Report: Amazon Prime Spending Grows, But Membership Growth Slows
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As Amazon’s “Primeday” kicks off today, a research firm’s study released today showed that the 95 million Amazon Prime members in the U.S. spend an average of $1,400 annually. By contrast, the average non-Prime customer spends an average of $600, according to Amazon Prime spending research from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP). By contrast, as...Learn More
Data Reveals Subscriber Choices for Video Packages Among Major Pay-TV Providers
New video tiers, sometimes referred to as “skinny bundles,” are becoming increasingly important in the pay-TV business as service providers seek to minimize the impact of a consumer shift toward more economical offerings streamed “over the top” using broadband connections. Video tiers are under transition as subscriber choices for video packages change. Pay-TV providers haven’t...Learn More
J.D. Power: AT&T Leads in Business Telecom Satisfaction
Business wireline users tend to have high satisfaction with their service as long as they can get helpful information and consistent communications, according to a new business telecom satisfaction report from J.D. Power. J.D. Power examined satisfaction across the following factors: Performance and reliability; cost of service; communications; sales representatives and account executives; billing; and...Learn More
Parks: Broadband Household Viewing of Facebook Video and the Like Hits Two Hours Weekly
U.S. broadband household viewing of Facebook video and similar “alternative content” has reached two hours weekly on average, according to Parks Associates. Alternative content includes live streaming, user-generated content, short-form videos and Web video series, according to Parks’ definition. Other alternative content sources include SnapChat, YouTube, Vimeo and Daily Motion. “Alternative video is an important...Learn More
FCC Takes Next Steps to Free Up 3.7-4.2 GHz Mid-Band Spectrum
The FCC voted today to take stock of satellite earth stations operating in the 3.7-4.2 GHz spectrum band with the goal of making unused spectrum available to wireless network operators. The commission is also seeking input on what direction it should take in making spectrum in that band available to providers of fixed or mobile...Learn More
AT&T Gains Exclusive Distribution Partnership with AR/VR Firm Magic Leap
AT&T announced it had invested in and is partnering with Magic Leap, developer of proprietary spatial computing and experiential platforms that provide augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) experiences. The AT&T Magic Leap deal will give AT&T certain exclusive sales opportunities involving Magic Leap’s first product, Magic Leap One, Creator Edition — a lightweight, wearable computer...Learn More
FCC to Establish $100M Connected Care Pilot Program Targeting Telehealth
The FCC is seeking to establish a $100 million “Connected Care Pilot Program” to support telehealth for low income Americans. The FCC connected care pilot program will be a focus on rural residents and veterans. The announcement was made in an op-ed with FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker. FCC Connected Care...Learn More
Economists Put the Tab at $61 Billion to Bring Fiber Broadband to Rural U.S.
The cost to deploy fiber to unserved U.S. rural areas is about $61 billion, said Jim Stegeman, president of CostQuest Associates, an economic consultancy that specializes in telecom. Among CostQuest’s credentials: the company created the cost model used to determine broadband deployment costs for the Connect America Fund (CAF) subsidy program. Stegeman made his comments...Learn More
Frontier Delivers UCaaS from its Own Cloud at Lower Prices
Frontier today launched Frontier AnyWare UCaaS, a unified communications-as-a-service offering that the company will deliver from its own redundant data centers. The Frontier UCaaS offering is underpinned by software from Mitel, a Frontier spokesman told Telecompetitor in an interview. Frontier has offered cloud-based collaboration since 2014 through a partnership with Mitel, the spokesman noted. Delivering...Learn More
Sprint Magic Box to Connect Pittsburgh Energy-as-a-Service Project
Sprint’s Magic Box small cell is being deployed into about 100 buildings in Pittsburgh to provide connectivity to an energy-as-a-service offering. The city has issued an “intent to award contract” to BOSS Controls. The company is working with Sprint, other companies and the city’s Sustainability and Resilience Division, Facilities Bureau and Department of Innovation and...Learn More
Report: While Still a Niche Market, Esports Taps an Important Hard-to-Reach Demographic
Ten percent of U.S. broadband households are watching esports, according to new esports video gaming research from Parks Associates. The research firm defines esports as “professionally or semi-professionally organized competitive video gaming events, including popular gaming titles such as ‘League of Legends,’ ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Street Fighter.’ Esports viewers run younger than the general...Learn More
CTIA: U.S. Mobile Usage Includes 1.5 Trillion Text Messages and 15.7 Trillion MBs of Data
CTIA released their latest research on U.S. mobile usage trends for 2017, and some of the numbers are staggering. Americans love their smartphones, and even though mobile data usage equates to 15.7 trillion MBs of data, they also still like to talk on their phones, with 2.2 trillion voice minutes used during 2017. There are...Learn More
