The Comunicano Communique for Tuesday February 2nd 201

The Comunicano Communique

The changing landscape of mobile and impact of T-Mobile in the USA is clearly being felt at AT&T with changes at the top of the mobile business. With TMO being very much about delivering streamed music and video, AT&T goes out and spends money on DirectTV, forgetting its lessons from Cruisecast and cable tv deals (right ideas, wrong team, time). Where AT&T is about owning, T-Mobile simply says "we're a pipe, fill it" and as stats are showing, they're gaining not only customers but improving their network, getting close to the USAs best network for data, Verizon. We also have some news about client YipTV today, some insights on the European tech scene, how streaming music now counts towards gold and platinum record status and more... Enjoy your day and enjoy the news..     AT&T shuffles leadership to tie video, mobile services together AT&T shook up the responsibilities of its upper ranks as it starts to position the combination of video and mobile at the forefront of its business. The Dallas telecommunications giant appointed longtime mobile head Ralph de la Vega vice chairman and put him in charge of the business and international parts of the company.     [continue...]     New OpenSignal Report Is Really Good News for T-Mobile T-Mobile's 700MHz rollout is making a big difference. According to a new report from wireless testing firm OpenSignal, T-Mobile's LTE coverage now "nearly matches AT&T...and is closing the gap with Verizon." T-Mobile also won the most awards out of the four carriers in OpenSignal's latest "State of Mobile Networks: USA" report, which came out today and involves tests from Oct.     [continue...]     Is Iliad poised to wreak havoc in the UK mobile market now?      Telecoms group Iliad is regarded as a cautionary tale, since its Free Mobile unit threw the French mobile market into disarray, and the group's chairman Xavier Niel has made it clear he would like to repeat the trick outside his home country.     [continue...]     YipTV Plugs Into Akamai YipTV said has hooked into with Akamai's cloud-based platform to deliver an OTT service that features more than 100 "channels," including 18 live TV streams. Launched in May 2015, YipTV's no-contract, $14.99 per month service focused on Spanish-language video services is offered on several platforms, including iOS and Android mobile devices, select smart TVs, Web browsers, Apple TV boxes and via the Google Chromecast streaming adapter.     [continue...]     The RIAA Finally Bows to Streaming, Making 17 Artists' Albums Go Gold and Platinum Call it the Anti effect, or just call it getting hip to the times. The Recording Industry Association of America just announced one of the biggest rule-changes in its history: As of Monday, the RIAA will now count streaming sales as part of its singles and albums certification process, making 17 albums automatically certified gold (500,000) or platinum (1 million) with the news.     [continue...]     Roku Launches Hybrid OTT & Enhanced Home Screen Offering for Operators Roku recently announced that it is developing a hybrid set-­‐top box that will enable operators to offer linear and streaming services through a single device to consumers. Sky will be the first Roku Powered operator to deploy the new hybrid set-­‐top box later this year as part of its popular NOW TV service in the UK.     [continue...]     Uber Cuts Prices-and Kneecaps Drivers NEW YORK - If anger sums up the mood of this election season, then some of it seems to have rubbed off on the city's Uber drivers. A crowd of 600 drivers gathered outside the Uber office in Long Island City, Queens to protest a 15 percent reduction in fares last month, which also means 15 percent lower wages.     [continue...]     William Shatner's Negotiator Priceline Pitchman Is Dead Again Priceline.com has revamped its website, apps, and marketing, transforming its television advertising pitchman William Shatner from The Negotiator to a faceless narrator based in part on changing traveler behavior. The new online and offline advertising campaign includes Facebook mobile targeting that's personalized as consumers "learn of their friends' life moments from status changes," Priceline.com states, and a Super Bowl pre-game ad.     [continue...]     Better inflight wifi over North Atlantic is months away: Intelsat CEO Passengers flying across the North Atlantic are growing increasingly accustomed to having the option to connect to the Internet in-flight. Lufthansa, Aer Lingus, United and select American flights are among those offering Panasonic Avionics' Ku-band connectivity solution on board, and Delta is fitting its longhaul fleet with Gogo Ku.     [continue...]     Once Deemed Evil, Google Now Embraces "Paid Inclusion" Back when Google was an upstart search engine, one way it distinguished itself was to fight against a pay-to-play business model called "paid inclusion." Indeed, paid inclusion was one of the original sins Google listed as part of its "Don't Be Evil" creed.     [continue...]     European Tech Exits Report: In 2015, we tracked 594 deals worth €136.75 billion (up 71% from 2014) - Tech.eu Since we started, one of the key aims of the team at Tech.eu has been to track all of the funding rounds and exits in Europe, providing the most comprehensive and accurate record and analysis of the European technology scene.     [continue...]

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