libertyglobal
Latest
UK ISP is turning broadband infrastructure into EV charging stations
Liberty Global is testing a secondary use for its broadband cabinets, the streetside boxes that link internet connections from exchanges to homes and businesses. It's harnessing the infrastructure of its Virgin Media subsidiary to build electric vehicle charging stations in the UK.
Intel's stalled TV service reportedly being eyed by Virgin Media's parent company
Word broke last month that Intel was in talks with Verizon to sell off its stalled web TV effort, presumably dubbed OnCue, which was slated to get off the ground this year. Now, Bloomberg's gotten word from a trio of sources that Intel is chatting with at least one more interested party: telecom titan Liberty Global, which purchased Virgin Media last spring. According to one of the outlet's well-informed contacts, the firm has designs to use the online television service outside of the US. Despite the cable outfit's interest in the chip giant's pet TV project, Bloomberg's informants say that the negotiations could fizzle out. Regardless, with interested buyers beginning to line up, a deal might not be far off.
Liberty Global buys Virgin Media for $23.3 billion
Some British cable subscribers will soon have a new master: international telecom giant Liberty Global has just acquired Virgin Media for $23.3 billion in cash and stock. The deal gives Liberty an even larger stake in Europe than it had before and, if you believe the new partners, creates one of the bigger broadband companies on the planet at 47 million homes covered across 14 countries. Liberty also sees Virgin as good at tackling the business and mobile spaces that have been its relative weak points. How this will affect the UK isn't immediately apparent, although Virgin Media will continue to run under its existing name -- that moebius logo isn't going anywhere in the foreseeable future. We'll at least have some room to ponder the consequences when the buyout isn't poised to close until sometime in the second quarter.
