This summer is a landmark period for the evolving Internet in the U.S., with new Open Internet rules being considered by the FCC and a couple of big media mergers being debated. Recently, a few new arguments against the biggest merger on the table -- that of Comcast, the nation's largest cable provider, to the second largest, Time Warner Cable -- have emerged from Dish Network, Netflix, and the response to an Internet outage.
Following the loss of Internet service to millions nationwide early Wednesday, many are now ramping up the opposition to a Time Warner and Comcast merger.
California became the second state to voice its concern about a Comcast-Time Warner merger Thursday, citing concerns about whether it is in the best interest of the customers.
A merger between Comcast and Time Warner now faces another hurdle in the state of New York as advocacy group Common Cause filed a formal complaint with the Public Service Commission (PSC) against the deal going through.
Well, it may not reach the level of "charm," but Comcast is certainly trying to improve the generally offensive reputation it has built over the years, just as the federal government is reviewing its proposed merger with Time Warner Cable.
New York City comptroller Scott Stringer told the New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) Monday that in order for a Comcast-Time Warner merger to go through, the state requires a promise of better Internet service.
Univisión' may be up for sale. As rumor has it, Univisión's private equity owners have been in talks with numerous major media companies, such as CBS Corp. and Time Warner, to sell for more than $20 billion.
Netflix's public disputes with ISPs have lead the Federal Communications Commission to take a look at paid interconnection deals, and a little light is already being shed on the contentious issue of paid peering.
In the wake of news that the Federal Communications Commission had decided to look into the issue of paid peering on the internet, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts took the stage at Re/code's Code Conference Wednesday. Doing his best to talk about anything but broadband, Roberts was forced to give his opinion about the issue.
Some common attitudes in our culture are pretty evident to anyone: Go out anywhere and strike up a conversation about mobile tech and the internet, and you'll discover most people love their devices, but have no love for the companies that provide service to them. This week, the American Consumer Satisfaction Index confirmed everyone's suspicions: we love our smartphones, but hate subscription TV and ISPs.
Comcast Executive Vice President David Cohen has come out against a statement he made earlier in the week about the future of Comcast broadband and data usage caps. While Cohen emphasized that there are "no plans to announce a new data usage policy," the real truth is that you should expect data caps from more ISPs than just Comcast in the future.
The proposed takeover of Time Warner Cable (the nation's second largest cable provider) by Comcast (the first) has attracted criticism and consternation from media advocates, as well as some companies like Netflix and Charter. As of this week, you can Latino television giant Univision to the list of companies that are concerned about the merger.
Netflix has made it very clear that it doesn't think it should have to pay Internet service providers to get quality streaming service to an ISP's subscribers, going so far as to make a case for a new "strong net neutrality" that protects them (and presumably others) from such fees. Nevertheless, the company has made a deal with Verizon for better access.
The public fight over Comcast video streaming fees, its possible Time Warner Cable merger, and Netflix just got more heated. On Monday, Netflix announced it would raise subscriber fees (as predicted, but only for new users), and simultaneously voiced strong opposition to the proposed Comcast buy-out of TWC.
If you're a customer of Comcast cable broadband, you might have noticed an uptick in the streaming quality of your Netflix videos - or at least an end to constant buffering and blocky video. Netflix released data showing that its bandwidth deal with Comcast has boosted average connection speeds in recent months, begging the question: Was it worth paying the toll?
