OpenVault said it has secured "significant funding" from three small operators -- Service Electric Cablevision, Service Electric Cable TV & Communications and Blue Ridge Communications -- to help it move into the next stage of its development. Terms were not disclosed.

“The Service Electric companies and Blue Ridge share a vision of the connected future and their collaborative approach to working with technology companies is helping to spur innovation that is driving the broadband industry forward,” OpenVault co-founder and CEO  Mark Trudeau said in a press release. “Their investment will bring a new dimension to our long-term partnership, and we’re excited to use the funds to expand our reach and accelerate our growth.”

OpenVault, based in Hoboken, N.J., helps broadband suppliers optimize and monetize their networks. In a press release, the company said the investment from the three cable operators, who are also customers, will help it accelerate growth domestically and internationally, most notably in Europe and Latin America.

“As broadband has increased in prominence, companies such as OpenVault have played essential roles in supporting our delivery of high-quality services,” Blue Ridge Communications and Pencor Services president David Masenheimer said in a press release. “By making a direct investment in OpenVault, we can be financial catalysts to their growth, while providing strategic guidance that can help them align product technology development with industry needs.”

The Law&Crime channel has reached a carriage deal with Blue Ridge Communications, the network said Wednesday.

The Dan Abrams-founded network, which offers live court trial coverage as well as true crime shows and documentaries, adds Blue Ridge to the list of recent carriage deals with Verizon FiOS, Cincinnati Bell, Hawaiian Telcom and Buckeye Broadband to make the network available to more than 23 million customers, according to network officials. 

“Law&Crime continues to diversify channel lineups in a legal and true crime programming genre that remains highly sought-after” said Alex Kopacz, Head of Content Distribution & Licensing at Law&Crime in a statement.. “Our unique content has helped the network stand out and we’re thrilled that Blue Ridge sees this value for their channel packages and subscribers.” 

Law&Crime said it has continued to expand its cable distribution and has been launched by Blue Ridge Communications.

The network, created by legal commentator Dan Abrams and backed by A+E Networks, is now available in more than 23 million households.

In the past 12 months, Law&Crime has gained carriage deals with Verizon Fios, Cincinnati Bell, Hawaiian Telcom and Buckeye Broadband.

Related: Public Defender Buckmire to Host 'Law&Crime Daily'

Blue Ridge Communications serves customers in Eastern and Central Pennsylvania.

“Law&Crime continues to diversify channel lineups in a legal and true crime programming genre that remains highly sought-after,” said Alex Kopacz, head of content distribution & licensing at Law&Crime. “Our unique content has helped the network stand out and we’re thrilled that Blue Ridge sees this value for their channel packages and subscribers.” 

Law&Crime features daily live trial coverage and expert legal commentary and analysis.

In addition to cable, Law&Crime is available over the top via fuboTV, Sling, Philo, Vidgo, Xumo and TV Plus.

Blue Ridge Communications said it will launch subscription video on demand service Amazon Prime Video this weekend to its customers with TiVo set top boxes.

“Our customers have been asking for this, and we’re thrilled to add Amazon Prime Video just in time for the holiday season,” Blue Ridge VP of operations Mark Masenheimer said in a press release, noting that it was about a year ago that the operator launched TiVo’s Experience 4 platform, which integrates other SVOD services like Netflix, Hulu, You Tube and HBO Go.

Blue Ridge TiVo customers will be able to access Amazon Prime original programming like The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Sneaky Pete, BOSCH, Goliath and the second season of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, which begins on Nov. 1.

To access Amazon Prime Video, customers will need to subscribe to Blue Ridge TiVo service, have a high- speed internet connection and a separate subscription to the SVOD service.

Blue Ridge services more than 170,000 homes in northeastern and southeastern Pennsylvania. 

Blue Ridge Communications said it has completed a 12-month project to bring 1-Gig speeds (in the downstream direction) across its service footprint.

Blue Ridge brands its 1-Gig residential service as Dream Gig (the tier delivers up to 1 Gbps downstream, and up to 40 Mbps in the upstream).

For the consumer premises equipment piece of the 1-Gig service, Blue Ridge confirmed that it using Technicolor’s TC4400 DOCSIS 3.1 modem and Arris’s TM3402 eMTA, a DOCSIS 3.1 device with a modem and two voice ports. Blue Ridge also offers a premium whole-home WiFi product, called HomeFi, in partnership with eero.

Per pricing details on the Blue Ridge web site, the MSO offers the standalone version of the 1-Gig tier for $144.95 per month, and discounts when it is bundled with pay TV -- $129.95 per month for subs on Blue Ridge’s Basic+ service, and $135.95 per month on its Broadcast Basic TV offering.

Blue Ridge’s Dream Gig tier has a monthly data allowance of 2 Terabytes. If that limit is exceeded, subs are charged $10 per bucket of 50 gigabytes of data.

Blue Ridge serves parts of northeastern and southeastern Pennsylvania.

Blue Ridge Communications, a cable operator that serves parts of Pennsylvania, is entering the premium whole-home WiFi market through a partnership with eero.

Blue Ridge’s new premium offering, called HomeFi, offers eero’s compact WiFi access points for $5.95 per device (Blue Ridge’s FAQ for the product suggests one HomeFi eero for every 1,000 square feet, or one to two devices per floor). Those access points, which extend coverage in the home, work in tandem with the customer’s cable modem and an MSO-branded app that enables users to manage their home WiFi networks and set up elements such as parental controls.  

Early into the program, Blue Ridge requiring pro installs of HomeFi (with a one-time activation fee of $49.95), but the operator also intends to make a self-install option available, according to John Del Viscio, Blue Ridge’s director of operations.

Del Viscio said the need for a premium whole-home WiFi product was driven by customers that are connecting more and more devices to the network and desire solid coverage in all corners of the home.

“For us, this seems like a natural extension to the product and services we offer,” Del Viscio said, noting that Blue Ridge put several vendors through the paces before picking its horse for HomeFi, but was partially attracted to eero’s performance and ease to set up.

Blue Ridge soft-launched HomeFi about 30 days ago, but intends to ramp up marketing soon via email, TV spots, mailers and other tactics, he said, adding that contractors and service agents have also been trained to support the new offering.

Blue Ridge is also the first announced cable operator partner for eero, which has largely been focused on selling its platform at retail. Eero also has a partnership with Cincinnati Bell whereby the service provider is selling the vendor’s devices at its retail stores.

“With the proliferation of OTT/connected devices and smart-home technologies, Blue Ridge understands how important the WiFi connection is to support their customers’ broadband needs and viewing experiences,” Matt Packard, head of ISP sales and business development, said in a statement.

Blue Ridge initially leased out eero’s first generation hardware, but is now mixing in vendor’s latest wares soon. Eero’s gen-two product set includes the “Beacon,” a more compact access point that plugs directly into power outlets and is equipped with a Thread radio and an LED nightlight.

RELATED: Eero Upgrades, Expands Whole-Home WiFi Platform

With HomeFi, Blue Ridge joins a growing group of ISPs and cable operators that have developed and launched whole-home WiFi products. Comcast, for example, has launched “xFi,” a cloud-based home network management platform and is developing a new line of wall-pluggable WiFi “pods” in partnership with Plume that will extend WiFi coverage in the home.

RELATED: Comcast Leads $37.5M Investment in Plume 

The trend is also opening up opportunities for other vendors, such as Google, Netgear, Luma, Linksys, Arris, and AirTies, which is already working with U.S. providers such as Atlantic Broadband, Frontier Communications and Midco.