Business

The WNBA is changing its Finals series to seven games and adding four games to its regular season next year.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the changes during her Finals media availability on Thursday.
The Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s 13th team, will also debut next season.

Napheesa Collier, #24 of the Minnesota Lynx, scores the game-winning basket during the game against the New York Liberty in Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Oct. 10, 2024.
Nathaniel S. Butler | National Basketball Association | Getty Images

Basketball fans will have even more chances to see their favorite stars play in the Women’s National Basketball Association in the 2025 season.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league will expand its regular season from 40 games to 44 games, and its Finals series from five games to seven games, both beginning next year. The Finals round will be a 2-2-1-1-1 format for home games, with the higher seed hosting first.

The three-game first round of the playoffs will alternate hosts, instead of the higher seed hosting the first two games before switching, like it did this season.
Engelbert said the league has considered the playoff changes since the Covid-19 pandemic, but the surge in its popularity and introduction of charter flights for teams was the final push needed to implement the new playoff format.
“The league’s growth and increased demand for WNBA basketball made this the ideal time to expand the schedule, lengthen the Finals and provide fans more opportunities to see the best players in the world compete at the highest level,” Engelbert said during a Thursday press conference.
The schedule is not the only thing expanding in next year’s season. The Golden State Valkyries will debut in 2025 as the league’s 13th team. Two more expansion teams have been announced, one in Toronto and one in Portland, and there are discussions in the works to lock in a city for the 16th team, Engelbert said Thursday. The Toronto and Portland teams, which are both unnamed, will start play in 2026.
The additions come as the WNBA is rapidly increasing in popularity, which led to the league’s most-recent media rights deal being worth $2.2 billion for 11 seasons, CNBC previously reported. The league’s media contract is negotiated within the National Basketball Association’s deal.

Viewership, attendance and engagement numbers all increased for the 2024 season, and in some cases set new records. The influx of exciting rookies such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, in combination with established stars such as Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson, who are the respective 2023 and 2024 MVPs, contributed to the surge.
As the league has grown in popularity, more players have said they experienced racism or online harassment. When Engelbert appeared on CNBC last month, she did not outright condemn either when asked about the issue, sparking criticism. Engelbert later clarified and condemned “hate or racism.”

The WNBA is not the only women’s sports league growing in popularity, and media executives and investors are taking notice. Both RedBird IMI’s Jeff Zucker and Endeavor executive chairman Patrick Whitesell spoke to CNBC about the enticing opportunities across women’s sports.
This year’s Finals are currently underway between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty. The Lynx are up 1-0 in the best-of-five series after winning in an overtime thriller Thursday night.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

ONE OF BRITAIN’S richest men, Sir Jim Ratcliffe was long considered a magnate who kept a low profile. Not any more. He and INEOS, a chemicals firm he founded in 1998, have stepped into the limelight—by expanding into the sports business, first by buying FC Lausanne-Sport, a Swiss football club, in 2017. Now, INEOS sponsors the All Blacks, the world’s most famous rugby side; its boss holds a stake in Mercedes, a leading Formula One outfit; the company owns INEOS Grenadiers, an elite cycling team. And INEOS Britannia, the group’s sailing venture, is the first British team since 1964 to reach the final of the America’s Cup, the world’s oldest sailing competition. Its 13 races against the holders, from New Zealand, start on Saturday. More

Former NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell is primed to take over as president of Paramount Global after its merger with Skydance Media is complete.
Shell developed a reputation at NBCUniversal for having big ideas and what one former coworker described as a “shoot first and aim later” mentality.
Skydance chief David Ellison, who will be CEO of the combined company, may give Shell more runway to make bolder decisions at Paramount Global.

Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal, speaks during a conference at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, June 22, 2022. 
Eric Gaillard | Reuters

Less than two years after NBCUniversal fired Jeff Shell for alleged sexual harassment, the former CEO is close to finding himself back in the saddle leading a storied media company.
The longtime media executive is primed to help run the day-to-day media operations of Paramount Global as president of the company when its merger with Skydance Media closes in the first half of 2025, assuming regulatory approval. He’ll report to current Skydance CEO David Ellison, who will take the top job as the combined company’s CEO.

While neither Shell nor Ellison has publicly declared specific intentions for Paramount Global due to regulations banning “gun-jumping” in pending mergers, Shell’s recent tenure as the CEO of Comcast’s NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC, offers clues to what may be in store for Paramount.
CNBC spoke with a dozen people who worked closely with Shell during his tenure as CEO from 2019 to 2023. They described Shell as a person with big ideas and a willingness to make bold moves but with a style that depends on those around him to talk him out of decisions that may not make sense. Some of Shell’s boldest ideas — such as giving NBC’s 10 p.m. hour over to affiliates, merging with a rival, and turning CNBC primetime into a Fox News facsimile — never played out.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts chose Shell to replace Steve Burke as NBCUniversal CEO in 2019. Shell had consistent success running a variety of different divisions within Comcast and NBCUniversal, including NBCU International and Universal Filmed Entertainment Group.
Colleagues told CNBC they found Shell to be a good listener and a collaborative decision-maker with a predilection for sometimes saying too much. His departure from NBCUniversal was sudden. In April 2023, a Comcast investigation corroborated allegations from a former CNBC reporter of sexual harassment. Shell joined private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners in February. RedBird backed the Skydance-Paramount merger and will assume a minority equity stake.
Soon, Shell, 59, will be at the helm of Paramount and paired with Ellison, who has already expressed his desire to transition Paramount into a more modern media company. That may set up a dynamic where Paramount’s CEO and president both want bold change.

Read more CNBC media news

RedBird executives praised Shell during a conference call in July announcing the merger, with RedBird Partner Andrew Brandon-Gordon saying Shell’s “long-term, results-oriented, proven track record at NBCUniversal” coupled with Ellison’s creativity and tech savvy make for the perfect leadership dynamic for the future of Paramount.
Still, it’s possible the pairing could lead to rash decision-making, warned one executive who worked closely with Shell at NBCUniversal. Even the consideration of dramatic ideas can destabilize an organization if discussed openly without follow through, and Shell developed a reputation at NBCUniversal for what one former coworker described as a “shoot first and aim later” mentality — a sentiment shared by at least six others who spoke with CNBC.
“What Paramount needs is blocking and tackling — mature leadership,” said the executive who worked closely with Shell. “Ellison is a blow-everything-up guy, and Shell needs someone who can minimize his mistakes.”
Shell and Ellison both declined to comment for this story.

The 10 p.m. hour

At Paramount, Shell will be given an asset mix similar to what he oversaw at NBCUniversal — save the theme parks. He’ll have a major broadcast network with NFL rights (CBS), a movie studio (Paramount Pictures), a streaming service with tens of millions of subscribers (Paramount+), a large library of TV shows and films, and a slew of cable networks with dwindling audiences.
It will be Shell’s mission to cut costs — Skydance has already identified $2 billion in cost efficiencies and synergies, the company said during a July conference call with investors about the merger — and transform Paramount Global into a modern media company. That likely means making bold changes to declining businesses while investing in technology.
Shell may try to resurrect the idea of giving up the 10 p.m. hour — as he contemplated at NBC — for CBS, Paramount Global’s national broadcast network, people who spoke to CNBC suggested. Bailing on the hour would save CBS millions on content costs. Local affiliates would welcome gaining the hour as a way to boost advertising revenue.
During a 2022 CNBC interview, Shell confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that he was considering ceding the hour to local affiliates to shift resources from linear broadcast TV toward streaming.
“If we’re being prudent operators, which we try to be, if you’re allocating a bunch of resources to one side of the business, you have to look at the allocation of resources to another,” Shell told CNBC’s David Faber at the time. “We make a lot of money at 10 o’clock. We still have a lot of viewers at 10 o’clock. There’s no question throughout the day as linear declines, you’re going to have to make some tradeoffs, and we’ll be looking at that as our investors would want us to look at.”
The 10 p.m. hour on broadcast networks still serves as a time slot for scripted dramas — a genre that’s largely gone to streaming and, in turn, has seen ratings struggle on traditional TV. CBS’ 10 p.m. programming includes “NCIS: Origins,” “FBI: Most Wanted,” “Elsbeth,” and “Blue Bloods,” which is in its 14th season.
Paramount Global co-CEO George Cheeks, who runs CBS, told Deadline in late 2022 that he was “committed to 10 p.m. and continuing our ratings success in that time period.”
Shell ultimately backed off giving up 10 p.m. for NBC after weighing the potential fallout with Hollywood creatives and agents, according to people familiar with the matter. Such a move at NBCUniversal would risk ruining relationships with TV titans such as “Law & Order” creator Dick Wolf, whose shows have occupied the 10 p.m. hour on NBC for years and have created a deep library for NBCUniversal’s flagship streaming service, Peacock. Irritating Hollywood would have run counter to Shell’s strategy to increase Peacock’s content catalog, as NBCUniversal needed strong relationships to fuel the service with new programming.
Wolf’s shows were also significant moneymakers for NBCUniversal, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal, speaks to the media at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, July 7, 2021.
Kevin Dietsch | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Ceding the 10 p.m. hour would also have negatively affected the ratings of NBC’s storied late night show, “The Tonight Show.” CBS’ late night show, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” is consistently the top-rated late night show, which could naturally give Shell pause on moving away from 10 p.m. once he’s overseeing Paramount assets.
Still, all of the late night shows are losing audience, and a downsizing has already begun across the genre. Shell may feel it’s finally time to pull the rip cord.
He is clearly aware that the status quo of linear TV needs to change.
“Obviously a big chunk of the company is in the linear world, and we know that linear is challenged and declining,” Shell said during the July conference call. “I think a lot of us in the business know, we have got to run these businesses in a different way as they decline. And so, we’ve spent a lot of the last few months really building a bottom-up plan, and our goal is to manage the businesses, particularly the linear businesses, for cash flow generation.”

Streaming partner

Shell is also likely to examine the content windowing strategy at Paramount, he said in July. That could mean Shell has a desire to tier Paramount+ differently, with some popular content available on more expensive tiers, perhaps ad-free, that shift to less expensive tiers, including free ad-supported Pluto, over time.
“I’m a big believer in windowing strategy, and I think there’s maybe a more efficient way to maximize the value of our content, and we’ll continue to be in the DTC [direct-to-consumer] business,” Shell said during the July conference call.
Some media analysts, such as LightShed Partners’ Rich Greenfield, have argued Paramount Global should shut down Paramount+ and instead license Paramount content to other streamers with more scale. Paramount+ has consistently lost money since its inception and won’t be profitable until 2025, the company has previously said.
That doesn’t appear to be in Ellison and Shell’s playbook for Paramount. The two have expressed their desire to partner Paramount+ with another streamer to add scale and content to the service, either through a merger or a bundle. Paramount Global has already held talks with a number of media companies about partnering on streaming, including NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery.
“To be a winner in [streaming] really means being in the ultimate bundle that’s coming,” Shell said during the July conference call. “We’ve had a bunch of inbound calls from a number of people about partnerships that could involve a partnership with another player or players.”
At NBCUniversal, according to people familiar with his thinking, Shell privately pushed the benefits of merging with another content company — again, something that never happened.
He spoke up in meetings about the benefits of merging with Viacom, WarnerMedia and even Netflix to ensure Peacock would have staying power against larger streaming services, according to people who heard him speak.
Ultimately, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts decided the moves weren’t in the best interest of shareholders or that it was too difficult to gain regulatory approval for them, though Roberts nearly approved a deal in 2022 for NBCUniversal to merge with video game developer Electronic Arts — a deal that, according to people familiar with the matter, would have seen Shell lose his job as NBCUniversal CEO. That role would have gone to EA CEO Andrew Wilson, the people said.

Jeff Shell, Chairman of Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, and Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, seen at Universal Pictures “Sing” after party at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016, in Toronto.
Eric Charbonneau | Invision for Universal Pictures | AP

Changing cable

Without a big merger, Shell pushed for NBCUniversal to flood Peacock with content, especially during the height of pandemic lockdowns, when Wall Street appeared to be heavily valuing media companies on their streaming subscriber numbers. He argued NBCUniversal should put most of its cable programming on Peacock, including regional sports networks, or RSNs, according to people familiar with the matter.
Again, other executives talked him out of being too aggressive, arguing the company’s existing pay TV distribution relationships would be harmed if NBCUniversal made that content available outside the cable bundle, according to the people. Geolocation technology issues around regional sports also would have made the inclusion of RSNs difficult, the people said.
While NBCUniversal has moved toward including more cable programming on Peacock, including hit Bravo franchises such as “The Real Housewives” and “Below Deck,” it has kept RSNs and news networks MSNBC and CNBC separate.
One of Shell’s big decisions at Paramount will be what to do with a handful of cable channels that have effectively turned into zombie networks, largely airing reruns of the same shows to avoid spending on new content. This includes MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central.
Shell wanted to combine some NBCUniversal cable networks to cut costs and push back on dwindling revenue, people familiar with the matter said, but ultimately decided not to.
Shell also had ideas that didn’t come to fruition about changing programming on some of NBC’s cable networks. He initially wanted CNBC to adopt what he described to others as a center-right primetime lineup, according to people familiar with the discussions at the time.
Then-CNBC chief Mark Hoffman argued the idea didn’t make sense for the network’s brand and likely wouldn’t have much of an audience, and Shell backed down, the people said. CNBC did hire former Fox News anchor Shepard Smith in 2020 to anchor a prime-time show that was canceled in 2022 just months after Hoffman retired. Hoffman declined to comment for this story.
One of Shell’s first accomplishments upon taking the NBCUniversal job was to renew the network’s “Sunday Night Football” deal with the NFL, and one of the last things he did was support NBC Sports moving forward with a bid for NBA rights if it got an opportunity, according to people familiar with the matter. NBC did get the chance to bid, and it’s bringing back NBA games beginning in 2025 after agreeing to pay about $2.45 billion per season to the league.
Both Shell and Ellison touted the importance of CBS Sports during their July conference call. When Paramount laid off hundreds of employees in September, none of them were part of CBS Sports, according to a person familiar with the matter.
CBS owns a Sunday afternoon package of NFL games, part of NCAA March Madness, Big Ten football, UEFA Champions League, and The Masters, among other sports. It wouldn’t be surprising if Shell migrates away from CBS entertainment programming toward sports, even in prime time, if those opportunities present themselves.
Disclosure: Comcast’s NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
WATCH: Skydance has to prove over time it can change the future trajectory of Paramount More

Young wealthy donors are more likely to volunteer, fundraise and act as mentors for charitable causes than just give money, according to a survey from Bank of America Private Bank.
Some of the differences between generations may be rooted in life cycles and wealth.
But the implications of the generational shift in giving will be profound for wealth advisors and nonprofits, advisors say.

Solstock | E+ | Getty Images

A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high-net-worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
Wealthy millennials and Gen Zers are redefining the world of charitable giving, seeing themselves more as activists than donors, according to a new study.

Wealthy donors under the age of 43 are more likely to volunteer, fundraise and act as mentors for charitable causes rather than just give money, according to a new survey from Bank of America Private Bank. The survey of more than 1,000 respondents with more than $3 million in investible assets also found that young philanthropists want more public attention for their giving compared to Gen Xers and baby boomers.
The shift in the way the next generations give, as well as the causes they favor, is likely to remake the charitable landscape. Rather than simply writing checks to causes they care about, the next generation of givers wants to be deeply involved in trying to fix the biggest social and environmental problems.
“They view themselves as holistic social change agents,” said Dianne Chipps Bailey, managing director and national philanthropic strategy executive for philanthropic solutions at Bank of America Private Bank. “I think they have a better sense of agency in this world. They’re really looking to move their capital in a much more comprehensive robust way to achieve their social impact goals.”

Get Inside Wealth directly to your inbox

Both younger and older multi-millionaires are highly charitable. According to the study, 91% of the respondents had given to charity in the past year. More than two-thirds of both older and younger respondents said they are motivated by “making a lasting impact.”
Yet their reasons for giving and their methods vary widely by age. Donors under the age of 43 are slightly more likely to volunteer and are twice as likely to help raise charitable donations from friends or peers rather than just giving directly. They’re  more than four times as likely to act as mentors. And they’re more interested in serving on nonprofit boards rather than limiting their contributions to capital.

Older donors give from of a sense of responsibility. Those over the age of 44 were more than twice as likely to give due to “obligation” than younger donors. Those under 43 were more likely to cite self-education and the influence of their social circle as drivers of their philanthropy.
Some of the differences between generations may be rooted in life cycles and wealth. The younger wealthy are still building their fortunes and inheriting their wealth, so they’re more likely to give their time and help fundraise. Still, Bailey said the focus on peer networks and activism will likely endure even as they get older and wealthier.
“You can think of philanthropy as the five T’s – time, talent, treasure, testimony and ties,” she said. “The older generation is focused on the treasure (giving funds). The younger generations are leaning into the other four.”
The young wealthy also support different causes. They’re twice as likely to support efforts related to homelessness, social justice, climate change and the advancement of women and girls. Philanthropists over 44 were far more likely to support religious organizations, the arts and military charities.

“When you think about what [the younger generation] has been through in recent years, 2020, where they saw it all exposed, they’re leaning into the response,” Bailey said. “And it’s sustained. So many people move their giving with the headlines, but they’ve really dug in deeply. It’s not a moment but a movement.”
The implications of the generational shift in giving will be profound for wealth advisors and nonprofits, advisors say. Since many younger donors inherited their wealth, they’re far more likely to use giving vehicles created by their family. They were more than four times more likely to use charitable trusts, family foundations and donor advised funds.
Bailey said the next generation wants to talk about philanthropy as part of an initial discussion with a wealth advisor — even before talking about their investment plan.
“They have a hunger to know more, to learn more about philanthropy,” Bailey said. “They’ve already got these complex [giving] vehicles at the ready, so the education piece is critical both for nonprofits and for the advisors.”
With charity increasingly dominated by wealthy donors, and with the next generations expected to inherited over $80 trillion in the coming decades, courting the young rich will be critical.
“You need their perspective and you’re going to need their money,” Bailey said.
Advisors to the young rich also need to be generous with their praise. Younger donors are more than three times more likely to gauge the success of their philanthropic efforts by public recognition, according to the survey. Nearly half say they are likely to associate their names with their philanthropic efforts, while more than two-thirds of older donors give anonymously.
“Praise them, celebrate them, give them visibility,” she said.
Just don’t call them “philanthropists.” A report from Foundation Source found that 80% of young donors want to be seen as “givers,” while 63% also like the terms “advocate” or “changemaker.” Only 27% accepted the label of “philanthropist.” More

Delta’s president said traditional spikes in Europe bookings for July and August are becoming less pronounced.
Other carriers have shifted their schedules to maintain shoulder-season European flights well into the fall.
Peaks are occurring in September and October, Delta President Glen Hauenstein said.

A woman uses an umbrella to protect herself from the sun as she passes past the Colosseum during an intensely hot day in Rome, Italy, on July 11, 2024. 
Riccardo De Luca | Anadolu | Getty Images

Summer trips to Europe are getting too hot for thousands of tourists.
Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein said travelers are opting out of flying to Europe during the traditional summer peak travel season. Instead, they are shifting trips to cooler months, a trend that airline officials have been noticing over the past couple of years as consumers look to escape crowds and record heat of popular destinations.

“The weather in Europe in August is really hot, and that people who have choices when they can take their vacations are moving into let’s call it more temperate months,” Hauenstein said Thursday on an earnings call. Corporate [travel] we haven’t seen much change year over year but it’s continuing to shift travel to Europe in particular from July and August peak to a September and October peak.”
Summer this year in the Northern Hemisphere was the hottest on record, according to the European Union’s climate monitor.

Read more CNBC airline news

Airlines have been extending robust trans-Atlantic schedules through much of the fall to cater to the shifting patterns.
“What we’re doing at United is we’re extending the season,” Patrick Quayle, United Airlines’ senior vice president of global network planning and alliances, said in an interview earlier this year.
He said the carrier opted to begin some European routes in March and April this year and will fly some of them through late October and early November. “What we’re seeing is, more and more, travelers are going in those shoulder seasons where you can get a bit more value, and I think the weather’s a bit better,” he added.

Don’t miss these insights from CNBC PRO More

MASAYOSHI SON is a man of contrasting superlatives. At the height of the dotcom bubble in early 2000 the Japanese technology mogul was briefly the world’s richest person, before losing $77bn in paper wealth, more than anyone before. In 2021 SoftBank Group, his telecoms-and-software conglomerate turned investment powerhouse, reported the biggest annual net profit in the history of Japan Inc, followed a year later by the second-biggest loss. His $20m wager in 2000 on Alibaba, a tatty online marketplace that grew into China’s mightiest e-emporium, counts as one of the best in the annals of venture capital (VC); his later $16bn punt on WeWork, an office-rental startup with tech pretensions, is an all-time dud. He has been called a “genius” and “dumb money”. More

.css-1f0x4sl{color:var(–ds-color-london-5);font-family:var(–ds-type-system-serif);font-weight:400;font-size:var(–ds-type-scale-1);line-height:var(–ds-type-leading-lower);}.css-1f0x4sl del,.css-1f0x4sl s{-webkit-text-decoration:strikethrough;text-decoration:strikethrough;}.css-1f0x4sl strong,.css-1f0x4sl b{font-weight:700;}.css-1f0x4sl em,.css-1f0x4sl i{font-style:italic;}.css-1f0x4sl sup{font-feature-settings:’sups’ 1;}.css-1f0x4sl sub{font-feature-settings:’subs’ 1;}.css-1f0x4sl small,.css-1f0x4sl .small-caps{display:inline;font-size:inherit;font-variant:small-caps no-common-ligatures no-discretionary-ligatures no-historical-ligatures no-contextual;line-height:var(–ds-type-leading-lower);text-transform:lowercase;}.css-1f0x4sl u,.css-1f0x4sl .underline{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-underline-offset:0.125rem;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a{color:var(–ds-color-london-5);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-45);text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;text-underline-offset:0.125rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:hover{color:var(–ds-color-chicago-30);-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:focus{background-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-95);color:var(–ds-color-london-5);outline:none;-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-45);text-decoration-thickness:0.125rem;}.css-1f0x4sl a:active{background-color:var(–ds-color-chicago-95);color:var(–ds-color-london-5);-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}.css-1f0x4sl [data-caps=’initial’],.css-1f0x4sl .drop-cap{float:left;font-feature-settings:’ss08′ 1;font-size:3.5rem;height:3.25rem;line-height:1;margin:0.0625rem 0.2rem 0 0;text-transform:uppercase;}.css-1f0x4sl [data-ornament=’ufinish’],.css-1f0x4sl .ufinish{color:var(–ds-color-economist-red);}.css-1f0x4sl [data-ornament=’ufinish’]::before,.css-1f0x4sl .ufinish::before{font-size:var(–ds-type-scale-1);content:’ ‘;}“If you have a dumb incentive system, you get dumb outcomes.” The late Charlie Munger was endlessly quotable, but this pearl of pith from the famed investor is one that every manager should remember. More

A smartphone is a testimony to the power of standardisation. Comprising components from hundreds of suppliers, it can find a signal almost anywhere in the world and connect to a wide array of ancillary devices all because countless companies have subjected themselves to a common set of technical specifications. More