In what's bound to start a wave of "me too" from the industry as a whole, Charter Communications has obtained a waiver from the FCC to get an extra year to comply with open access rules for set-top boxes. The rules require cable providers to comply with the CableCARD standard… Continue reading
In a move stunning only in its audacity, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) has demanded that the FCC be gutted and almost all cable regulation be done away with. Among the things they want killed are network neutrality, must-carry rules (which require a basic package) and a la… Continue reading
The market for high-speed Internet is about to get a lot more crowded. DirecTV is looking at forming partnerships with power companies to deploy broadband over power lines (BPL) to its customers. Considering the sky-high latency of pure satellite connections, I can see how they’d be eager to get in… Continue reading
A new survey of customer satisfaction by the American Consumer Satisfaction Index shows that while satellite providers top the list for TV service, the industry as a whole stinks. Cable and satellite providers scored the lowest amongst all industries covered by the ACSI including incumbent phone companies. (There isn't much… Continue reading
City Council Chairman George Stewart is going head-to-head with Mayor Lewis Billings over a proposed million-dollar loan from the city to pay down iProvo's bond debt. While the current subscriber base makes enough to pay operating costs and sustain the network, current revenues don't quite cover the payments on the… Continue reading
Hot on the heels of Sen. Rockefeller's demand for 100Mbps broadband, echoing the sentiments of the FTTH Council, Vermont has passed a so-called "e-state" bill that requires adequate cellular and broadband coverage across the entire state. This is monumental for a rural state where those living outside of cities often… Continue reading
Prepare to have less choice for local phone service. Thanks to FCC rules, incumbent carrier are not required to share their new fiber networks with competitors the same way they shared their copper networks. Considering that upgrading to Verizon's FIOS is a one-way street (no going back to copper for… Continue reading
In two related news stories, cable companies are clamping down further on network control by skirting around the requirements to support CableCARD and force DVR owners to watch ads. In testimony before congress, TiVo has alleged that cable companies are starting to use protocols and signaling that's incompatible with the… Continue reading
Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia wants broadband and he wants it now. He's just introduced a resolution (albeit non-binding) to push for universal 10Mbps access by 2010 and 100Mbps by 2015. Because it's non-binding, it amounts to little more than fist-shaking at providers who've been dragging their feet, but… Continue reading
Comcast's CEO demonstrated a DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem today running at a speed of 150Mbps. It works by building on DOCSIS 2.0 to include channel bonding of up to 4 channels. The real question to be asked is why we need this. Comcast could be using DOCSIS 2.0 with its… Continue reading