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  • TPG owns AT&T’s entire 70% share in DirecTV

    TPG owns AT&T’s entire 70% share in DirecTV

    AT&T Inc. announced Wednesday it has completed the sale of its entire remaining 70% stake in DIRECTV to TPG Capital, the private equity platform of global alternative asset management firm TPG.

    The transaction, which was previously announced, marks AT&T’s complete exit from the satellite television business. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed in the company’s statement.

    This divestiture follows AT&T’s earlier partial sale of DIRECTV to TPG, which had already owned a minority stake in the satellite TV provider.

    The sale aligns with AT&T’s ongoing strategy to focus on its core telecommunications business, including its wireless and internet service operations.

    AT&T currently provides connectivity services to more than 100 million U.S. customers and nearly 2.5 million businesses across the country, according to information provided in the company’s press release statement.

    The telecommunications giant has been streamlining its portfolio in recent years, divesting assets outside its primary focus areas.

    TPG Capital, which now gains full ownership of DIRECTV, is the U.S. and European private equity platform of TPG, a global alternative asset management firm.

    In other recent news, AT&T has been in the spotlight with several notable developments. The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2775 per share, payable on August 1, 2025, to shareholders of record as of July 10, 2025. AT&T is also involved in a significant legal matter, having received preliminary approval for a $177 million settlement to resolve data breach lawsuits that exposed personal information of millions of customers. In strategic moves, AT&T is focusing on growth by acquiring Lumen’s Mass Markets fiber internet business, aiming to expand its fiber and 5G services across the U.S. This acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

    Additionally, AT&T’s CFO, Pascal Desroches, will discuss the company’s multi-year growth strategy at the Mizuho Technology Conference, reaffirming financial guidance for 2025. Despite public criticism from President Donald Trump regarding service reliability, AT&T shares have maintained their upward trend. The company’s efforts to expand its network capabilities and enhance customer experience remain a priority. Furthermore, AT&T has declared dividends on its preferred stock, with payments also scheduled for August 1, 2025. These recent developments highlight AT&T’s ongoing focus on strategic growth and shareholder returns.

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  • Average 5.6M more subscribers via Amazon Prime Video channels, SVODs

    Average 5.6M more subscribers via Amazon Prime Video channels, SVODs

    Amazon Prime Video Channels just may be the most powerful growth driver in subscription video, particularly for niche offerings, but Amazon wants to make sure we all don’t forget it.

    At its Culver City, Calif. offices last week, just a few miles west of Downtown Los Angeles, Amazon had research company Antenna present data for its “Engage Summit 2025” event. The event was covered by Variety, TheWrap and other local TV business trades.

    Presenting for Antenna, CEO Jonathan Carson revealed that the average subscription video-on-demand platform gets 5.6 million subscribers it wouldn’t otherwise garner via inclusion in the Prime Video Channels marketplace.

    Further, Carson said that Prime Video Channels add-on subscriptions accounted for 25% of all U.S. SVOD signups in the first quarter.

    This wasn’t necessarily shocking news. As Carson also pointed out, the erstwhile WarnerMedia saw HBO Max lose 5.1 million subscribers when the service was wrenched out of Amazon’s marketplace in 2021. When, fresh off the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, David Zaslav and team put Max back into Pime Video Channels in late 2022, it quickly re-added 3 million customers.

    Amazon’s “channels” offering — emerging as the first of its kind almost a decade ago — remains a powerful business driver even for video companies that operate similar markets for third-party content. Also according to Antenna, after Apple TV+ was placed into Prime Video Channels early in the fourth quarter of 2024, it was getting 25% of its signups via Amazon by December.

    This access, of course, comes at a price. As Variety noted, SVOD operators typically share around 30% of their revenue with Amazon when they participate in Amazon’s Channels.

    Notably, as the bundling trend takes further hold in the video business, some operators are trying to accentuate their Amazon Channels performance by combining forces. For instance, Starz and Hallmark Plus announced last week a bundled service offering that will take $5 off the monthly combined $19-a-month bill for both SVOD platforms when they’re purchased via the channels marketplace. StreamTV Insider

  • Google Fiber & Nokia use network slicing to alter broadband

    Google Fiber & Nokia use network slicing to alter broadband

    Google Fiber and Nokia are pushing the boundaries of home broadband through network slicing technology. Nick Saporito, director of product management at GFiber, sees this as a key step towards offering customized service tiers for home users. This partnership aims to enhance how we experience home internet by dynamically prioritizing certain applications over others.

    Details on the specific technology used in the demonstration were scarce. However, Saporito affirmed the experiment’s success, illustrating how network slicing allocates bandwidth to prioritize certain activities. For example, prioritizing a video conference call or a high-demand gaming session over routine traffic optimizes user experiences. “We can see a future where applications like AI and VR require next-level performance. Network slicing could be how we level up network performance,” says Saporito.

    The concept, originating from 5G architecture, takes advantage of innovative technologies like network functions virtualization (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN). These allow for flexible and programmable networks. Simply put, this approach enables various services to operate on a single network infrastructure, each “slice” functioning as an isolated network tailored to user needs.

    An exciting development comes in the potential for “transactional slices.” These are temporary slices that can spin up automatically and without user detection. Envisioned for secure activities like bank transactions, these slices offer peace of mind by connecting directly to a bank rather than through the wider internet.

    The companies have not set a commercial deployment timeline. However, they see this pilot as crucial for enhancing consumers’ control over their home broadband. “Network slicing represents the next logical step in how we think about GFiber service, particularly our Core, Home, and Edge products designed for unique internet lifestyles,” Saporito explained. Voip

  • Jio boasts most active subscribers, enhancing the tariff image, Jefferies

    Jio boasts most active subscribers, enhancing the tariff image, Jefferies

    Reliance Jio continued its outperformance in active subscriber additions, which bodes well for the overall tariff outlook of the telecom sector, according to a report by Jefferies.

    The report highlighted that over the past 12 months, Jio’s active subscriber market share has increased by 150 basis points (bps) to 53 per cent.

    This growth was largely driven by a 200 bps market share gain in B-Circles. It said, “Jio’s continued outperformance vs. Bharti on active subscriber additions augurs well for the sector’s overall tariff outlook”.

    The increase in active subscriber base resumed in May 2025 after a brief dip in April. With this, calendar year-to-date (CYTD) additions reached 19.7 million.

    Jefferies noted that this was the highest monthly active subscriber addition in the last 29 months, reflecting a strong growth potential for the telecom sector.

    In terms of reported numbers, Jio’s overall subscriber base increased by 2.7 million in May 2025. However, its active subscriber base grew even more significantly, by 5.5 million.

    The company also saw an increase of 1.3 million in its urban subscriber base month-on-month. At the sector level, active subscribers increased by 7.3 million during May, reaching a total of 1,080 million.

    This marked the highest monthly addition in the past 29 months. The growth was primarily led by Jio, which added 5.5 million active subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel with 1.3 million additions.

    Subscriber growth was particularly strong in A-Circles and B-Circles, which together added 9 million users and account for 75 per cent of the sector’s subscriber base.

    In contrast, Metro Circles recorded a decline of 1.9 million subscribers. The report also stated that Jio’s market share gains, combined with Vodafone Idea’s continued decline, may lead to further market share growth for both Jio and Bharti. This trend supports the potential for future tariff hikes. The Hindu BusinessLine

  • Telecom Egypt wrapped up two subsea cable system landings

    Telecom Egypt wrapped up two subsea cable system landings

    Telecom Egypt, which is listed on the Egyptian stock exchange, has completed two landings of the Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 6 (SEA-ME-WE-6) subsea cable system in Egypt.

    The landings were in Port Said on the Mediterranean coast and Ras Ghareb on the Red Sea via two diversified trans-Egypt terrestrial crossing routes, the telco said in a statement on Wednesday.

    The move is expected to further strengthen connectivity across the region once it becomes operational.

    SEA-ME-WE-6 is the sixth edition of the SEA-ME-WE cable system family. It connects Singapore (Tuas) to France (Marseille), crossing Egypt’s territory terrestrially.

    US-based SubCom is the contractor responsible for building the subsea cable system.

    Upon completion, the SEA-ME-WE-6 cable system will establish a connection between Africa, Asia, and Europe through its 17 landing points.

    Spanning a distance of 21,700 km, the system’s consortium comprises 16 subsea cable providers, including Telecom Egypt, BEYON (Bahrain), Bangladesh Submarine Cables, Bharti Airtel (India), China United Network Communications Group, Dhiraagu (Maldives), Djibouti Telecom, Microsoft (US), Mobily (Saudi Arabia), Orange (France), PCCW Global, Singtel (Singapore), Sri Lanka Telecom, Telekom Malaysia, Telin (Indonesia), and Trans World Associates (Pakistan). Zawya

  • US weighs halting funds for hospitals that offer kids with gender therapy

    US weighs halting funds for hospitals that offer kids with gender therapy

    US President Donald Trump’s administration is weighing cutting off funds to hospitals that it says provide gender-related treatments for children and teenagers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

    The reported deliberations come after the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent a letter, opens new tab in May to a number of hospitals performing “pediatric sex trait modification procedures,” outlining what it said were concerns over quality standards and profits related to the procedures.

    The CMS asked hospitals to respond in 30 days – a deadline which passed on Saturday.

    In the letter, CMS Administrator Dr Mehmet Oz – the celebrity physician nominated by Trump – said the administration would not “turn a blind eye to procedures that lack a solid foundation of evidence and may result in lifelong harm”.

    Nine children’s hospitals received the letters from the CMS demanding data on sex-reassignment surgeries, hormone therapy and puberty blockers, the WSJ said.

    Some hospitals are re-examining or closing gender-related care programs, citing the CMS inquiry and potential loss of federal funds, the report added. Reuters

  • Fixed medical supplies concerns at TVM MC

    Fixed medical supplies concerns at TVM MC

    A senior government doctor who recently claimed shortage of surgical equipment and delays in procedures at the state-run Medical College Hospital here, on Wednesday said that the issues were resolved quickly only after he highlighted them publicly.

    Dr Haris Chirakkal at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital, also questioned whether creating a controversy was the only way to resolve such issues.

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    The doctor, in a Facebook post, had recently said that the shortage of essential medical equipment had led to the postponement of surgeries and had alleged that repeated assurances from authorities had failed to resolve the issue, leaving patients in severe pain waiting for timely treatment.

    On Wednesday, while speaking to reporters here, he said that a file related to one of the equipment was pending at the Collectorate for around two months, but was quickly processed after his FB post.

    Another equipment was delivered at the hospital amidst the ongoing enquiry in connection with his revelations, he added.

    “How were these resolved so quickly when I created an issue over it? How did these things move so fast after being delayed for months? So, things will be resolved only if an issue is created?” he asked.

    At the same time, he admitted that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was right when he said that such revelations, when highlighted in the wrong way, could unintentionally misrepresent the larger picture.

    “He is a sincere government employee, free of corruption and deeply committed to his duty. Despite this, he has now inadvertently become the reason for misrepresenting what is arguably the best healthcare system in India. It is unclear whether this was his intention. Still, this incident should serve as a lesson for all of us,” Vijayan had said a day ago at an event in Kannur.

    Responding to queries from reporters about what the CM had said, the doctor conceded that what he had said “would cause some damage to the health sector.”

    He said that his intention was to ensure the shortage of equipment is resolved and he neither wanted the health department or the hospitals under it to be blamed nor did he want protests against them.

    “Such things would lead to what I said being misunderstood. What I want is that red-tapism and bureaucratic delays be avoided,” he said.

    Dr Chirakkal further said that despite the CM’s remarks, he has a lot of respect for Vijayan.

    The doctor also said that he had expected some opposition to what he had said, but everyone, irrespective of party leanings, told him that what he said was correct.

    Meanwhile, an editorial in the CPI mouthpiece, Deshabhimani, said that what the doctor said had caused a lot of misunderstanding, but the health department intervened quickly and resolved the issue.

    A committee has been appointed to investigate the cause of the situation and to recommend steps to prevent it from happening in the future, it said.

    It alleged that the opposition was trying to gain political mileage out of the issue by spreading the news that the public health sector in the state was having problems.

    The editorial said that pointing out mistakes and trying to correct them was fine, but it was different from trying to harm the government in the name of some shortcomings. PTI

  • UP will build an AYUSH clinic with 100 beds in each district

    UP will build an AYUSH clinic with 100 beds in each district

    Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday announced that following the establishment of Uttar Pradesh’s first AYUSH University in Gorakhpur, the Uttar Pradesh government will now set up at least one 100-bed AYUSH health and wellness centre in every district.

    These centres will offer key treatments such as Panchakarma and Ksharasutra. In addition, the state government has decided to open one AYUSH college at each of the six divisional headquarters that are currently without such facilities.

    The CM made the announcement while addressing the inauguration ceremony of Uttar Pradesh’s first AYUSH University—Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath AYUSH University.

    Welcoming President Droupadi Murmu, the chief guest, and governor Anandiben Patel, the special guest of honour, Yogi stated that both the central and state governments are continuously working to ensure holistic health for all.

    Prior to 2014, India’s traditional systems of medicine had not gained global recognition. After taking office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi formed the Ministry of AYUSH, integrating Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Homeopathy, Naturopathy and Siddha, and gave traditional medicine a national platform, he said.

    The CM said the Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath AYUSH University is a result of PM Modi’s vision for comprehensive wellness. With the inauguration complete, the university will now move forward with its admission process. It will offer medical services across various traditional systems including Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani, Yoga, Naturopathy and Siddha. The university will also emerge as a major centre for research and development in the AYUSH sector.

    Yogi highlighted that the university will play a significant role in providing employment opportunities to both farmers and youths. Through this institution, cultivation of medicinal plants will become a viable source of income. He said the university will also be instrumental in promoting traditional medicine as a new form of health tourism.

    The CM expressed confidence that the university will emerge as a premier destination for health tourism in the future. During his address at the inauguration ceremony, Yogi also spoke about the connection between Ayurveda and the Nath tradition.

    He explained that Rasashastra and metallurgical sciences in Ayurveda are linked to the legacy of the Navnath and 84 Siddhas. The credit for systematically organising these disciplines, he said, goes to Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath. Hindustan Times

  • A variety of ICC Playing Conditions updates

    A variety of ICC Playing Conditions updates

    A move back to one ball per innings in the last 16 overs in a One Day International, a new ruling pertaining to boundary catches and the use of stop clocks introduced in Test matches headline a range of changes in the updated ICC (International Cricket Council) Playing Conditions.

    The new playing conditions also include changes to concussion replacement processes, the DRS wicket zone and deliberate short runs.

    The changes were recommended by the ICC Men’s Cricket Committee, headed by Sourav Ganguly and including playing participation in over 2000 international matches across its members.

    Playing Conditions Changes
    Stop clock
    After a successful introduction in white-ball cricket, Test cricket will also see a stop clock, with the bowling team needing to be ready to bowl the first ball of their next over within 60 seconds of the previous over being completed.

    Failure to do so for the third time in an innings (following two warnings) will result in a five-run penalty imposed against the fielding team on each occasion.

    Two warning sanctions will be reset to zero after 80 overs have passed, in line with a new ball becoming available, and again after any future blocks of 80 overs in that innings.

    Number of balls per ODI innings
    Two new balls will be used for the first 34 overs of an ODI innings, after which the fielding team will choose one of the balls for the remaining overs.

    Boundary catches
    Changes to the playing conditions now require a fielder who makes airborne contact with the ball beyond the boundary to then land and remain inside the boundary.

    A fielder, after making their first contact with the ball subsequently leaves the field of play, can only make contact with the ball once more while airborne beyond the boundary.

    Having done so, they must land and remain wholly within the boundary. This applies even if another player completes the fielding. This change will be implemented in international cricket before it is included in the MCC Laws of Cricket next year.

    Deliberate short runs
    Adding to the present five-run penalty for a deliberate short run, the fielding team will also choose which of the two batters takes strike for the next delivery.

    DRS wicket zone
    The wicket zone will now be the actual outline of the stumps and bails.

    Concussion protocols
    There are two changes to the concussion protocols.

    Teams will now be required to nominate their designated concussion replacements for the match. This curbs the advantage previously held by home teams, who have typically been able to choose from a larger pool of potential replacements.

    A player diagnosed with a concussion during a match must observe a minimum stand-down period of a minimum of seven days before returning to play. This change has been recommended by the ICC Medical Advisory Committee to support players’ safety and well-being.

    Further playing conditions to be trialled by Full Members
    From October 2025 and for an initial six-month period, there are additional changes.

    Replacement players (domestic first-class cricket)
    A player who suffers a serious injury on the field of play at any time after the match has started (including any pre-match warm-up period) may be replaced for the remainder of the match by a fully participating like-for-like player.

    Wide Ball Trial (ODI and T20I cricket)
    In an effort to provide leniency for a bowler who sees the batter moving around prior or during a delivery, a new wide ball rule will be trialled.

    As part of the changes, the position of the batter’s legs at the point of delivery will now be used as the reference point for a wide, even if the batter subsequently moves across to the off side.

    The trial will see a ball that passes the popping crease between the leg stump and the protected area marker not being called a Wide. To help with this, the protected area marker line will be extended to the popping crease and act as a guide for the umpires.

    Any leg side delivery that passes behind the batter’s legs and outside of the line at the time the ball reaches the popping crease may still be called a Wide.

    Previously, a wide had been called for a delivery that would not have been called wide if the batter had retained their normal batting position.

    Starting dates for new international playing conditions
    The new playing conditions commenced with the first match of the new World Test Championship on the 17 June, played between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

    The new playing conditions for ODIs and T20Is will commence during the same Sri Lanka against Bangladesh series, with the first of three ODIs from 2 July, and a three-match T20I series from 10 July. All Test, ODI and T20I matches after these dates will be played under the new playing conditions. ICC-Cricket

  • With 45% of US viewers, streaming beats broadcast and cable

    With 45% of US viewers, streaming beats broadcast and cable

    In a historic first, streaming has surpassed both cable and broadcast television combined in total TV usage in the US, according to media audience measurement firm Nielsen’s latest Gauge report. Streaming accounted for 44.8 per cent of all television viewing, surpassing the combined share of cable (24.1 per cent) and broadcast (20.1 per cent).

    It marks a significant shift in how audiences not just in the US, but around the world, consume content. Notably, in Nielsen’s first Gauge report launched in May 2021, streaming made up just 26 per cent of total TV usage. In the four years since, its share has surged by 71 per cent, while cable’s share has declined by 39 per cent, and broadcast has dropped by 21 per cent. The remainder of viewing habits including gaming, physical media, and some on-demand viewing, remain stable, as per the report.

    Leading the charge are YouTube and Netflix, which accounted for a combined 20 per cent of all TV use in May this year, nearly matching the total viewership of all broadcast networks. YouTube reached an all-time high of 12.5 per cent viewership, its fourth consecutive monthly record.

    Among FAST (free ad-supported TV) platforms, Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV collectively made up 5.7 per cent of TV use. Tubi and Roku together contributed 4.7 per cent while Pluto TV – whose data is included under parent company Paramount’s 2.2 per cent share – is estimated at around one per cent.

    The most streamed show of the month was Netflix’s You, which logged four billion minutes of viewing time, signalling the growing dominance of on-demand TV content in viewers’ watching habits.

    The data points to a rapidly changing entertainment landscape. “It’s fitting that this inflection point coincides with the four-year anniversary of Nielsen’s The Gauge, which has become the gold standard for streaming TV measurement,” said Karthik Rao, CEO of Nielsen, in a statement. “It’s also a credit to media companies who have deftly adapted their programming strategies to meet their viewers where they are watching,” Rao added.

    With more viewers shifting towards digital platforms, media companies are rethinking content distribution, investing heavily in streaming-first originals and ad-supported platforms that appeal to ‘cord-cutters’, that is, people who cancel their subscriptions to cable or broadcast TV channels in favour of content available online. The Indian Express