More cable news from across the Web:
> With Canada now mandating $25-and-under pay-TV packaging, American Cable Association President Matthew Polk has called for the "removal of barriers" that keep U.S. cable operators from offering customers skinny program bundles. ACA statement
> Cisco Systems is paying $260 million for cloud orchestration platform CliQr. Multichannel News story
> Comcast said it's adding 24/7 video recording capabilities to its Xfinity home automation service. Telecom Paper story
> Sling TV is adding E.W. Scripps-owned Newsy and Univision's Flama to its core $20-a-month tier. Multichannel News story
> Cincinnati Bell might start slowing down its FTTH rollout in 2017, but this year the telco is moving full steam ahead with plans to pass over 70,000 homes. Article
> Windstream is making progress with its ongoing network upgrade efforts, announcing that it spent $80 million since 2014 to improve residential broadband services in Georgia. Article
> Verizon's ongoing fiber build outs are having a clear effect on network installer Dycom's revenue stream, rising nearly 12 percent to $66.3 million in the second quarter of 2016 for the company. Article
> Fiber-optic lines are often cut but a recent outage in Gorham, Maine happened after a fiber cable was hit by gunshots, causing $30,000 in damages. Article
> CBS Corp. is in a great position as a must-have network that viewers either won't drop from their skinny bundle selections, or will pick up as an SVOD option should they completely cut the cord, Chairman and CEO Les Moonves told attendees at an investor conference. Article
> Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son plans to create a subsidiary of SoftBank that will accept some of the carrier's network gear and spectrum as collateral for billions in loans this year, as outlined in a new report from Bloomberg. Article
> Facebook has altered an algorithm to push live video streams to the top of users' news feeds. And the move is sure to ramp up traffic on mobile networks. Article
And finally… TWC has restored service after a brief outage that affected parts of North Carolina. WGPH-TV post