High-Speed Data Systems Engineer

Sparklight breaks it before customers. This story was originally featured in CFX: The Magazine's latest Top Ops issue, where Cable One and Sparklight Mobile were awarded Product Launch of the Year. To read the full magazine, check out the digital edition here or visit the Top Ops website. When Cable One decided it was time to get off the sidelines and into the mobile game, it knew it would never be able to gain consumers' trust if it didn't have buy-in from within. That's why leadership made Sparklight Mobile's launch a company-wide collaboration from Day 1, with Marketing, Operations, Technology, Customer Care, Corporate Communications and teams all across the organization leading the charge. It started first with an internal group dubbed the Sparklight Mobile Insiders that included associates in sales, marketing, operations, technology, call centers, field technicians and more. They tackled everything: trying out different devices in different geographies, using an eSIM vs a physical SIM, porting phone numbers and getting brand new numbers. "The main challenge I gave them was to break it before a customer could," says Director of Product Management Ryan Kelly. "We felt like if we could get a lot of people involved early on with testing the product, then they could really spread the word almost in like a grassroots style to our customers and really vouch for how easy it is to purchase, how much money they can save and how reliable the network is." Sparklight Mobile stands out as CFX's Product of the Year honoree for going beyond employees as testers, with every department 100% part of the launch. At the center was a campaign developed by the Corporate Communications team - Connect for a Cause - which donated $10 for every new mobile line activated in select markets, resulting in $10,000 for local animal shelters. "Rather than looking at it as a one-time product announcement, we wanted to look at it as a month-long campaign, so we could amplify the visibility of some of the hardworking nonprofits in our areas alongside our new affordable mobile service that keeps customers connected," says Jamie O'Driscoll, Cable One's Communications Manager. In April 2026, Cable One completed its full-footprint launch, introducing bundled wireless plans starting at $15 per month with Sparklight internet and a promotional offer providing eligible customers with one free unlimited line for 12 months. Customers could also bring their own devices and add optional Mobile Device Care for added protection. After reaching its first major subscriber milestone, Sparklight Mobile achieved the next milestone four times faster, reflecting the impact of increased brand awareness, full footprint availability and continual process improvements. Weekly activations increased more than 15-fold during the rollout and more than 60% of new subscribers chose to transfer their existing wireless number to Sparklight Mobile, demonstrating trust in Sparklight as their wireless provider. For Kelly, that number surprised him. "I was thinking we'd be less than 50%," he says. "I thought a lot of people would actually just get a new number, try it out, see if it worked... The fact that our customers were willing to use a number they've had for years and move that over to a new carrier - I think that's why we've had that trust." That trust is now the foundation for what's next. Sparklight Mobile currently operates on a bring-your-own-device model, but it plans to begin offering devices directly before the end of the year. Kelly's team is also focused on expanding beyond single-line customers to entire households, encouraging families who trusted Sparklight with one line to bring over the rest. More than a successful product launch, Sparklight Mobile marked Cable One's evolution from a broadband provider into a full-service connectivity provider. It also established a repeatable model for introducing new products. It's a formula it plans to lean on again: disciplined execution paired with local impact, creating launches that resonate with customers, associates and the communities Sparklight serves. Fast Facts * 6 - animal shelters supported across select markets through Connect for a Cause * $1,500 - guaranteed minimum donation to each participating shelter, regardless of activation totals * 70 - surrendered dogs taken in by one local shelter that helped inspire the cause selection October 13, 2026 October 12, 2026 The daily. Tuesday-October 13 Netflix wins 2030 World Cup rights in spain. 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Cable One urges judge to unblock Mega Broadband deal. Cable One asked a New York court to dissolve a temporary restraining order on its pending $480 million transaction to acquire the rest of Mega Broadband. Cable One claims its lender CoBank is seeking to 'torpedo' the transaction. October 13, 2026 Adding a twist to the Cable One-Mega Broadband saga, Cable One has asked a New York federal judge to reverse course and dissolve a temporary restraining order placed on its pending acquisition for the rest of Mega Broadband Inc. (MBI) that it does not already own. Cable One's brief filed today (a redacted version is available here) arrives just days after the judge temporarily blocked the Cable One-MBI agreement after one of Cable One's lenders, CoBank, sought (and obtained) an emergency restraining order to delay the $480 million transaction. CoBank argued the pending deal amounted to a "fraudulent transfer," and that its $1.1 billion of outstanding loans to Cable One would be in jeopardy if the transaction were to go through. The judge's October 9 order to temporarily block the transaction arrived just as Cable One was about to close its purchase of the 55% remaining stake in MBI that it did not already own. MBI owns Vyve Broadband, an operator that had about 210,000 customers and a footprint passing about 657,000 locations as of September 2025. In a transaction initiated in 2020, Cable One agreed to acquire 45% of MBI, with an initial option to acquire the rest starting in 2023. Cable One: CoBank waging campaign to 'torpedo' the deal. On Monday (October 12), Cable One disputed CoBank's claims, arguing that the TRO was entered prior to any hearing or court appearance by the operator, and that it was making progress toward finalizing a series of transactions with GTCR LLC (the private equity firm that formed MBI) and certain existing lenders and private lenders. Cable One is now asking the court to unblock the deal, or to order CoBank to post a $480 million bond if the court opts to retain the TRO and move ahead with a hearing. In the brief, Cable One argued in part that CoBank has failed to show it will suffer irreparable harm if the transaction were to go forward. Specially, Cable One held that CoBank did not establish it would face an "imminent risk" that Cable One would be unable to make quarterly amortization payments of about $2.5 million in the wake of the transaction. "CoBank cannot show any 'actual and imminent' risk of any harm to its interests - much less an irreparable one," Cable One said. Cable One notes it has never missed a loan payment, and that CoBank and other lenders would have remedies available to them if that were to occur. Cable One said it has been negotiating with CoBank, GTCE and others for "several months," with CoBank offering "several financing proposals of its own" during that time. "Upset that CABO chose the proposed transaction with GTCR and its lender group as being in the best interests of CABO over CoBank's preferred transaction CoBank embarked upon a campaign to torpedo the GTCR deal," Cable One told the court. "And CoBank waited until the very day that closing was set to occur before rushing into court seeking to exploit an 'emergency' of its own creation." Cable One also holds that CoBank has been trying to "disrupt" the alternative financing arrangements that Cable One had negotiated. On that point, the operator said that by October 2, the operator, GTCR and all of Cable One's revolving lenders (save for CoBank) had agreed in principle on a financing transaction set to close on October 9 that would provide Cable One with a new loan of $1.3 billion. Some $480 million of it was to be used to repay revolving debt and also to give Cable One "additional runway to execute on its business priorities." Cable One also alleged that CoBank made an effort to disrupt the transaction by purchasing Cable One debt on October 8 on the secondary market. Further delays will cause 'material risk' to financing deal, shareholders. Cable One also argued that further delays would create "material risk" to its aforementioned financing agreement. The operator added that the delay is likewise causing "immediate and ongoing harm" to Cable One shareholders, noting that its stock immediately dropped by 20% when CoBank filed the complaint and continued to drop in after-hours trading. Cable One shares rebounded a bit today - they were up nearly 10% in afternoon trading. Cable One shares are down 88% year-to-date. "Every day the TRO remains in place, CABO risks losing the financing partners whose interlocking commitments it needs to satisfy its contractual obligation to GTCR and shore up its balance sheet; its stockholders continue to bear the uncertainty that has already driven down the Company's stock price; and the employees of both CABO and MBI remain in limbo," Cable One told the court. Senior Editor, Light Reading Jeff Baumgartner is a Senior Editor for Light Reading and is responsible for the day-to-day news coverage and analysis of the cable and video sectors. Follow him on X, LinkedIn and Bluesky. Baumgartner also served as Site Editor for Light Reading Cable from 2007-2013. In between his two stints at Light Reading, he led tech coverage for Multichannel News and was a regular contributor to Broadcasting + Cable. Baumgartner was named to the 2018 class of the Cable TV Pioneers. Want more Light Reading stories in your Google search results? Join 62,000+ members. Yes it's completely free.