11/09/00
Introducing
Audrey, BroadbandWeek Direct, 10/17/00
Broadband Briefs:
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AT&T Corp. is still
searching for a way to appease federal anti-trust regulators with regards to its
acquisition of MediaOne. Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T agreed to
shed some of its cable assets, and according to Liberty
Media chairman John Malone, the answer may be to spin-off his company.
AT&T could not be reached for comment. According to Malone in an interview
with the Financial Times, "It probably makes sense to separate
somewhere down the road, but it is AT&T's call."
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Shareholders at Corning
Inc. vote to raise the number of authorized common shares from 1.2
billion to 3.8 billion. The decision will enable Corning to have greater
flexibility in future acquisitions.
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Artel secures $10.5
million in financing for the development of its video networking system. The
system enables the transmission of interactive and broadcast television over
standards-based multi-service networks.
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Sony Corp. is forced to
reduce its PlayStation2 shipments again. Last month, the United States was
hit with the reality that only half of the promised 1 million consoles would
ship on time, and now the United Kingdom is being hit with a similar
situation. Eager PS2 customers will have to fight over 165,000 units on the
November 24 launch, instead of the 200,000 that was originally promised.
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Telenor signs a deal
to use Nera's wireless broadband systems
and equipment to test its broadband connection via satellite service for
small and medium-sized businesses.
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Amidst business refocusing efforts, Timothy Roberts resigns
his post as chairman of the board, CEO and director of Broadband
Infrastructure Group. Roberts founded BIG, which changed its name from
Broadband Investment Group Corp. last month to bring the company more in
line with its end-to-end broadband solutions business model.
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Chipmaker Advanced Micro
Devices expects to increase revenue by 22 percent next year, following
the introduction of new microprocessor products. The semiconductor industry
has been on rocky ground lately and some investors are saying that AMD's
expectations may be too high. AMD shares dropped 88 cents to $20.13 during
early afternoon trading.
Next Week In Broadband
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