Overture Networks appoints Houck Reed as VP of product management and customer service; Next-gen broadband covers 87.9 percent of the UK

Wireline news from across the web:

@FierceTelecom RT @ CogentCo: We believe in the free and open Internet, with no arbitrary fees or slow lanes. Post | Follow @FierceTelecom

> Next-gen #Broadband covers 87.9 percent of the UK as #FTTH tops 251,000 premises. Article

> Overture Networks has appointed Houck Reed as vice president of product management and customer service. Release

> Hughes Network Systems has become the first company to exceed 1 million active users in North America for satellite Internet connectivity. Article

Cable News
> Northwestern University students will have access to more than 130 channels of free TV streaming beginning in the fall quarter thanks to a partnership the school has entered with Comcast. Article

> Comcast has signed a long-term agreement with Hispanic-centric Univision Communications to carry the Univision Deportes Network to Xfinity TV customers who subscribe to Digital Preferred or Latino levels of service beginning next month. Article

Wireless News
> Apple announced a new mobile payments program called Apple Pay that Apple CEO Tim Cook said "will forever change the way all of us buy things." Article

> Sprint MVNO TextNow, a no-contract service from Waterloo, Ont.-based startup Enflick, announced the launch of its new prepaid brand Touch Mobile. Article

And finally… Iowa Network Svcs: The Smart Home is going to be a huge boon to accessibility. Article