Report: SBC Sets TV Deal with Microsoft
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SBC Communications, the No. 2 US telecommunications company, has agreed to pay $400 million to Microsoft Corp. for software that can deliver television via high-speed data lines, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.
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Regional Bell SBC Communications today announced a 10-year, $400 million deal to use Microsoft&#39;s Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) software platform to power its foray into IP-based television services.
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SBC Communications selected the new Microsoft IPTV Edition software platform for its Project Lightspeed initiative. The deal, which is valued at $400 million over 10 years, is the first of its kind for any US-based telecommunications provider.
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SBC Communications plans to announce that it will pay $400 million to Microsoft for software used to deliver TV programming over high-speed data lines.
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TELEVISION has been something of a great white whale for the Microsoft Corporation. The company has tried to sell WebTV and build software for TV&#39;s and cable boxes.
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Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and cable television provider Comcast Corp. (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday they would
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SBC Communications Inc. on Wednesday said it has agreed to pay $400 million for the use of Microsoft Corp.&#39;s digital TV software platform, in a move seen as helping the telecommunications company defend against competing cable operators.
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Microsoft is offering a new subscription model to small businesses that will allow them to use the company&#39;s software for less cost than the currently available licensing model.The plan, called Open Value Subscription program, is part of Microsoft&#39;s effort to give small businesses more flexible and affordable options for purchasing software, said Cindy Bates, Microsoft&#39;s general manager for U.S. small business.The new plan costs about a third of the license-only expense for the current licensing program open to small business, called the Open Value program, Bates said. The plan is cheaper because Microsoft offers upfront discounts for software purchased through the subscription program, and also allows customers to increase or decrease pricing over the three-year subscription period if their business needs change, she said.Open Value Subscription includes Microsoft&#39;s Software Assurance program, the company&#39;s software maintenance and support program for business customers.Microsoft defines small businesses as those with 50 employees or fewer. Bates called 50 employees the &quot;break point&quot; for when a company hires IT management. Up until that number, &quot;usually it&#39;s the business owner or office manager&quot; handling the IT system, she said.Businesses will be able to sign up for the Open Value Subscription program beginning in March, Bates said. Microsoft products available through the program include Microsoft Office Small Business, Office Professional +, Windows Vista Business Upgrade, Small Business Server Client Access License (CAL), Core CAL, Desktop Professional Suite, and Small Business Desktop Suite.As part of its small-business outreach, Microsoft also this week is unveiling a partner program called &quot;Big Easy,&quot; which invests about $10 million in subsidies to small businesses purchasing products through partners.Through the program, small businesses purchasing certain products through authorized specialist partners will get a certain percentage of money back that they can use to purchase other services from those partners, Bates said.For example, a small business would get a maximum of 22 percent of the money it spends if it buys six or more products that are on the approved list. Bates said Microsoft has figured the average return will be about 15 percent to 17 percent on purchases for small businesses.Products available for subsidies under the Big Easy program include Microsoft Office products, Exchange Server, Forefront Security for Exchange Server, System Center Essentials, Project, Visio, Office SharePoint Server, Forefront Security for SharePoint, and Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006, among others.More information about Open Value Subscription can be found on Microsoft&#39;s Web site. The company also provides more information about the Big Easy on its Microsoft Small Business Community Blog.
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SBC Communications SBC.N will pay Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O at least $400 million over 10 years for technology to help SBC sell video services over its upgraded broadband lines, the companies said Wednesday.
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SAN ANTONIO SBC Communications will use a Microsoft software system to transmit television over high-speed Internet connections. Those are like the ones San Antonio-based SBC will offer after replacing the
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SBC Communications, the No. 2 U.S.  telecommunications company, has agreed to pay $400 million to  Microsoft Corp. for software that can deliver television via  high-speed data lines, The New York Times reported on  Wednesday.
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A Russian mobile-phone operator is the latest service provider to team with Microsoft to offer Windows-based PCs on a subscription basis through the company&#39;s Unlimited Potential program.A partnership with Mobile TeleSystems OJSC (MTS), unveiled Wednesday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, is similar to ones that Microsoft already has in place in Mexico and Brazil as part of a plan to bring affordable technology to developing countries.Through the partnership, Microsoft in June will deliver PCs running Windows Vista that offer built-in mobile broadband access to customers on a subscription basis, rather than requiring customers to pay for them outright. The two companies also are working on a road map to introduce new mobile communications services that can be accessed on those PCs but did not specifically say what those new services will be.Both the PCs and services will be offered to about 85 million MTS customers in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Turkmenistan, and Belarus as part of the MTS Connect program, the companies said.The MTS deal is similar to one that Microsoft has with service providers TelMex in Mexico and Telefonica in Brazil to offer low-cost PCs through the Subscription Computing Program, which preceded Unlimited Potential. Eventually, that program became part of Unlimited Potential, through which Microsoft works with community leaders in countries where technology has not yet had a significant impact on businesses and communities.Unlimited Potential is directly related to&#160;Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates&#39; idea of &quot;creative capitalism,&quot;&#160;which suggests that companies worldwide work with governments and nonprofits to find ways to be charitable and solve the problems of the poorest people without sacrificing their own business needs. Gates recently outlined this idea in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.Analysts and observers have suggested another reason why Microsoft is interested in working with emerging markets on technology efforts: The fight against Linux, which is proving a less expensive and easier-to-access option for people in countries with scant access to technology. Indeed, Unlimited Potential and creative capitalism combine both altruism and business interests, and Microsoft executives have acknowledged the need to foster education and business development to get software like Windows and Office in the hands of people who wouldn&#39;t typically be able to afford it.
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SBC and Microsoft plan to launch an Internet television service in about a year. With IP technology, video, voice, data and other broadband services will be integrated and delivered over a
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NEW YORK/PHILADELPHIA  - SBC Communications Inc.  said Monday it will buy AT&T Corp. for about $16 billion,  aiming to bolster its services for large corporations and end  "Ma Bell's" independence.
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SBC Communications Inc. on Monday announced it would offer customers wireless high-speed Internet access for $1.99 a month if they also purchased a DSL service the company delivers in partnership with Yahoo!
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The wireless-gateway maker expands its all-important SBC deal--but the clock may be ticking.
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SBC, Yahoo, 2Wire, and Dish Network Partner For Multimedia Entertainment Monster  SBC Communications and 2Wire Inc.teamed up to deliver a home entertainment service that integrates satellite TV programming, digital video recording, video on demand, and Internet content including photos and music via an award-winning new set-top box &#8212; and ties it ...