This week, the American Cable Association urged the FCC to take a better look at “forced bundling.” Three independent programmers joined with the association that represents small- and medium-sized operators to say the practice is the ”single most important obstacle to a thriving marketplace for independent programming.” “The record so far reveals the widespread agreement…
American Cable Association and Independent Programmers Ask FCC to Address Channel Unbundling ASAP
On Thursday, the American Cable Association and three independent programmers put out a statement urging the FCC “to address the harms associated with channel bundling, an industry practice where large, powerful programmers require smaller multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) to clog their systems with unpopular channels in order to carry channels actually desired by consumers.”…
Report Suggests that FCC’s Business Broadband Proposal Would Discourage Investments in Fiber
A new report by a former FCC senior economist states that the FCC business data services proposal could cause “significant harm” to future broadband investment, particularly in rural communities, with new price cap regulations. “Given the huge potential impacts of the proposed price regulation of business data services — billions in lost revenue for providers, curtailed investment…
FCC Business Broadband Proposal Contested by Telco Coalition
CenturyLink, Cincinnati Bell, Consolidated Communications, FairPoint Communications, and Frontier Communications announced they’re combining efforts under the “Invest in Broadband for America” coalition, by together charging that the FCC’s recent proposal is “sweeping and questionable” regarding special access market and incumbent providers. Last month, AT&T filed a motion to strike what it called the “irretrievably flawed”…
Comcast to Pay $26 Million To California for Electronic Waste
Comcast has reached a settlement with California over the company illegally disposing remote controls, modems, routers, adapters and other waste. The MSO has agreed to pay $25.95 million to California, according to a report in Fierce Cable. “This agreement holds Comcast accountable for breaking the law and puts strict measures in place to prevent them…
Time Warner Cable and Los Angeles Settle Franchise Fee Lawsuit
Time Warner Cable and Lost Angeles have settled a franchise fee lawsuit that has been going on since 2014. Details of the settlement haven’t been released. The city of Los Angeles sued Time Warner Cable, alleging that the cable provider hadn’t paid franchise and other fees from 2008-2011. Time Warner Cable owed close to $10…
U.S. Supreme Court Sides with DirecTV in Arbitration Case
The U.S. Supreme Court announced this morning that it has ruled in DirecTV’s favor in a 2008 arbitration case centered on cancellation fees. The high court, in a 6-3 vote, ruled that DirecTV can mandate that customer disputes need to be handled via arbitration. This overturns a lower court ruling that found that consumers were…
Cablevision Shareholders Withdraw Lawsuits Over Altice Purchase
The lawsuits brought by two Cablevision stockholders seeking to block the purchase of Cablevision by Altice have been withdrawn. The suits, brought in Delaware courts by James Gould and Arnold Wandel, were voluntary withdrawn, without a settlement, according to FierceCable. Here’s an excerpt from the filing: “Because this dismissal is without prejudice as to the…
Ooredoo Picks Metrological Platform for TV App Store
Ooredoo has announced that it has selected Metrological Application Platform to launch and manage its Mozaic TV app store. The app store will go live on Ooredoo’s set-top boxes in Qatar. “We pride ourselves on offering innovative features and world-class entertainment packages that give our customers access to all of their content in one place,”…
SCTE Taps Comcast Executive for New CTO
The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) announced that Chris Bastian has been named as the organization’s Senior Vice President and CTO. “Harnessing the power of new services, maintaining the integrity of our networks and ensuring our customers’ security are among the objectives that will define cable’s future success,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of…
THE BROADBAND 50 – 2011
And now it can be revealed: our Top Guitarist of All Time is … Jimi Hendrix! … No, wait, that was Rolling Stone. (Did anyone expect RS to select anybody other than Hendrix?) Here at CED, the results of our annual Broadband 50 are unpredictable, with a different No. 1 for four years running now.…
CED’s 2011 Pacesetter Awards
The 2011 class of Pacesetter Award recipients represent innovators in a number of endeavors crucial to the competitive viability of cable operators around the world, including business services, optical networking and multi-screen delivery. Multi-Screen Video Technology The recipient of the first Pacesetter ever given for Multi-Screen Video Technology is the multi-screen video team at Virgin…