11/05, 6:15pm
Comcast two-tier throttling now active
(Update clarifying timing) Comcast in a new FCC notice (PDF) revealed that it has already begun implementing a new throttling system. The approach is now service-agnostic and will lower the priority of any data packets if a user's cable modem either tops 70 percent of download or upload bandwidth for more than 15 minutes or else is flagged as bogging down the CMTS node, which manages a neighborhood's cable modem traffic.
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10/22, 4:35pm
Comcast launches 4G wireless service at $70
Cable provider Comcast is ready to launch its High-Speed 2Go 4G/3G wireless data service. On the Comcast website, the carrier is advertising the 4G services are available at Bellingham, WA, Portland, OR and Atlanta, GA, with more markets coming soon. It also promises 3G coverage for most of the US.
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10/21, 7:10pm
Service only compatible with Comcast modems
Comcast is continuing to expand its On Demand Online portal for streaming TV shows, although the service will only be available to the company's own broadband subscribers, according to the Associated Press. The web-based content is said to eventually match the on-demand capabilities available through certain set-top boxes.
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09/24, 12:35pm
Time Warner opts for DOCSIS 3.0
Time Warner today became one of the last major US cable providers to offer some form of DOCSIS 3.0-based Internet service. The initial deployment gives customers 50Mbps downloads and 5Mbps uploads for the same $100 monthly rate as similar offerings from Comcast and others. Early service is so far only available in parts of New York City, including Manhattan below 79th Street, parts of Queens, and Staten Island.
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09/21, 11:20am
Genachowski details net neutrality
FCC chairman Julius Genachowski today matched expectations with a formal proposal of net neutrality rules. The official's presentation at Washington's Brooklings Institute detailed a first rule that would bar Internet providers from trying to block apps, content and websites that compete with the company or use a high amount of bandwidth. Traffic regulation would be allowed, but a second rule would force providers to be transparent regarding the methods used.
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09/18, 4:10pm
FCC mobile net neutrality rule on Monday
The FCC is on the verge of introducing a new rule that would ban US cellular carriers from blocking Internet-aware mobile apps, a source from within the government agency claims. The tip claims that Chairman Julius Genachowski will use a keynote at the Brooklings Institute on Monday to provide early details of the rule. The only known detail at the Washington Post is that it would prevent carriers from filtering what users could see and do with online mobile apps.
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09/16, 5:00pm
Comcast to offer TV cellphone, 4G services
Cable provider Comcast on Wednesday announced it would offer its subscribers a service that would allow them to view TV shows on their cellphones. The shows will be delivered via a wireless Internet service, which would require Comcast to provide a voice service and compete with the likes of AT&T and Verizon. Comcast has recently rolled out WiMAX wireless Internet services in certain large US cities under a joint venture with Clearwire.
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08/28, 2:55pm
Comcast wins against FCC
Comcast has achieved a legal victory in its battle against the FCC's limits on the number of subscribers. The commission's regulations aimed to prevent a cable operator from unfairly blocking smaller competitors trying to reach consumers, although the 30 percent cap has been the focus of of numerous lawsuits and criticism.
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08/06, 5:50pm
Comcast DOC 3 Ahead Sched
Comcast today revealed that the rollout of its much faster DOCSIS 3.0 cable Internet service is significantly ahead of its original timetable. The provider told BBR that while it had originally predicted covering 65 percent of its subscribers with the added speed by the end of this year, it now expects to reach 80 percent in the same timeframe. The next area to get a DOCSIS 3.0 upgrade should be made public in weeks, the company said.
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07/30, 10:30am
Time Warner Cable WiMAX
Time Warner Cable has recently reported its earnings for the second quarter, which revealed an unexpected increase in profit of about 4 percent. At the same time, the cable company's CEO, Glenn Britt, told attendees that mobile WiMAX is coming soon from the provider. Britt promised more details are forthcoming, but went on record to say that a mobile broadband network will be released in the fall, naming Charlotte and Dallas as the first cities to get it. Time Warner was an early investor in Clearwire's WiMAX network, along with rival Comcast, and is therefore authorized to resell the service.
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07/23, 4:35pm
HBO On Demand from Comcast
Comcast on Thursday said it will be the first to offer downloads of HBO programs and movies in high definition via its online On Demand service. To access the library, users need to be both Comcast On Demand customers and HBO subscribers. They will then have unlimited access to the HD content, including TV shows such as Entourage, The Sopranos and The Wire, among others. Movies in HD will also be available, including The Dark Knight, American Gangster and more.
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07/23, 11:35am
802 11n WiFi Same in Final
The Wi-Fi Alliance on Thursday said that the final version of the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard should effectively remain the same as it is in the Draft 2.0 spec. The organization says that the test program for the finished version will only have some "optional additions" to support some minor new features. Choosing the conservative approach will result in most Draft 2.0 devices already supporting the final 802.11n format without any changes or even having to change logos.
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07/16, 11:40pm
Comcast mobile app ships
Comcast Cable Communications has released an application enabling users to access their Comcast services such as Digital Voice, Digital Cable, and high-speed Internet from their iPhone or iPod touch. Users can sync their iPhone contacts with their Comcast Universal Address Book and utilize Digital Voice features to view who has called their home, listen to voice mail messages or forward calls from home to the iPhone. The application also includes SmartZone inbox features including a combined email and voice mail inbox, sorting and searching features, and voice mail forwarding.
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07/14, 4:35pm
Comcast adds 17 networks
Comcast on Tuesday announced that its recently-launched On Demand Online streaming video service trial will offer content from 17 more cable networks, thanks to a series of agreements. The new partners include Rainbow Media, Scripps, AETN, MGM Impact and the BBC. The service, accessible via Comcast.net and Fancast.com, should not add any cost for Comcast cable subscribers.
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07/09, 9:40am
Rogers 50Mbps and 802 11n
(Update with more info) Rogers today became the first cable provider in Canada to offer a full-spec DOCSIS 3.0 Internet service and rolled out a special new cable modem to match. The 50Mbps tier more than doubles the fastest service Rogers has had before and matches both the maximum speed of Comcast's service in the US as well as the pre-3.0 service offered by Videotron in Quebec. The company intends to charge $150 per month but with only a modest increase to the bandwidth cap, which climbs to 125GB. An initial rollout is due for mid-August in the greater Toronto area with other areas to come later.
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07/01, 4:15pm
Operators delay Tru2Way
While today, July 1st, was the agreed-upon deadline between cable operators and consumer electronics companies to support the new Tru2Way interactive digital cable standard, it's now learned today that none of the cable operators will meet or come close to this date. The new standard is due to replace CableCARD, and does not require a standalone set-top box, instead being integrated into devices such as TVs, DVD or Blu-ray players from existing electronics manufacturers. While cable companies such as Comcast, Time Warner and Cox Communications will not have the necessary support for the interactive service, execs from Samsung and Panasonic said good-faith effort has been made to deliver on the promises.
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06/29, 3:35pm
Comcast High Speed 2Go
Comcast on Monday marked the launch of its own 4G Internet access in the form of High-Speed 2go [currently a sign-in page]. The service depends on Clearwire's WiMAX network and supplies peak real-world speeds of about 4Mbps downstream anywhere within the coverage range. Like service from Clearwire or Sprint, it's not locked to a particular location and can be had either for mobile use or else as a fixed install at home.
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06/24, 11:45am
Comcast TW TV Everywhere
Cable providers Comcast and Time Warner today launched a new initiative to help accommodate online video with their traditional TV businesses. Called alternately On Demand Online (by Comcast) and TV Everywhere (by Time Warner), the pact will see both develop a non-exclusive system that grants web-based, streaming access to TV shows and movies for a given network as long as the customer already pays for a subscription with access to that channel or show. An authentication system will verify permission, but customers won't need to use an Internet connection from their TV provider to access those shows.
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06/22, 2:20pm
TiVo Rental and TW Rumor
Fresh from a win against EchoStar, TiVo is set to tie directly into pay-per-view systems as well as Time Warner's cable network, according to two sources. The DVR producer is said by Bloomberg to be talking with more than one pay-per-view provider to either allow its recording directly or else to license out the technology for third-party hardware or software. Details are vague, but it would be separate from online-only support for Amazon VOD, Netflix and other services.
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06/22, 10:30am
Verizon FiOS 35Mbps Tier
Verizon today ramped up FiOS with speed upgrades for all its regular tiers as well as the addition of a new middle tier. A new 35Mbps plan offers a balance between more typical speeds and the 50Mbps maximum tier; it also has the same 20Mbps upload speeds as the previous symmetric 20/20 tier and the 50Mbps service; the speed would let it upload an hour-long 720p HDTV show in 20 minutes. The carrier doesn't say how much this version of its fiber optic service would cost but says it's only available in bundles with TV or phone service.
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06/11, 4:10pm
Qwest 40Mbps DSL Soon
Internet provider Qwest is planning to fight off faster cable and fiber optic access with an ultra high-speed option of its own, an insider says. A source within Qwest tells BBR the company is rolling out a VDSL2 infrastructure that resembles fiber-to-the-node and would more than double existing speeds. Downstream bandwidth would be twice as fast at 40Mbps, but upload speed would jump from 896Kbps to 20Mbps on the best possible plan.
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06/09, 5:05pm
Comcast DNS hijacking
An angry Comcast Internet subscriber has written a complaint (caution: may not be safe for work) that alleges the provider is intercepting his DNS requests to other, non-Comcast DNS servers and redirecting them to its own. The author says Comcast takes UDP traffic bound for port 53 on any server and redirects it to their own, making it nearly impossible for users to use different DNS servers, including their own.
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06/09, 1:45pm
Comcast 50Mbps in Wash DC
Comcast today expanded its DOCSIS 3.0-based cable modem service to Washington, D.C. with a price cut to match. The US capital has the same 50Mbps peak downloads and 10Mbps peak uploads as other areas but has had the price of the service drop substantially, down $40 to $100 per month. It's not specified whether the cut applies just to the Washington area or if other regions also receive the price cut today, though a leak regarding the cut said it would apply broadly on June 20th.
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06/02, 3:35pm
Comcast 50Mbps Cut Soon
Comcast is about to launch a major price cut on its fastest Internet access, a leak indicated on Tuesday. Normally $140 per month, it's reported by a source for BBR to be dropping to $100 and will likely do so sometime after June 20th. The cost would apply to those who already have at least one other Comcast service, though Internet-only service would still drop to $116 per month at the same time.
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05/28, 3:05pm
Comcast 100Mbps Soon
Comcast may be on the verge of upgrading its DOCSIS 3.0 cable Internet access to 100Mbps, a rumor says. Currently capped at 50Mbps downstream, the service is said to be getting as much as 40Mbps to 50Mbps more bandwidth "any day now." The source for the Inquirer doesn't say whether existing 20Mbps upload speeds would also get an upgrade or whether the 250GB cap and prices would change from the $140 pre-tax per month for the faster service.
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04/28, 9:45am
101Mbps Optimum Online Ult
Cablevision on Tuesday claimed the title of the fastest cable Internet provider in the US by launching Optimum Online Ultra. By using the newer multi-channel DOCSIS 3.0 standard, the carrier promises a peak of 101Mbps downstream and a still-fast 15Mbps upstream. The service is theoretically twice as fast as Comcast's 50Mbps service and won't have a bandwidth cap, permitting as much use of the service as customers like. An HD video can download in roughly 10 minutes on the network, while a batch of 750 photos can upload in the space of a minute.
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04/20, 10:25am
Flash on TVs, set-tops
Adobe has devised a new version of its Flash animation standard which should allow TVs and other electronics to stream content directly, according to an announcement. Called the Flash Platform for the Digital Home, the technology is now being licensed to OEMs and should ship in products scheduled for the second half of 2009. Some companies which have agreed to support the platform include Broadcom, Comcast, Disney, Intel, Netflix, Atlantic Records and the New York Times.
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04/08, 7:55pm
Comcast enhanced handset
Comcast is set to launch an "enhanced cordless phone" that will offer e-mail, voice-mail, basic web access and a universal address book, according to Cable Digital News. The advanced functionality will be provided in conjunction with the company's VoIP services, using a new Docsis/PacketCable-powered multimedia terminal adapter (E-MTA) to provide the IP-based digital interface to compatible handsets.
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03/27, 8:50am
i.TV 1.4 for iPhone
i.TV has launched version 1.4 of its TV and movie guide for the iPhone and iPod touch. The update provides AT&T U-verse listings for all coverage areas, and more support for Comcast customers, including video-on-demand information and other material. Stability and speed improvements have also been made; the latter cut the start-up time for the app roughly in half, and double active running speed.
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03/25, 4:15pm
Comcast, Cox partner RIAA
Following today's earlier news of AT&T issuing notices to subscribers on behalf of the Recording Industry Association of America who are allegedly involved in illegal file sharing, Comcast and Cox have announced they too are informing Internet users of any potential illegal activities. At the same Leadership Music Digital Summit where AT&T broke its news, Comcast senior VP Joe Waz said the provider has issued two million notices to its clients. Sources at the event said provider Cox is also actively partnering with RIAA on informing and discouraging its customers of their illegal activities.
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03/25, 1:30pm
AT&T issuing piracy notice
(Update with AT&T response)
Telecommunications provider AT&T has confirmed it is working with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by issuing cease and desist notices to subscribers whose accounts have allegedly been involved in illegal file sharing. CNET reported on Tuesday that AT&T senior executive Jim Cicconi broke the news at a digital music conference in Nashville. Both AT&T and Comcast were named as partners in RIAA's fight back in January, which switched from suing file sharers to issuing notices via Internet service providers. The association has other ISP partners, but has not yet named them.
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03/04, 4:40pm
ZillionTV Debut
A new device and matching service from a startup could offer serious competition in online video to larger rivals like Apple and Netflix. ZillionTV's self-titled service will give users a core networking device, known as the Z-bar, that would have no local video storage of its own and would instead stream movies and TV shows online. Rather than following the similarly network-based Roku's model of tying in existing services, however, ZillionTV will offer its own service and let users either buy or rent per title as well as download free, ad-subsidized versions. Viewers will also choose their preferences for ads to provide more relevant content.
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02/20, 2:50pm
Comcast TWC Online TV
Two US cable providers are looking to put their TV programming online in a bid to preserve their business, sources have reportedly told the Wall Street Journal. Comcast and Time Warner Cable are believed to have been in ongoing talks with content providers, such as NBC and Viacom, for a deal that would let subscribers to cable TV packages stream "much" of their available shows online on the web. The selection would be "well beyond" what free online services like Hulu offer.
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02/19, 12:15pm
Rogers 4G in Early 2010
(Updated with Rogers comment) Canadian provider Rogers is not only set to add 4G cellular service to its network but may make it the primary option for Internet access on its network, the company has reportedly said during a call. The company is said to have revealed that its Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network is ultimately ahead of schedule and that its first commercial service will be live with a Vancouver network ready by February 2010, or roughly the same timeframe as similar plans from rivals Bell and Telus as well as Verizon in the US. Much of the second-wave rollout would take place next spring, when the first cellphones using LTE should be ready. The initial Vancouver launch would include just a USB modem.
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02/04, 11:20am
TWC Data Caps Spread
Time Warner during a financial results call today revealed that its experiment in metered data use on its cable Internet service should expand to new areas in 2009. Without entering into specifics, the company's cable chief Glenn Britt says that more cities will be subject to the program, which charges users for usage at fixed intervals up to a 40GB cap. It's unknown whether the feature represents a larger trial or a formal rollout.
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01/30, 5:15pm
Comcast hotspot tests
Internet provider Comcast is performing Wi-Fi hot spot trials near NJ Transit rail stations in the state to grant subscribers access to the Internet on their mobile devices, according to a Friday DSLReports post. The service in these Wi-Fi Hot Zones requires subscribers to sign in using their existing Comcast.net usernames and passwords. The company has confirmed the trials, saying it is gauging user interest and may offer it as an added-value service to its high-speed Internet customers.
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01/29, 1:15pm
Charter 60Mbps Internet
Charter Communications recently announced it will launch the one of the fastest widely available Internet services in the US, capable of delivering 60Mbps download speeds and 5Mbps uploads. Called Charter High-Speed Internet Ultra60, the service will initially be released in downtown St. Louis before expanding to other, unnamed markets. At the same time, the Internet provider says it will upgrade its Charter High-Speed Internet Max service to give subscribers 20Mbps download speeds instead of the current 16Mbps without increasing their monthly rates.
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01/28, 9:30am
ATT and Comcast Help RIAA
Both AT&T and Comcast should be the first Internet providers to give in to the RIAA's monitoring program, according to sources speaking with CNET. Three separate contacts allege that the respective DSL and cable providers have tentatively agreed to forward warnings when the RIAA believes its songs are being shared illegally and would volunteer to punish repeated offenders. These could include user-specific traffic throttling and even suspension or a permanent disconnection after multiple alleged infractions.
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01/26, 4:20pm
Comcast DOCSIS 3.0 expands
Comcast's systematic DOCSIS 3.0 release is quietly expanding, as it was reportedly launched last week in more Chicago suburbs and it is believed the service will become available in San Francisco's Bay Area before week's end. Comcast met its target of bringing 20 percent coverage to its markets by the end of 2008, and is now on its way to update all of its technology to the faster Internet access by the end of 2010. The provider's fast Internet service promises to bring download speeds as fast as 50Mbps to subscribers under its Extreme 50 service plan.
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01/21, 2:50pm
FCC Investigates Comcast
FCC chairman Kevin Martin this week launched a formal investigation into whether Comcast's policies on voice-over-IP telephony are anti-competitive. Making the move the evening before the Obama presidency and his own resignation takes effect, Martin intends for the regulatory body to determine whether Comcast has been favoring data traffic for its own VoIP phone service over that from competitors. Concerns have been raised that the cable provider's service-independent throttling technique is still interfering with third-party VoIP services and reducing their call quality.
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01/20, 3:40pm
MS Pulls Comcast Stake
Microsoft through a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today said it has sold its shares in Comcast. The move pulls about 150.9 million shares out of the cable provider and practically cuts Microsoft's influence in the firm. Reasons aren't given to the SEC for the quick exit, though the news comes just as Microsoft has curbed real estate expansion in an attempt to reduce costs without shedding employees.
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01/19, 1:20pm
Comcast VoIP scandal
Comcast is not treating VoIP traffic as fairly as the law demands, the FCC alleges. In a letter issued by general counsel Matthew Berry and wireless competition bureau chief Dana Shaffer, the FCC notes that whereas Comcast's Digital Voice VoIP service is unimpeded, third-party VoIP technologies remain subject to supposedly "protocol agnostic" bandwidth throttling. The cable provider has an obligation to explain why the disparity was omitted in earlier filings, according to the letter.
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01/13, 2:55pm
Cisco 320Mbps Cable Modem
Network hardware producer Cisco hopes to up-end the home Internet business with word that the company is developing a 320Mbps cable modem. The DPC3212 is one of the first cable modems using the DOCSIS 3.0 standard to crack the 300Mbps mark and does so through a new Broadcom chip that bonds eight cable channels together instead of four to reach the peak speed.
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01/13, 11:40am
Genachowski for FCC
The replacement for current FCC chairman Kevin Martin may be one of the most public advocates of net neutrality, according to separate tips sent to the Wall Street Journal as well as the Washington Post. Those near President-elect Obama's transition team and lawmakers in the US capital reportedly say Obama has chosen venture capitalist, former FCC worker and presidential campaign adviser Julius Genachowski to serve as chairman for the government regulator.
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01/07, 8:40pm
Panasonic 3D HD at CES
At its CES press conference on Wednesday and a day ahead of the show's official opening day, Panasonic North America's CEO Yoshi Yamada announced the company will work on integrating a 3D HD 1080p standard for TVs, kicking off with a 3D Blu-ray disc by 2010. To reach the goal, the company is working with Hollywood film producer James Cameron who is using Panasonic's specialized gear to film his upcoming blockbuster, Avatar, using the 3D HD tech. The company announced it will also launch its Panasonic Hollywood Advanced Authoring Center (PHL-AC) on February 1st.
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12/26, 2:10pm
Comcast faces lawsuit
Internet and cable TV provider Comcast is being sued by its customer, Cheryl Corralejo, for requiring its customer to pay rental fees for its set-top and CableCARD boxes in order to view premium content and not giving them the option of buying them outright. The class-action lawsuit was filed at the end of November at the US District Court for the Eastern District of California and alleges Comcast's practice violates the Sherman Anti-Trust Act as well as business and professional codes.
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12/24, 12:05pm
Lafayette 50Mbps Fiber
Lafayette, Louisiana yesterday revealed that it will soon become one of the first significant US cities to deploy a municipality-run fiber optic Internet connection. Lafayette Utilities System plans to launch the service with a combination of Internet, phone and TV services and will offer them either as part of bundles or as individual options. Internet service tops out as high as 50Mbps both downstream and upstream and will offer more bandwidth still for connections between users on the same network, doubling to 100Mbps.
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12/11, 2:40pm
Comcast 50Mbps at 20pc
Comcast today said that its DOCSIS 3 Internet access has reached about 20 percent of its coverage areas in less than a year through expansion into three new areas. Subscribers in particular areas of Atlanta, Balitmore and Chicago now have the option of using the faster, channel-bonded access with either a 50Mbps Extreme tier with 10Mbps uploads or an in-between 22Mbps Ultra tier with 5Mbps upstream.
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12/05, 10:20am
Verizon FIOS 100Mbps
The speeds of Verizon's FIOS fiber-optic Internet access should double in less than a year, the company's technology head Vincent O'Byrne has said at a media event on Thursday. Although the telco has already boosted its service to 50Mbps US-wide just this past June, its plans now have a trial 100Mbps service expanding to an official service sometime in 2009. The increase will be necessary as many services beyond ordinary computer-borne Internet access, such as HDTVs with direct video downloads and network-attached storage drives, will demand a large amount of bandwidth on their own.
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12/03, 4:30pm
Comcast bandwidth tracker
Comcast will soon provide its subscribers with a tool to monitor how close they are to the 250GB cap imposed by the Internet service provider at the end of August. The online bandwidth meter will be available on January 5th, according to an anonymous tip, and will have a three-hour delay as opposed to real-time monitoring. The meter will retain up to three months of usage records and will allow users to monitor multiple MAC addresses.
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