8A» BUSINESS THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2017 B DENVERPOST.

COM B THE DENVER POST 6

BUSINESS
T V S E RV ICE

T-Mobile channeling Layer3

The mobile carrier wants to
buy the Denver startup and
turn it into the company’s
new television division.

The eye
By Tamara Chuang
The Denver Post

T-Mobile on Wednesday said it

would launch a new TV service in

of the
2018 and buy Layer3 TV, a Denver
startup that offers high-definition
channels online.
No purchase price or launch date
was shared because it was “too ear-

terms
Google’s whirlwind
of top searches for 2017
included hurricanes,
solar eclipse, bitcoin
and Matt Lauer.
Hurricane Irma, pictured here approaching Cuba on Sept. 8, was the No. 1 global search on Google. NOAA
Matt Lauer. Bitcoin. DACA. Monkey self-
ies. Jeremy Lin’s hair. Do-it-yourself
eclipse glasses. Tom Petty’s death.
National anthem protests in the NFL. And
“Cash Me Outside.”
These were some of the people, topics
and memes that trended to the top of
Google searches in 2017. The search terms
reflected the United States in upheaval
over sexual misconduct allegations against
powerful men, reeling from the tumultu-
ous presidency of Donald Trump (What is
“covfefe,” by the way?), and people around
the world searching for information about
the latest iPhone and how to make slime.
Three of the top 10 TV shows in the U.S.
debuted on Netflix, the same as last year.
April the Giraffe made news by giving
birth live on YouTube.
And the world grooved to Luis Fonsi
singing “Despacito.”
Here are some of the terms Google says
had the highest sustained spike in traffic in
the United States compared with 2016, fil-
tered for spam, repeat queries and adult
keywords. — The Associated Press
Global searches
1. Hurricane Irma
2. iPhone 8
3. iPhone X
4. Matt Lauer
5. Meghan Markle
6. “13 Reasons Why”
7. Tom Petty
8. Fidget spinner
9. Chester Bennington
10. India National Cricket
Team
ly to talk about specifics,” said T-
Mobile CEO John Legere, who was
in Denver on Wednesday to make
the announcement. But the top ex-
ecutive of the nation’s third-largest
mobile service said this is all about
disrupting an industry known for
terrible customer service and limit-
ed choices.
“Why does big cable treat people
this way? One simple reason: Be-
cause they can. Customers don’t
have a choice. We’re going to bring
choice once and for all,” Legere
said. “We think this initiative fits
with our existing plans.”
T-Mobile, which became the na-
tion’s fastest-growing mobile ser-
vice under Legere, plans to keep the
Layer3 team in Denver and turn it
into the company’s new TV divi-
sion. Layer3 CEO and co-founder
Jeff Binder will oversee the division
and join T-Mobile’s senior staff. All
200 Layer3 employees will join T-
Mobile.
That’s a relief to the Colorado
tech community, which has seen
numerous acquisitions of its start-
ups and senior companies this year,
said Phil Weiser, a University of
Colorado Law School professor and
founder of the Blackstone Entre-
preneurs Network in Colorado.
“When you think about the
founding of cable, the placement of
CableLabs here, Dish, Layer3, that’s
not an accident. We’ve had critical
mass here. Layer3 came here be-
cause of that talent. That’s why I
think T-Mobile will keep Layer3
here,” Weiser said. “They’re com-
mitted to Denver as Layer3’s head-
quarters. It’s not like T-Mobile is al-
ready doing this work elsewhere.
They’re looking to Layer3 as their
video engine and video product and
giving the team the benefits of a
much bigger company. That is real-
ly a great result. It’s a great success
story.”
Legere said an investor brought
the two companies together.

People push a stalled Longtime “Today” Rock legend Tom Photos show the path Fidget spinners were TMOBILE » 10A
pickup down a host Matt Lauer was Petty, pictured of the sun during a one of the top toys of
flooded street in fired by NBC News in performing in total eclipse Aug. 21 the year. Carlos Osorio,
Houston in the wake November after he Arizona, died at age near Rednond, Ore. Associated Press file
of Hurricane Harvey. was accused of sexual 66. Matt York, Ted S. Warren,
Associated Press file
N ET N EU T R A L IT Y
Charlie Riedel, harassment. Richard Associated Press file
Associated Press file Drew, Associated Press file

Searches People Deaths “How to” “What is”

FCC vote may
1. Hurricane Irma
2. Matt Lauer
1. Matt Lauer
2. Meghan Markle
1. Tom Petty
2. Aaron Hernandez
1. How to make slime
2. How to make solar
1. What is DACA?
2. What is bitcoin?
not be final
3. Tom Petty 3. Harvey Weinstein 3. Chris Cornell eclipse glasses
3. How to watch the
3. What is a solar
eclipse?
word on issue
4. Super Bowl 4. Michael Flynn 4. Bill Paxton
5. Las Vegas shooting 5. Kevin Spacey 5. Hugh Hefner solar eclipse 4. What is antifa? By Tali Arbel
4. How to watch 5. What is net The Associated Press
6. Mayweather vs. 6. Bill O’Reilly 6. Chester Bennington
McGregor fight 7. Melania Trump 7. Charlie Murphy Mayweather vs. neutrality?
McGregor NEW YORK » As the federal gov-
7. Solar eclipse 8. Kathy Griffin 8. Lil Peep 6. What is covfefe?
5. How to buy bitcoin ernment prepares to unravel
8. Hurricane Harvey 9. Milo Yiannopoulos 9. Jim Nabors 7. What is the
sweeping net-neutrality rules that
9. Aaron Hernandez 10. Gal Gadot 10. David Cassidy 6. How to freeze your antikythera mechanism?
guaranteed equal access to the in-
10. Fidget spinner credit 8. What is a fidget ternet, advocates of the regulations
7. How to solve a Rubik’s spinner? are bracing for a long fight.
Cube 9. What is the Paris The Thursday vote scheduled at
8. How to make a fidget Climate Agreement? the Federal Communications Com-
spinner 10. What is a hurricane? mission could usher in big changes
9. How to cook a turkey in how Americans use the internet,
in the oven a radical departure from more than
10. How to screen record a decade of federal oversight. The
proposal would not only roll back
restrictions that keep broadband
providers like Comcast, Verizon
and AT&T from blocking or col-
lecting tolls from services they
E CON OMY don’t like, it would bar states from
imposing their own rules.
The broadband industry promis-
Federal Reserve lifts benchmark interest rate ¼ point es that the internet experience isn’t
going to change, but its companies
By Heather Long The Fed cast the decision as a positive says. Its previous estimate was 2.1 percent have lobbied hard to overturn these
The Washington Post signal that the U.S. economy is healthy. expansion in 2018. Unemployment is ex- rules. Protests have erupted online
“The labor market has continued to pected to fall even further to below 4 per- and in the streets as everyday
WASHINGTON » The Federal Reserve lifted strengthen” and “economic activity has cent in 2018. Americans worry that cable and
its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday been rising at a solid rate,” the Fed said in a “At the moment, the U.S. economy is per- phone companies will be able to
by a quarter point to a range of 1.25 to 1.5 statement. forming well,” Fed Chair Janet Yellen said control what they see and do on-
percent, a widely expected move that the Unemployment is now at the lowest level later in the afternoon during her final Fed line.
central bank said is happening because since 2000, growth is picking up and infla- news conference. “There’s less to lose That growing public movement
America’s economy continues to improve. tion remains tame. The Fed bumped up its sleep about now than has been true for suggests that the FCC vote won’t be
This is the fifth rate increase since the bank expectations for growth this year and next. quite some time.” the end of the issue. Opponents of
cut the rate to nearly zero during the finan- The economy is on track to expand 2.5 per- Yellen, who is stepping down in early the move plan legal challenges, and
cial crisis of 2008. cent this year and next year, the Fed now FED » 10A NET » 9A