comcast – Page 14 – Steve Blum's Blog

Comcast cash and lobbyists grab southern California beachhead

14 April 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, comcast, public policy, time-warner

Money to burn.

Comcast’s acquisition of Time-Warner continues forward, with little apparent notice of the focused but relatively small opposition it’s attracted. That’s thanks in large part to the army of lobbyists Comcast keeps on staff and on retainer to make its case at the local and state level. It’s now redeploying troops from its northern California stronghold to the south, where it would gain a controlling share of the market by adding the Time-Warner systems in the greater Los Angeles area.… More

Opposition to Comcast-Time Warner deal yet to spark a rally

7 April 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, comcast, monopsony, public policy, time-warner

Get ready for a juicy pitch.

The Comcast-Time Warner merger game officially opens on Wednesday when the U.S. senate’s judiciary committee holds a hearing for no immediate purpose except to talk about it. Judging by a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Bob Fernandez, the debate will quickly drop into the snooze zone of economic jargon…

The hearing likely will be a forum for a word most people – cable customers or not – will find unfamiliar: monopsony.

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Broadband grades depend on copper and glass

23 March 2014 by Steve Blum
att, broadband, broadband grades, comcast, ebbc, public policy, regional consortia

Examples of how the grading was done.
The grading system I developed to rate and compare the broadband infrastructure available to communities east of San Francisco – Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano Counties – focuses on primary, consumer wireline networks because those are the base upon which all service is built…

Even wireless systems must connect to wireline networks at some point, usually directly after the first “hop” from a subscriber. Consequently, the level of broadband connectivity in a region is primarily determined by the quality and extent of wireline facilities.

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Golden Bear fiber plan not sturdy enough to survive incumbent challenges

5 March 2014 by Steve Blum
att, broadband, casf, comcast, cpuc, golden bear, public policy, sunesys, verizon

The two thousand mile, $120+ million Golden Bear middle mile fiber network is officially dead. Snaking through the canyons and river valleys of far northern California, the project was touted as a way of bringing fast, inexpensive backbone connectivity to areas far removed from bandwidth-rich regions to the south.

Effectively, backers were asking for 100% grant funding from the California Advanced Services Fund (CASF). Nominally, the limit is somewhere between 60% and 70%, depending on the level of broadband service, if any, that is available.… More

Comcast captures control in California with Time-Warner deal

15 February 2014 by Steve Blum
broadband, casf, ccta, comcast, public policy, time-warner

Time-Warner hands LA to Comcast. Click for larger (but no prettier) image.

Comcast’s tentative deal to buy Time-Warner’s cable systems will have a big impact on the politics of broadband in California, to the benefit of incumbents and the detriment of independent competitors.

Time-Warner is the dominant cable operator in the huge Los Angeles market, while Comcast controls the San Francisco Bay Area, along with Sacramento and Fresno. A buyout would give Comcast control of four of the five major media markets in the state – Cox has most of San Diego, and is a distant number two in the LA area.… More

Comcast's 300 GB cap spreads to Atlanta, but don't worry, it's just an experiment

17 November 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, comcast

Comcast just wants to make it safe for the rest of us.

As the nation’s largest cable operator, Comcast is in a position to play market leader in moving the industry toward standard monthly broadband usage caps and overage charges. Its latest move is to trial a 300 gigabyte monthly limit in the Atlanta market, with a ten buck charge for every extra 50 GB.

Comcast plans to put helpful pop-ups in subscribers’ browsers, to let them know when the end is near…

You will be provided with in-browser and email notifications as you near the 300 GB per month limit, specifically at 80%, 90% and 100% of usage.

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Quiet campaign for Longmont muni FTTH bonds

29 October 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, centurylink, comcast, ftth, longmont, provo, public policy

Cards not on the table yet.

Judging by the lack of ripples in cyberspace, the upcoming $45 million broadband bond election in Longmont, Colorado is not generating a boisterous debate. Granted, it’s difficult to gauge Rocky Mountain political temperatures from beachside in California, but signs of passion, pro or con, are few.

The city’s electric utility published a promotional piece that focuses on the upside of the proposed citywide fiber-to-the-home network and downplays the negatives. The brochure dissembles about the risk to electric ratepayers…

Are my electric rates expected to increase to repay this bond?

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Google says tear down local policy barriers to get faster broadband

28 October 2013 by Steve Blum
austin, broadband, cetf, comcast, ftth, google, kansas city, provo, public policy

No red tape to be seen.

“In Kansas City, my crews don’t wait for inspectors, the inspectors wait for them”, said Milo Medin, the head of Google Fiber. “We work with communities that make it easy for us. if you make it hard on us, enjoy your cable connection.”

Medin spoke last week to organisations funded by the California Emerging Technology Fund at a meeting hosted by Google in Mountain View. His message was that upgrading broadband infrastructure, improving service and lowering costs is an economic driver that should be proactively supported by policy makers and public agencies.… More

Broadband incumbents and local leaders see similar broadband challenge in California

20 October 2013 by Steve Blum
att, broadband, cetf, comcast, public policy, valley vision

You have to bury the lie before you can bury fiber.

Hundreds of thousands of Californian homes do not have access to modern broadband service. Building infrastructure to reach them is a priority for industry, and local and state government. There was wide agreement on both points at a conference held in Sacramento that brought together elected officials and broadband professionals from every corner of California.

The event was organised by the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), with the assistance of Valley Vision, the lead organisation in the Connected Capital Area Broadband Consortium.… More

Provo proves Comcast can offer better service at a lower price when there's no other choice

6 September 2013 by Steve Blum
broadband, comcast, community networks, ftth, google, provo

Comcast’s patron saint.

“You can get much farther with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.”
Al Capone

Comcast guards what it considers to be its turf with a ferocity that makes a Chicago gangster look like a social worker. Now, it’s putting a move on Provo.

As Utah broadband blogger Jesse Harris tells it…

I spoke with one of their sales guys who confirmed that Comcast will be offering a package of 250Mbps/50Mbps for $70 starting in September, but only in Provo.

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