Verizon is buying the assets of Intel Media...

Verizon is buying the assets of Intel Media from Intel for an unspecified price, the companies said Tuesday. Intel Media develops OnCue Cloud TV products and services, and the purchase will “accelerate the availability of next-generation video services, both integrated with Verizon FiOS fiber-optic networks and delivered ‘over the top’ to any device,” they said in a news release. Verizon is making employment offers to “substantially all” of the 350 or so employees at Intel Media, which they said will continue to be based in Santa Clara and be led by its current management team. The purchase is subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close early in Q1 this year, the companies said. Speaking about the deal in an earnings call Tuesday, Verizon Chief Financial Officer Francis Shammo said “the focus” was to “accelerate the availability of next-generation IP video service which integrate into” the FiOS video service. “What we're really trying to do is differentiate this even more so, with fiber to the home,” which will also reduce the cost, he said. Intel said Friday that it will slash about 5 percent of its workforce in the fiscal year that started Dec. 29, not saying how many jobs that is or in what areas of the company the cuts would be made in. Intel ended 2013 with 107,600 employees, spokesman Chris Kraeuter told us Tuesday. Its business groups are “developing plans to reduce spending and this will include some reduction in headcount,” he said. Intel is “realigning and refocusing our resources to meet the needs of the business,” he said. The cuts could be made through redeployments, voluntary programs, retirements and attrition, he said. Intel’s “usual rate of attrition is close to 4 percent” globally, he said. Intel took a charge of $85 million in Q3 ended Sept. 28 related to severance and benefit arrangements for about 1,900 employees as part of a restructuring plan, it said in a 10-Q SEC filing.