Comcast wins FCC ruling over Liberman"s discrimination complaint

Everything Wrong With Comcast

The FCC has decided in favor of Comcast in a programming dispute with Spanish-language broadcaster Liberman Broadcasting.

The agency ruled, essentially, that Liberman is not a video programming vendor seeking a carriage deal for its Estrella TV. The company is actually a broadcaster, the FCC said, whose signal is carried on broadcast retransmission licensing.

Liberman filed its complaint with the FCC after Comcast pulled Estrella from its program guide in Houston, Denver and Salt Lake City in February. In its discrimination complaint, Liberman accused Comcast of favoring its Spanish-language NBCUniversal assets, Telemundo and NBC Universo.

"While it could be argued that Liberman is engaged in the "production, creation, or wholesale distribution of video programming for sale" to the extent it seeks compensation from Comcast for carriage of its television broadcast stations, it is in fact negotiating compensation for the retransmission of its television broadcast "signal" rather than carriage of the "video programming" contained within that signal," the FCC said in its order.

Liberman said its considering an appeal.

We are disappointed by todays decision from the FCCs Media Bureau, which dismissed LBIs complaint on a narrow technicality relating to standing," Liberman said in a statement.

"Obviously, we disagree with the Media Bureaus interpretation of the relevant statutes. But more importantly, this technical decision in no way absolves Comcast of the underlying wrongdoing of discrimination against Estrella TV as an independent programmer."

In its own statement, Comcast said, "Liberman Broadcastings carriage complaint had no basis in law and was simply an attempt to extract carriage of Estrella TV and fees from Comcast that are in no way justified."

For more:-read this Hollywood Reporter story

Comcast asks FCC to toss Estrella/Liberman complaintComcast/NBCU merger threatening programmer diversity, Public Knowledge and Common Cause sayEstrella TV tells Congress that Comcast is forcing it off the air

Source: http://www.fiercecable.com/cable/comcast-wins-fcc-ruling-over-spanish-language-broadcaster-liberman-s-complaint

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Will Comcast's 2-Gigabit service be priced at $300 a month?

Potentiallypricing this speedy Gigabit Proservice far beyond the budget of the averageconsumer, Comcast published Web pages earlier today that statedthe 2-Gigabitservice would cost$299 a month for subscribers. Spotted by DSLReports first, Comcast quickly removed the pages that outlined the proposed service costs. The company then released a statement that indicated pricing, including introductory and promotional rates, are still being considered.

Interestingly, the leaked pricing is actually cheaper thanComcasts current top tier 505 plan, a505 Mbps service plan that costs $399.95 a month. Of course,getting that505 Mbpsservice installedcosts$250 in addition to another $250 fee for service activation. On top of those charges, the subscriber also has to commit to a 3-year contract period that includes an early termination fee of $1,000 if the contract is broken.

Comcast is expected to launch the Gigabit Pro service inAtlanta first and make itavailable toapproximately 18 million households before the end of the year. Regarding competition, Google is also launching Google Fiber in Atlanta. As that service rolls out, pricing will likely be similar to other cities with Googles 1-GigabitFiberservice priced at $70 per month.

There are no data caps on Google Fiber or theproposedGigabit Pro service from Comcast. Facing competition from other cable companies, c*x recently raised data caps dramatically for all subscribers. The companys most popular50 Mbps plan has been increased from a 250GB data cap to 350GB per month. The 100 Mbps plan has increased from 300GB a month up to 700GB and the150 Mbps tier skyrocketed from 400GB a month up to 2terabytes of data per month. c*x is also working to launch a GigaBlast service in several markets in order to increase download speeds for consumers.

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/comcast-2-gigabit-service-300-a-month/

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Comcast Announces 21 Executive Promotions

Both Comcast Cable and Comcast Corp. announced executive promotions across a number of departments Monday (March 30).

A total of 21 executives received new job titles. Comcast Cable's promotions were at the senior vice president and executive vice president levels in its customer experience, consumer services group, technology and product, enterprise and platform services, government affairs, sales and marketing, and legal departments. Comcast Corp.'s, meanwhile, were at the vice president level in its administration, federal government affairs, legal and strategic intellectual property departments and its assurance and advisory team.

The No. 1 U.S. MSO elevated 13 executives.

Charlie Herrin has been named EVP of customer experience. He most recently led the design team behind the X1 Platform.

Within the consumer services group, Matthew Strauss has been promoted to EVP and general manager, Video Services; and Daniel Herscovici has risen to SVP and GM, Xfinity Home. Strauss previously led Comcast's multiplatform video strategy and oversaw growth in transactional and online video revenue. Herscovici

In Comcast Cable's technology and product, Jan Hofmeyr has been promoted to SVP, X1 Platform; Bridget Kimball has been named SVP, software development & engineering; and Rick Rioboli has become SVP, Comcast Metadata Products and Search Services (CoMPASS). The engineering and platform services group elevated Sherita T. Ceasar to SVP, national video deployment engineering.

In the government affairs department, Klayton Fennell and Rick Smotkin were each elevated to SVP, while Michael Brady was promoted to SVP, state regulatory affairs.

Clem Cheng has been promoted to SVP of human resources for the sales and marketing group; and Kathryn Koles and David Marcus have each been named SVP and deputy general counsel within the legal department.

On the corporate side, Comcast promoted eight people to vice president.

Deborah Buhles was promoted to VP, administration, reporting to administration SVP Karen Buchholz.

Catherine Gray and Anthony DeShan were each elevated to VP on the Comcast assurance and advisory team, reporting to Cynthia Hook, SVP, general auditor and global risk officer.

Juan Otero has risen to VP, federal government affairs, reporting to Melissa Maxfield, SVP.

In the corporate legal department, Matthew Fradin and Derek Squire have each been promoted to VP and senior deputy general counsel, reporting to Marc Rockford, who holds the same position. Brian Rankin has become a VP and senior deputy general counsel reporting to Lynn Charytan, SVP of legal regulatory affairs and senior deputy general counsel.

Mark Dellinger was promoted to VP, strategic intellectual property, reporting to James Finnegan, SVP of the group.

Source: http://www.multichannel.com/news/cable-operators/comcast-announces-21-executive-promotions/389286

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New homeowner selling house because he can't get Comcast Internet

One unluckyman who bought a house that can't get wired Internet service is reportedly selling the home just months after moving in.

Seth, a software engineer who works at home, bought a house in Kitsap County, Washington, after being told by multiple Comcast employees that he could buy the Internet service he needs to do his job, according to a detailed Consumerist articleyesterday. Seth also wrote a lengthy account on his blogtitled, "Its Comcastic, or: I Accidentally Bought a House Without Cable." (The man's last name was not given.)

"Before we even made an offer [on the house], I placed two separate phone calls; one to Comcast Business, and one to Xfinity," Seth wrote. "Both sales agents told me that service was available at the address. The Comcast Business agent even told me that a previous resident had already had service. So I believed them."

That turned outto be untrue. After multiple visits from Comcast technicians, he says the company told him extending its network to his house would cost $60,000, of which he would have to pay an unspecified amount. But then Comcast allegedly pulled the offer.

"After about seven weeks of pointless install appointments, deleted orders, dead ends, and vague sky-high estimates, Comcast told him that it had decided to simply not do the extension," according to the Consumerist story. "The company wouldnt even listen to Seths offers to pay for a good chunk of the cost."

We contacted Comcast to get more details last night but haven't heard back.

After getting nowhere with Comcast, Seth tried getting DSL Internet from CenturyLink, which told himit could provide service of up to 10Mbps.

"After that very first Comcast tech told Seth there was no cable infrastructure to his house, he contacted CenturyLink. The company promised to get him hooked up right away," Consumerist wrote. "But then the next day he got a call informing him that his area was in 'Permanent Exhaust' and that CenturyLink wouldnt be adding new customers. Of course, that didnt stop CenturyLink from billing Seth more than $100 for service he never received and will never be able to receive. Seth then had to convince someone with CenturyLinks billing department to zero out the account that should have never been opened."

Besides Comcast and CenturyLink, theKitsap Public Utility District operates a gigabit fiber network that passes near Seth's house, Consumerist wrote. "So why cant he just get his service from the county?Because Washington is one of the half-dozen states that forbids municipal broadband providers from selling service directly to consumers," the article said.

Nationwide, about 20 states impose limits on municipal broadband in order to protect private Internet providers from competition. The Federal Communications Commission voted to preempt such lawsin Tennessee and North Carolina after receiving petitions from municipal providers in those states but is facing a lawsuit over the decision.

Consumerist reporter Chris Morran contacted both Comcast and CenturyLink but was unable to get a satisfactory answer about Seth's case, he wrote.

"Even though Comcast was given weeks to research and comment on Seths story, the company has yet to provide Consumerist with a statement or explanation of how it could not only fail to keep an accurate accounting of serviceable addresses, but why it continued to send tech after tech to do installs that couldnt be done," Morran's article states.

CenturyLink provided Consumerist a short statement: "We researched the issue and found that there was an error in our system, which we are updating.

"That was two days ago, and yet as of right now the CenturyLink website still says Seths address can get broadband service," Morran wrote.

To get his work done, Seth wrote that he is using a Verizon Wireless mobile hotspot that is "frightfully expensive and has a 30GB per month cap...When I want to download a big file, like an OS update or a VM image for work, I go to the local Starbucks. Their Wi-Fi is great."

Seth could get satellite service, but his work requires a VPN connection, which would be unreliable with satellite's high latency.

While Comcast, the country's biggest cable company, tells the federal government it faces so much competitionthat it should be allowed to merge with the second biggest cable operator, agovernment database designed to tell consumers what options they have for Internet service is offering inaccurate information.

The National Broadband Maplets you enter any address in the US to find out what Internet accessoptions are available. The database shows 10 options at Seth's house, including mobile and satellite, but they're all eitherinadequate for home Internet service or unavailable. One of the 10 options is that fiber network that residents cannot use.

"Im devastated. This means we have to sell the house," Seth wrote. "The house that I bought in December, and have lived in for only two months."

Source: http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/03/new-homeowner-selling-house-because-he-cant-get-comcast-internet/

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New homeowner selling house because he can't get Comcast Internet

One unluckyman who bought a house that can't get wired Internet service is reportedly selling the home just months after moving in.

Seth, a software engineer who works at home, bought a house in Kitsap County, Washington state after being told by multiple Comcast employees that he could buy the Internet service he needs to do his job, according to a detailed Consumerist articleyesterday. Seth also wrote a lengthy account on his blogtitled, "Its Comcastic, or: I Accidentally Bought a House Without Cable." (The man's last name was not given.)

"Before we even made an offer [on the house], I placed two separate phone calls; one to Comcast Business, and one to Xfinity," Seth wrote. "Both sales agents told me that service was available at the address. The Comcast Business agent even told me that a previous resident had already had service. So I believed them."

That turned outto be untrue. After multiple visits from Comcast technicians, he says the company told him extending its network to his house would cost $60,000, of which he would have to pay an unspecified amount. But then Comcast allegedly pulled the offer.

"After about seven weeks of pointless install appointments, deleted orders, dead ends, and vague sky-high estimates, Comcast told him that it had decided to simply not do the extension," according to the Consumerist story. "The company wouldnt even listen to Seths offers to pay for a good chunk of the cost."

We contacted Comcast to get more details last night but haven't heard back.

After getting nowhere with Comcast, Seth tried getting DSL Internet from CenturyLink, which told himit could provide service of up to 10Mbps.

"After that very first Comcast tech told Seth there was no cable infrastructure to his house, he contacted CenturyLink. The company promised to get him hooked up right away," Consumerist wrote. "But then the next day he got a call informing him that his area was in 'Permanent Exhaust' and that CenturyLink wouldnt be adding new customers. Of course, that didnt stop CenturyLink from billing Seth more than $100 for service he never received and will never be able to receive. Seth then had to convince someone with CenturyLinks billing department to zero out the account that should have never been opened."

Besides Comcast and CenturyLink, theKitsap Public Utility District operates a gigabit fiber network that passes near Seth's house, Consumerist wrote. "So why cant he just get his service from the county?Because Washington is one of the half-dozen states that forbids municipal broadband providers from selling service directly to consumers," the article said.

Nationwide, about 20 states impose limits on municipal broadband in order to protect private Internet providers from competition. The Federal Communications Commission voted to preempt such lawsin Tennessee and North Carolina after receiving petitions from municipal providers in those states, but is facing a lawsuit over the decision.

Consumerist reporter Chris Morran contacted both Comcast and CenturyLink but was unable to get a satisfactory answer about Seth's case, he wrote.

"Even though Comcast was given weeks to research and comment on Seths story, the company has yet to provide Consumerist with a statement or explanation of how it could not only fail to keep an accurate accounting of serviceable addresses, but why it continued to send tech after tech to do installs that couldnt be done," Morran's article states.

CenturyLink provided Consumerist a short statement: "We researched the issue and found that there was an error in our system, which we are updating.

"That was two days ago, and yet as of right now the CenturyLink website still says Seths address can get broadband service," Morran wrote.

To get his work done, Seth wrote that he is using a Verizon Wireless mobile hotspot that is "frightfully expensive and has a 30GB per month cap...When I want to download a big file, like an OS update or a VM image for work, I go to the local Starbucks. Their Wi-Fi is great."

Seth could get satellite service but his work requires a VPN connection, which would be unreliable with satellite's high latency.

While Comcast, the country's biggest cable company, tells the federal government it faces so much competitionthat it should be allowed to merge with the second biggest cable operator, agovernment database designed to tell consumers what options they have for Internet service is offering inaccurate information.

The National Broadband Maplets you enter any address in the US to find out what Internet accessoptions are available. The database shows 10 options at Seth's house, including mobile and satellite, but they're all eitherinadequate for home Internet service or unavailable. One of the 10 options is that fiber network that residents cannot use.

"Im devastated. This means we have to sell the house," Seth wrote. "The house that I bought in December, and have lived in for only two months."

Source: http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/03/new-homeowner-selling-house-because-he-cant-get-comcast-internet/

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