More cable news from across the Web:
> PT Portugal's R&D lab, PT Inovacao, has become part of Altice. Telecompaper post
> Brazilian regulators are fining Technicolor and Cisco $7.2 million for jumping the gun on their CPE unit transaction. Multichannel News story
> John Malone and Liberty Global are close to gaining regulatory approval for their purchase of Belgian wireless operator Telenet. Multichannel News story
> Aereo founder Chet Kanojia is about to unveil a new start-up project that will compete with Comcast and Time Warner Cable in delivering Wi-Fi access to major metropolitan areas. Variety story
> Comporium has made a $3 million pledge to Clemson University's new Watt Family Innovation Center. Greenville Online story
> Optical transport equipment sales will grow to $15 billion by 2020, driven by huge demand for WDM (wavelength division multiplexer) systems over the next five years, a new report by Dell'Oro Group says. Article
> Now that AT&T has reached its goal of bringing fiber to 1 million business locations in its wireline territory, the service provider says the two next priorities for FTTB growth will be driven by its on-demand Ethernet service and GPON-based products. Article
> Sprint bumped up its quarterly earnings call to next week in an apparent move to ease the fears of investors in the wake of plummeting shares and downgraded credit ratings. The carrier had been expected to report earnings during the first week of February, but yesterday announced it would report its earnings on Tuesday, Jan. 26. Article
> Google forked over $1 billion to Apple in 2014 in payments likely related to keeping its search bar on the iPhone and iPad, according to a transcript of court proceedings reported by Bloomberg. Article
And finally… AT&T has asked Miami's Fox affiliate to lift a blackout and allow its U-verse viewers to see this weekend's NFC Championship Game. Sun Sentinel story