Opportunity Assessments 

Due Diligence Analyses   

Industry Expert Litigation Support     

For a major cable operator, PDS Consulting, in collaboration with IP Action Partners, has evaluated options to provide mobile wireless voice and data services.  Such services will complement current video and data products offered by the cable operator.  Options under consideration include a range of spectrum acquisition & partnering opportunities.  Our tasks have included technology assessments, financial modeling of wireless market entry scenarios, and analyses of strategic trade-offs for our client.  

NGNA LLC, an entity formed by Comcast, Cox, and Time Warner Cable,  retained PDS Consulting and IP Action Partners to help to define next generation network alternatives and to manage day-to-day aspects of a year-long project. PDS Consulting and IP Action Partners collaborated on this important cable industry initiative. See additional information on NGNA.

A prospective operator of Ka-band broadband satellite services approached a European Government seeking to use two Ka-band orbital slots that earlier had been assigned by the ITU to the Government but were still unused. The European government was looking for guidance concerning the terms under which the orbital slots would be made available to the proposed operator.  See PDS Consulting Solution

Market forecasts for use in partnering negotiations for a prospective operator of satellite-based broadband data networking services 

For an investment group pursuing a deal to consolidate multiple satellite systems and businesses, we provided a preliminary opinion on technical health of a fleet of FSS (fixed satellite service) communications satellites that were part of the deal. 

For work-out specialists in a major bank, we assessed a telecommunications  carrier's business prospects as an input to the bank's decision concerning additional financing.

Market due diligence assessments for banks financing optical fiber networks in Alaska and undersea connections between Alaska and the U.S. mainland.

Market assessment for work-out specialists in major banks that had financed the original Iridium mobile satellite system.

For an Asia-Pacific Government, we evaluated a proposed regional satellite venture that would use the Government’s orbit/spectrum resources and was seeking Government participation.

Patent litigation - calculated royalties. A leading intellectual property law firm headquartered in the Washington, D.C., area, represented a client who is an inventor of patented methods to enable authorization of pay TV services; provide billing and program selection information for impulse pay-per-view services; enable subscribers to block reception of unacceptable programming; and limit spending by credit-risk subscribers. A direct-to-home (DTH) satellite service was alleged to have infringed these patent claims. We calculated reasonable royalties for the DTH operator’s use of the patented methods. See PDS Consulting Solution

Legal appeal of FCC rules - Market analysis. Analyzed implications of FCC “must-carry” rules for the cable TV industry to develop a fact-base for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court of an Appeals Court decision. Peter Shapiro’s deposition was cited in Appellants' brief to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Submission to FCC - Analytical response in adversarial proceeding. A submission to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) asserted that cable TV systems would have ample channel capacity to carry the digital transmissions of TV broadcast stations as well as the TV stations' analog transmissions. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) needed a response to the NAB filing that would be credible, could be prepared quickly, and that would reflect deep understanding of cable TV industry data and of relevant trends in multi-channel services markets. See PDS Consulting Solution

Civil litigation - Calculated damages. A multi-channel services provider was involved in litigation with an equipment supplier concerning alleged defects in the supplier's equipment. PDS Consulting calculated damages suffered by the services provider as a result of the alleged defects. PDS Consulting submitted several expert reports and the PDS Consulting industry expert was deposed on several occasions for this case.

Civil litigation - Explain industry context for client's business strategy. The general partner of a limited partnership that provides multi-channel services to rural-area subscribers was involved in litigation with certain limited partners. PDS Consulting submitted an expert report that describes the industry context for a series of business decisions by the general partner. This litigation was settled on terms favorable to our client. See PDS Consulting Solution

Patent litigation - Calculated royalties. A large law firm represented a client who brought a patent infringement lawsuit against a multinational supplier of a pay TV access-control system and against a pay TV operator that had adopted this system. The system was launched by the operator but later replaced prior to completion of the operator’s initial installation plans. We provided expert analysis to assess the value of the patent. See PDS Consulting Solution

Tax litigation - Valued intangible assets. Valuations of cable TV intangible assets in two landmark tax litigations. Both cases were decided favorably and set immensely valuable precedents for the cable TV industry.