CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) has announced that it is to sell $1.25 billion in senior notes as part of a major refinancing initiative.
Due in 2027, the notes will be issued in a private offering at an interest rate of 4.000%. The notes were priced to investors at face value and will mature on 15 February 2027.
Additionally, all notes will be unconditionally guaranteed by each of CenturyLink’s domestic subsidiaries that guarantees CenturyLink’s 2017 senior secured credit facilities.
Rogers Communications says that unfavorable regulation could affect its plan to invest close to $3 billion in infrastructure buildout.
The revelation came during the company’s Q4 2019 earnings call. During the conference call Joe Natale (pictured) Roger’s president and chief executive officer confirmed that the Canadian telco plans on spending approximately $3 billion in 2020 “to build Canada’s communication infrastructure”.
However, this investment is at risk according to Natale, there isn’t the right regulation.
Source: Rogers $3bn infra investment at risk due to regulation
With advances in human/machine interaction matched with edge processing and cloud connectivity, we’ll see plenty of changes in 2020 and the decade that follows. We caught up with Synaptics CTO, Patrick Worfolk to get his take on the major technology trends he expects in the near future.
At Synaptics, Worfolk manages the company’s research and development team, where he works on advanced human-computer interface technologies, computer vision, machine learning, and more.
Source: Tech Trends That Will Change How You Work | Design News
On the surface, Zuckerberg is right about a few things. VR and AR are already opening up new opportunities for remote work and virtual collaboration. Automakers have been using VR as part of their product design workflow for years now.
More and more factories are using AR technology to “<a href="https://www.designnews.com/automation-motion-control/rise-augmented-worker/195665017260963" target="_blank"augment” workers and give remote technicians easier access to training and expertise.
Even the medical device industry is embracing VR as a means of training surgeons and even conducting robotic surgeries remotely.
…None of this is going to lower anyone’s rent.
The United States is in the midst of a growing housing crisis.
Source: VR And AR Are Not the Solution To Our Housing Crisis | Design News
The US government continues to fight itself over just how to curb Huawei’s dominance in 5G.
One thorny issue in that fight is how to choke back sales of US semiconductors and other technologies to Huawei, even though the revenue those sales provide is helpful to the development and funding of US 5G efforts.
Source: Pentagon Objects to New Huawei Sales Restrictions – WSJ Report | Light Reading
As if AT&T and Boeing didn’t have enough on their plates these days, here’s another worry to toss on top — they need to move the DirecTV Spaceway-1 satellite to a new orbit amid concerns that a crippling battery malfunction could cause the bird to explode and threaten other satellites in its range.
Per AT&T’s waiver request (PDF) filed earlier this month, Spaceway-1 suffered a “major anomaly” in December 2019 that resulted in “significant and irreversible thermal damage to its batteries” that put those battery cells at significant risk of bursting. An explosion at Spaceway-1’s current location could threaten other geostationary satellites in the region.
Source: DirecTV Satellite at Risk of Exploding in Orbit | Light Reading
2020 is set to be the year of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) as more providers build out their business cases and constellations for operating in LEO, a market that promises to deliver cost-effective, high-throughput connectivity and low latency to global users.
According to Northern Sky Research (NSR), wholesale operator revenue from non-geostationary constellations is expected to post a compound annual growth rate of more than 40% during the next decade.
Source: February 2020 – LEO Advances on the Ground | Via Satellite
Identifying affordable options to connect to the internet remains a challenge for billions across the globe. In urban areas, internet connectivity is usually provided by a high-speed cable or fiber direct to each home or business. However, a single-user-per-terminal model is not economically justifiable in areas unserved or underserved by terrestrial access.
This is due to two primary obstacles to building out infrastructure for expanding broadband Internet access. First, capital costs of terrestrial fixed or wireless networks are directly proportional to distance.
Second, the typical business model for deploying broadband to communities with a lower median income base ultimately equates to an unaffordable service as subscription revenue has to exceed the expansion investments.
Source: Changing Lives with Affordable Internet Access – Via Satellite –
Despite the likely demise of LeoSat, the Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) market is still poised to continue on unabated, with ambitious plays still underway. But who is launching what, and when?
For the past seven years, talk of LEO satellites has spread through the industry. 2013 bore a fever of constellation activity. Companies such as OneWeb, SpaceX, LeoSat, and Telesat had all envisioned delivering broadband via hundreds, if not thousands, of LEO satellites. The megaconstellation movement had begun, and LEO was the talk among industry players around the world.
But what is the real state of play for LEO, and what do the analysts say?
Source: February 2020 – Heading into the LEO Revolution | Via Satellite
Following a flat 2019 in which full year revenue was $9.56 billion, STMicroelectronics plans to invest $1.5 billion in strategic initiatives to achieve its mid-term target of $12 billion revenue.
The investment includes additional capacity for existing technologies, in mix evolution for 200mm fabs, in R&D support, and in maintenance of manufacturing operations. Some $400 million of the capex investment will be spent on fab upgrades and new substrate technology development.
This includes work on the new Agrate fab to support BCD, IGBT and other power technologies; R&D for GaN power technologies; production ramp up for GaN; and investments in silicon carbide and substrate activities following the Norstel acquisition, particularly in driving the evolution of 200mm silicon carbide (SiC) wafers at the plant.
Source: ST Plans $1.5B Capex to Achieve $12B Mid-Term Target | EE Times
