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+16 +1
FCC And Verizon: There Is A Technical Solution
A minor media brouhaha erupted last week when the FCC Chairman sent a letter to Verizon. The letter inquired about the company’s disclosure of its intent to manage traffic for the heaviest users of its unlimited mobile plan for certain cell sites at times of peak congestion beginning in three months. Verizon responded that its actions are compliant with the agency’s definition of reasonable network management and is necessary to ensure a quality experience for all subscribers on its network.
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+7 +1
New heat map reveals America's hot and cold spots for broadband
A new map of broadband speeds shows which Americans enjoy the fastest and slowest internet connections.
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+5 +1
Tech Companies Praise The President For Speaking Out In Favor Of Net Neutrality
President Barack Obama spoke in favor of net neutrality this week, pushing back against the idea of paid prioritization, which many call Internet “fast lanes.” Following the president’s comments, a number of technology companies joined cultural and privacy groups in praising the American leader.
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+21 +1
Comcast Tells Customer The Only Reason He's Getting Bogus Charges Refunded Is Because He Recorded Call
Most of us have been in this situation, and probably once or twice with Comcast. You’re told by the first person that something is free, then you get a bill for it and when you call to find out why, everyone you talk to tells you you’re up Turd Creek sans rowing equipment. If only you had recorded that first call, right?
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+17 +1
Comcast conveniently forgets “no fees” promise until confronted by recording
Two weeks ago, in the wake of Ryan Block’s nightmare of a cancellation call, Comcast Chief Operating Officer Dave Watson issued an internal memo saying that the recording was "painful to listen to." He exhorted his employees to "do better."
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+18 +1
Comcast Confessions: growing pains of a Goliath
The now-infamous “Comcast Rep from Hell” recording recently sparked a conversation about the largest player in the cable industry, and it’s a timely one: Comcast is in the process of acquiring the second-largest cable provider, Time Warner Cable. Both companies are plagued by low customer-satisfaction ratings.
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+18 +1
Comcast Keeps Customer on Hold Until It Closes to Avoid Canceling His Service
The hits just keep coming for Comcast. It was bad enough when Ryan Block recorded the infamous customer service call from hell and when another Comcast customer showed how Comcast would only refund bogus charges to his account after he revealed to them that he’d recorded a phone call with a rep who explicitly said the charges wouldn’t apply.
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+19 +1
How Verizon lets its copper network decay to force phone customers onto fiber
The shift from copper landlines to fiber-based voice networks is continuing apace, and no one wants it to happen faster than Verizon. Internet users nationwide are clamoring for fiber, as well, hoping it can free them from slower DSL service or the dreaded cable companies. But not everyone wants fiber, because, when it comes to voice calls, the newer technology doesn’t have all the benefits of the old copper phone network.
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+17 +1
The FCC is investigating whether businesses are being overcharged for voice and data service
Government bean counters have given the Federal Communications Commission the green light to find out whether big telecom companies are charging other businesses too much for connectivity. The FCC said Monday that the Office of Management and Budget has approved a long-awaited study of the issue, which concerns the dedicated voice and data connections that link together networks at banks, businesses, universities and even wireless carriers.
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+16 +1
Confused Comcast rep thinks Steam download is a virus or “too heavy”
A Comcast subscriber who wanted to know why his Internet service disconnected when trying to use Steam was offered a bizarre explanation by a customer service representative who had apparently never heard of the popular video game distribution software.
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+18 +1
Comcast allegedly trying to block CenturyLink from entering its territory
CenturyLink has accused Comcast of trying to prevent competition in cities and towns by making it difficult for the company to obtain reasonable franchise agreements from local authorities. CenturyLink made the claim yesterday in a filing that asks the Federal Communications Commission to block Comcast’s proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable (TWC) or impose conditions that prevent Comcast from using its market power to harm competitors.
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+24 +1
US cable giants call on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
The US cable industry called on the Federal Communications Commission on Friday to block two cities’ plans to expand high-speed internet services to their residents.
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+20 +1
Race to gigabit Internet service takes off
Four years after the National Broadband Plan, communities and carriers are deploying next-gen infrastructure that will bring gigabit speed Internet to homes, universities, and businesses.
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+13 +1
How the Government Lowered Your Phone Bill
Federal regulators are feeling pretty good about their decision to scare Sprint away from trying to buy T-Mobile. The two companies never actually applied to merge, but in early August, they abandoned their long-running talks due to obvious resistance from the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department.
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+18 +1
Companies that sell network equipment to ISPs don’t want net neutrality
Thirty-three companies that make equipment used by Internet service providers today called on the US to avoid regulating Internet service as a utility. IBM, Cisco, and Intel signed the letter to US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, along with Alcatel-Lucent, Arris, Broadcom, D-Link, Ericsson, Panasonic, Sandvine, and others.
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+17 +1
The Father of Net Neutrality Is Running for Office—And He Could Win
It’s eight o’clock on a muggy night in New York, and Tim Wu is winding down the worst day of his political career. He’s slumped over a small table inside his unofficial campaign headquarters: the Pushcart, a cafe where you can get slow-bar coffee, maple water, and kombucha.
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+13 +1
Big Cable Wasting Money On Ads That Look Like They're Supporting Internet Slowdown
Today, as you may have heard, is Internet Slowdown Day, in which a bunch of folks are calling attention to the fight at the FCC concerning net neutrality. The basic idea - as you may have seen on this very site - is to host some "spinning wheel" banners, highlighting the kind of internet that we may have to live with if the big broadband providers get their way and are allowed to set up tollbooths online, picking winners and losers based on who will pay the most.
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+36 +1
Snowden alleges New Zealand spying plan to tap undersea telecom cable
New Zealand was preparing to conduct mass domestic surveillance last year, a U.S. investigative journalist said on Monday, five days before the country goes to the polls, provoking immediate denials from Prime Minister John Key. The accusations by Glenn Greenwald were based on evidence disclosed by former U.S. National Security Authority contractor Edward Snowden that Key’s centre-right government planned to exploit amended spying laws to sharply widen domestic spying.
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+7 +1
Netflix refuses CRTC demand to hand over subscriber data
Netflix says it won't turn over confidential subscriber information to Canada's broadcast regulator in order to safeguard private corporate information. The video streaming company was ordered last week to give the data to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission by Monday, along with information related to the Canadian content it creates or provides to subscribers.
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+25 +1
Comcast: Everyone secretly knows our Time Warner merger is good for customers
Comcast today submitted a 324-page response to critics of its purchase of Time Warner Cable, telling the Federal Communications Commission that there is no reason for people to be concerned about the merger.
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