Verizon’s Advanced Wireless Service spectrum is currently unused, but the company is targeting the spectrum for the next phase of LTE deployment. Verizon will be able to build another LTE network parallel to its current 4G network at 700MHz.

Verizon will still have to receive regulatory approval for this deal to take place. AT&T has been unable to receive approval for its proposed acquisition of T-Mobile. However the FCC is close to approving AT&T’s acquisition of Qualcomm’s 700MHz spectrum so it is likely that they will approve of a similar deal for Verizon.

This deal could strain the relationship that the three cable companies have with Clearwire. Comcast, Time Warner, and Bright House are major investors in Clearwire and they have already started reselling their broadband service on a limited basis in their territories.

[GigaOm]

If the deal goes through, this would be Time Warner Cable’s largest acquisition since 2006. That year Time Warner Cable and Comcast acquired bankrupt cable company Adelphia’s assets.

Time Warner Cable will gain an additional 680,000 subscribers through the acquisition. These subscribers will be added to Time Warner’s existing 12 million cable customers. Insight provides cable and broadband phone services to customers in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio.

[NYT]

United States ISPs have agreed to a “six strike” program to deal with online copyright infringement. Companies in the deal include AT&T, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Verizon. Ars Technica reports that the warning system operates solely between the ISP and the subscriber, and that ISPs will only release guilty subscribers’ information with a court order.

The agreement is, according to the press release, intended to “educate and stop the alleged content theft in question, not to punish.” The education comes in the form of alerts that notify potential pirates of their copyright infringement, none of which involve real legal action. There is no threat of complete disconnection, and the agreement promises that services like email and home security will always be available despite a user’s piracy warnings.

The first two warnings are just “educational” notices about piracy. The third and fourth warnings require the user the user to acknowledge receipt of the warnings. The fifth and sixth warnings involve “mitigation measures” that act as ISP-enforced punishments for the users’ piracy.

In 2008 Google, Sprint Nextel, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Intel and several other investors had put in $3.2 billion into Clearwire for them to build a 4G wireless network. Some of the investors put in an additional $1.56 billion funding round last year.

Another rumor that is floating around about the company is that Sprint may invest an additional $200 million to assume Clearwire’s debt. This will allow Sprint to maintain a 50% ownership in Clearwire. Clearwire provides WiMax infrastructure that powers the Sprint EVO and the Epic devices.

[Bloomberg]

[TechCrunch]

Turner Classic Movies turned 15 years old and they are celebrating by launching a social network.  The social network is called the TCM Classic Film Union and the URL is tcm.com/fan.  The social network has features such as profiles, movie fans, actor and actress fans, and rare photos and video clips centered around Turner Classic Movies.

There are over a million actors, directors, producers, etc. in the database to become fans of.  The TCM social network also has thousands of movies that people can become fans of.  Turner Classic Movies is a part of Turner Broadcasting System inc. and a subsidiary of Time Warner.

Some of the stars include Marlon Brando, John Payne, Bette Davis, John Wayne, Bing Crosby, Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland, Humphrey Bogart, etc.  The classic movies in the TCM social network database include Ada, Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, North by Northwest, and Gone With The Wind.

Time Warner’s spin-off of Time Warner Cable should be completed by next month.  This will make Time Warner purely a media company.  Time Warner initiated the separation possibility of separating its telecommunications cable operations from their content units about four years ago.

This will enable Time Warner to focus on their major media brands such as CNN, HBO, Time magazine, Sports Illustrated, and the Warner Bros. movie studio.

The terms for separating the companies were agreed upon on May 20, 2008.  Since then, it was subject to the government regulation process.  Within the last few weeks, the separation was approved by the FCC and the IRS.  The separation should be complete by March 12.

[via NYT]