Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Time Warner Sells Telecom Business to Level 3

Posted by Unknown on from the lose-an-arm-gain-nationwide-monopoly dept.

gavron (1300111) writes "We all know about TW Cable being acquired by Comcast (subject to regulatory approval) but news from today is that their non-cable business is being purchased by Level3 for almost 6 billion dollars.

What used to be the 'largest media and distribution company ever' (AOL Time Warner) is now nothing more than a garage of pieces being parceled off to the first available bidder. This might be good for consumers, but recently Time Warner (and Comcast) won awards for consumer hatred."

8 of 38 comments (clear)

  1. You sure its Time Waner? by Comen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You need to change the subject, no where does it state that Time Warner sold anything.
    TW Telecom was not a part of Time Warner anymore, it was broken off years ago, the name changed from Time Warner Telecom to TW Telecom so they could keep some brand recognition, but they could no longer use the Time Warner name. The news announcement states that TW Telecom was bought by Level3, so stating that Time Warner sold its telecom business seems wrong to me. Unless maybe Time Warner still owned some of the company, since Time Warner itself no longer is part of Time Warner Cable either, they were broke apart years ago also, so that Time Warner is mostly all just media holdings, like movies and magazines.
    Either way, I am pretty sure your title for the article is WRONG.

    1. Re: You sure its Time Waner? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Agreed. A little application of common sense could have prevented this nothing-to-do-with-the-price-of-tea-in-China posting travesty. Does anyone really think that Time Warner Cable would be allowed to sell off a $6 billion asset in the middle of the Comcast acquisition unless it had been agreed upon up front? All of the discussed spin-offs (e.g. to Charter) are scheduled to take place after the acquisition is complete.

      And Time Warner != Time Warner Cable. They are two completely separate companies.

    2. Re:You sure its Time Waner? by Yebyen · · Score: 2

      Yes, agreed, we are TW Telecom customers and my boss, who has been around long enough to know, reminds me every time I say "Time Warner" that "It's Not Time Warner". The name of the company is TW Telecom or TWTC. It has nothing to do with Time Warner or Time Warner Cable these days. Submitter.Insert(foot,mouth), Editor.Shame()

      --
      Restating the obvious since nineteen aught five.
  2. Re:"Media Distribution" is now telecom? by jbolden · · Score: 2

    They have to move a lot of data to those local cable providers. They need a substantial backend to do it, tons of bandwidth running between cities. That's what Level 3 (http://www.level3.com) would be interested in. Bandwidth, access points, colos / generators. That is the core of a telecom business.

  3. TW Telecom is not part of Time Warner by rearden · · Score: 4, Interesting

    TW Telecom is not part of Time Warner and has not been since it was spun off in 1998. In fact in 1999 it was floated on the exchange (NASDAQ: TWTC) and so is its own entity. This headline and story in general is very misleading as Time Warner/ Time Warner Cable and TW Telecom are no longer related.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TW_Telecom

    http://www.twtelecom.com/about-us/history/

    --
    Huh?
  4. Re:Fact Check by L4t3r4lu5 · · Score: 2

    Editing

    "The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, and many other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate and complete work."

    I've not got access to the contract terms or job descriptions at /. HQ, but I'm pretty sure at least one of those words will be included in the details for an "Editor" position.

    --
    Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
  5. Re:"Media Distribution" is now telecom? by Bengie · · Score: 3, Informative

    According to Level 3's write-up on the subject, TW Telcom has a very large metro fiber network that spans many key cities. They offer some fairly high end services up to 100g: http://www.twtelecom.com/telec...

  6. HeadlineFail by aaarrrgggh · · Score: 2

    TWTelecom is independent from TimeWarner, and has been for at least 8 years. That makes for a huge consolidation in the metro fiber business.