Zuckerberg to Testify in Within Buy, Comcast’s New Internet Offerings, Rogers-Shaw Go to Tribunal on Merger

October 31, 2022 – Reuters reported Friday that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify in court in his company’s pursuit to buy Within Limited, a virtual reality media and technology company, after the Federal Trade Commission sued in a California court to block the purchase.

Among the 18 witnesses to be questioned in the case are Within Unlimited CEO Chris Milk and Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, Reuters said, citing a court document filed Friday.

The FTC voted 3-2 to seek an injunction blocking the buying of Within Unlimited, which Meta, parent of Facebook, sought to buy in October 2021.

The FTC said this acquisition would create a monopoly in the VR industry. Meta has bought Beat Games, Sanzaru and Ready at Dawn Studios, all virtual reality games. Meta also owns Oculus, one of the most popular virtual reality headsets.

In August, the FTC said it dropped Zuckerberg from the case.

Comcast to offer faster upload and new download speeds to some states

Comcast announced earlier this month that it will begin offering higher upload speeds and new download speeds to more than a dozen northeastern states – so long as those customers upgrade their packages to its new xFi Complete package.

Markets including Baltimore, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. are expected to get five to 10 times faster upload speeds – up to 200 Mbps – and new download speeds of 2 Gigabits per second by the end of the year, according to a company press announcement.

The company said it will also double upload speeds nationally for its Internet Essentials Plus plan, from 100 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload, to 100/20.

Rogers-Shaw fail to convince competition watchdog on merger

Canada’s largest cable company Rogers Communications Inc. and the Competition Bureau have failed to reach a settlement after weeks of negotiations in the company’s pursuit of buying cable company Shaw Communications, leaving the deal to be settled by the Competition Tribunal when it begins hearings on the deal next month.

Western Canada-based Shaw agreed to be purchased by Rogers when the companies announced their proposed deal in March 2021. But the companies have faced hurdles from competition-focused regulators, including the bureau, which said that the company’s attempt to allay fears by selling Shaw’s wireless business Freedom Mobile to regional cable operator Videotron would not address competition issues.

The bureau sued the companies to block the deal at the tribunal, but also agreed to be involved in negotiations to settle the outstanding issues. But in a joint press statement on Thursday, the companies involved announced the collapse in negotiations with the bureau.

“The mediation did not yield a negotiated settlement. We are disappointed with this outcome and believe that litigation is both unnecessary and harmful to competition,” the companies said in the release. “The Bureau’s unwillingness to meaningfully engage unduly delays lower wireless prices for Canadian consumers.

“We remain committed to completing this pro-competitive series of transactions and are confident in the strength and merits of our case in front of the Competition Tribunal, including the many benefits of these transactions to Canadians,” the release added.

The country’s telecom regulator, the CRTC, already approved the broadcasting side of the deal. Meanwhile, last week, spectrum department Innovation Canada – which has yet to approve the deal – said it would not allow the transfer of Shaw’s spectrum assets to Rogers as part of the combination.

Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Videotron would need to hold onto Freedom’s licenses for 10 years and expects to see prices in Ontario and Western Canada to be lowered around the price of Quebec’s wireless prices, which are the lowest in the country.