[Commentary] The Federal Communications Commission’s 39% cap on television station ownership may be all that is preventing Fox and CBS from acquiring more affiliates in cities where they broadcast local football games and converting them to owned and operated stations. Fortunately for network-wary affiliates, the current majority at the FCC is not inclined to loosen the cap and it is under little pressure to do so.
After months of getting bashed for treating customers poorly, Comcast said it's going to make improving customer service its "number one priority." But the company admitted that "it may take a few years before we can honestly say that a great customer experience is something we’re known for."
Neil Smit, CEO of Comcast's cable division, wrote that Comcast's customer service hasn't kept up with Comcast's focus on "product innovation," technology, and content. "But this is only one half of the customer experience equation. The other half is operational excellence in how we deliver service," he wrote. "The way we interact with our customers -- on the phone, online, in their homes -- is as important to our success as the technology we provide. Put simply, customer service should be our best product."
[Commentary] Listen up, rural Mainers. The next time your local selectman or legislator knocks on the door asking for your vote, look them in the eye and ask this out-of-nowhere question: “When are you going to build us an on-ramp to the high-speed Internet highway?” And then, if they ask with a blank stare what the heck you’re talking about, tell them about Wired West. It’s a 43-town cooperative in western Massachusetts that is well on its way to bringing fiber-optic Internet service to every nook and cranny of a region that, like much of Maine, is now living in the dark ages when it comes to high-speed, broadband technology.
In 2010, as focal point for information technology management across the government, the Office of Management and Budget’s Federal Chief Information Officer launched the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative to consolidate the growing number of centers. As of May 2014, agencies reported a total of 9,658 data centers -- approximately 6,500 more than reported by OMB in 2011.
GAO was asked to review federal agencies’ continuing efforts to consolidate their data centers and achieve cost savings. The objectives were to (1) evaluate the extent to which agencies have achieved cost savings to date and identified future savings through their consolidation efforts, (2) identify agencies' notable consolidation successes and challenges in achieving cost savings, and (3) evaluate the extent to which data center optimization metrics have been established. GAO assessed agency-reported cost savings and avoidance documentation, interviewed agency officials, and assessed data center optimization metrics against prior OMB requirements and goals. Of the 24 agencies participating in the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, 19 agencies collectively reported achieving an estimated $1.1 billion in cost savings and avoidances between fiscal years 2011 and 2013. Notably, the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Treasury accounted for approximately $850 million (or 74 percent) of the total.
BT has conducted field trials that show it can deliver broadband download speeds of nearly 800Mbps using fiber and copper.
The technology delivers data over fiber from the British telecom's facilities to neighborhoods while using copper for the final meters. Deployments of this sort are less expensive than fiber-to-the-home because they reuse existing copper lines used for telephone service and DSL. Speeds over copper degrade over distance, but BT said it was able to achieve 786Mbps download speeds over 19 meters and 696Mbps download speeds over 66 meters. Fiber and copper deployments can end up sending data over copper for much longer distances, further lowering speed, but BT said that 66 meters and below "encompasses around 80 percent of such connections." It's not clear whether the 80 percent figure refers to BT's existing network, the field trial area, or future deployment plans. We've asked the company to clarify.
[Commentary] On September 23 Comcast and Time Warner Cable submitted to the Federal Communications Commission what’s called “Applicants’ Opposition to Petitions to Deny and Respond to Comments” -- basically, the companies’ answers to filings arguing against Comcast’s acquisition of Time Warner Cable. Back in April, we looked at the companies’ claims that the deal is in the public interest and, more recently, we published a series on what public interest advocates, competitors, and politicians are saying about the transaction. Today we look at how Comcast and Time Warner Cable replied to opposition – focusing just on how they argue the deal could impact broadband services in the US.
Remember Comcast's Streampix service?
Launched in February 2012, it was created to help Comcast compete against streaming video services such as Netflix. But it never caught on -- and thus regulators examining the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger should reject claims that Comcast has an incentive to discriminate against online video distributors [OVDs] like Netflix, Comcast told the Federal Communications Commission. The tidbit was buried in Comcast's 324-page filing with the FCC. Comcast still offers Streampix as a $5-per-month add-on to its Xfinity TV service but has given up on making it a standalone offering. The Streampix mobile app is still available on Apple and Android devices but will eventually be "decommissioned."
Netflix and Time Warner are among at least four companies to receive demands for information from the Justice Department in its review of Comcast’s bid for Time Warner Cable, people familiar with the matter said. The requests advance the government’s review to a new stage and will provide information to the department’s antitrust division about whether the $45.2 billion acquisition is anticompetitive. A civil investigative demand -- similar to a subpoena -- also was received by cable company Charter Communications Inc., one person said. Cogent Communications Holdings, a business Internet provider, said it received one, too. Discovery Communications Inc. was asked informally for information, another person said.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler announced that the following items will tentatively be on the agenda for the next open meeting scheduled for Friday, October 17, 2014:
The Federal Communications Commission doesn't appear to be any closer to making a decision on network neutrality. The FCC will likely wait to make a final ruling until after its last Open Internet Roundtable on Oct. 7, which will focus on theories of legal authority and basis for creating Open Internet rules.
Sarah Morris, senior policy council for New America's Open Technology Institute, explained that from what she has observed, the FCC is moving “full speed ahead,” noting that the FCC has millions of submissions to sift through. “I don't think the FCC is stalling -- this is just the largest docket in the history of the commission, and it will take some time to get all the pieces right in a final Order,” Morris said. Not everyone feels the sheer number of comments filed on net neutrality is what has the FCC taking its time, however.
Michael Botein, professor of law for New York Law School, pointed out that only a small fraction of the commentary sent to the commission was on point. “Since only 1 percent of the FCC comments actually addressed the neutrality issue -- versus other issues from porn to rates -- how concerned, really, are people with the principle of promoting content through preventing or limiting bidding?” Botein questioned.
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