Sky UK to acquire Telefonica's Landline And Broadband Business For up to £200M

Sky already supplies fixed phone line and broadband on top of its TV services in the UK, but it's just announced it'll be gaining a few more customers. The company has shaken hands with Telefonica UK to purchase the latter's broadband and phone line business provided by the consumer-facing O2 and BE brands. As you would imagine, big bucks will change hands: Sky plans to fork over £180 million (around $273 million) right off the bat, and will write a cheque for up to a further £20 million (circa $30 million) "dependent upon the successful delivery and completion of the customer migration process by Telefonica UK." Regulators will need to give the deal the thumbs up before it's official, but if and when that happens, Sky will become the second biggest ISP in the UK after adding over 500,000 new customers to its books. Should everything progress as planned, the buyout will be completed by the end of April, which gives Rupert Murdoch just enough time to carry out the vault extension he'll need.

Update: If you're worried this transaction will impact anything you're currently signed up to, you can probably rest easy. O2 has tweeted one of our editors to report "there will be no material change to a customer's broadband service and no fundamental contract change." [Engadget]

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Comcast Invest $150m in Arris As Part Of Motorola Home Deal

Comcast now has some extra skin in the cable box and modem business, as the provider has just agreed to invest $150 million in Arris. If the name sounds familiar, it should -- this is the company that recently purchased Motorola Home from Google for $2.35 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Comcast will purchase roughly 7.85 percent of Arris, and in the very same stroke, halve Google's stake in the company, which previously sat at 15.7 percent. After the deal is complete, Google will end up with an additional $150 million in its pocket. As for what we can expect, Bob Stanzione, CEO of Arris, sounded off: "We believe this investment by one of our largest customers is a strong indication of customer support for the Motorola Home acquisition and its potential to accelerate innovation to the benefit of the industry and consumers." So, yeah... both companies will be working together more closely. For some additional insight behind the terms of the deal, you'll find the PR after the break.

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