Items tagged with (NASDAQ:CMCSA)
Several Internet service providers (ISPs) have drawn the attention of the Federal Communications Commission with so-called "zero-rating" offerings, which is the practice of exempting certain services from counting against a customer's data cap. What FCC chairman Tom Wheeler wants to figure out is whether or not zero-rating services run afoul of net neutrality rules. This is a relatively new thing on the part of mobile operators. T-Mobile made waves when it introduced Binge On, which allows customers to stream an unlimited amount of video from over 20 services, including Netflix, HBO Now, Hulu, Crackle, and many others. The video streams are optimized to deliver DVD quality (480p) or better and...
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Comcast CEO Brian Roberts is making good on the company’s ‘Comcast Cares’ policy. For many, however, it appears that Comcast Cares more about its bottom line than about its customers. Roberts made that clear at Business Insider’s Ignition conference after he was asked point blank by the publication’s EIC, Henry Blodget, to respond to customer complaints about data caps. Roberts first tried to dance around the use of the term data caps, stating, “But they’re not a cap. We don’t want anybody to ever not want to stay connected on our network.” In other words, since Comcast doesn’t simply turn of the spigot, so to speak, when you reach your monthly data allotment, Roberts is not comfortable with...
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Comcast doesn’t exactly have a sterling reputation when it comes to customer service or its business practices, and its latest stunt isn’t likely to win it to win it much praise either. Comcast doesn’t take too kindly to its customers pilfering copyrighted media content, so it has taken matters into its own hands by using unencrypted browser sessions to dish out its own brand of Internet justice. If one of its customers is found to be downloading or sharing content that has been flagged as infringing on copyrighted material, Comcast uses a man-the-middle attack to inject a “popup” warning message into your browser in an effort to persuade you from further pursuing illegal activities. While Comcast’s...
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Over the past week, we’ve detailed Comcast’s continued efforts to spread data caps to more of its markets in the United States. Starting December 1st, nine additional markets in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Virginia, will be hit with 300GB monthly data caps. But of course, these same customers have the option of opting for unlimited data, but they will have to pay an additional $35 per month. The assumption was that Comcast was making this move because of “data hogs” that were slowing the network down for others — you know, “The needs of the man outweigh the needs of the few.” However, leaked Comcast documentation which is meant for the company’s customer service staff, tells...
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Comcast sure knows how to rile up its customers. As if the company didn’t have enough issues dealing atrocious customer service, it also hits seemingly random markets with pesky data caps. While some Comcast customers are able to surf the Internet unencumbered, others — like customers in Atlanta, Miami and Nashville — are strangled by 300GB data caps and overage fees if they blow past that limit. After monitoring Internet usage and listening to customer feedback in these three markets, Comcast thinks that it has the solution for customers that routinely use more than 300GB of data per month — charge them a flat monthly fee to upgrade their accounts to unlimited data. So instead of paying $10...
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Comcast earlier this summer announced that some of its Xfinity customers living in the Northeast would see a bump in their broadband Internet speeds at no additional cost, and we can confirm that to be true. As promised, Comcast turned the dial from 105Mbps to 150Mbps at our headquarters in Massachusetts. "We continue to increase our speeds because we know faster Internet and Wi-Fi means you can do more, enjoy more and move along with your day with a bit more ease. So, go ahead – reboot your modem to enjoy your new Blast! Internet with downstream speeds up to 150Mbps," Comcast stated in an email alerting us to the speed boost.The speed increase applies to Xfinity users who subscribe to Comcast's...
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Over the past few months, Comcast has been ramping up its deployments of Gigabit Pro in select markets around the United States. Gigabit Pro, which was first announced in Atlanta earlier this year, offers customers symmetrical 2Gbps speeds, making it twice as fast as Google Fiber. However, Gigabit Pro isn’t for everyone. In addition to hefty startup costs that total $1,000 ($500 installation, $500 activation), Gigabit Pro will set you back a princely sum of $299.95 per month. With that being said, Comcast is looking to bring fiber to the masses and hopefully at a cost that’s more in line with Google Fiber than Gigabit Pro. Beginning in early 2016, Comcast will start upgrading its entire U.S....
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NBC-owned and operated (O&O) stations in San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. are refusing to air an advertisement for Sling TV that paints a poor picture of the traditional pay-TV model. In response, the Dish Network-owned Internet TV provider slammed Comcast, which in turn owns NBC, in a blog post waxing angry over its censorship. "Here's the irony. The refusal to air our campaign endorses the ads' central truth: there are traditional pay TV-players that just don't get it," said Roger Lynch, CEO of Sling TV. "And what is it that they dn't get? Innovation benefits customers. Sling TV exists because we recognize the need for a new live TV model that's simple." The minute-long ad...
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There's no shortage of ways to get games on your TV, but that doesn't matter to Comcast, because it wants to offer one of the more compelling ones. Perhaps it'll be able to pull that off on account of the fact that it's teaming up with EA, a company that knows a thing or two about games. Alright, I'll say it: Comcast and EA are two of the most hated companies on the planet, so to see them team up almost seems like two evil deities teaming up to further ruin the world. But without being snarky, this collaboration does have some high points, all of which are quite obvious from the get-go. Comcast's X1 platform is what makes all of this possible. Up to this point, it's delivered TV and shows, but...
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Google might have sparked the fiber internet wars with its highly acclaimed Google Fiber service for residential customers, but competitors like AT&T, Time Warner Cable, and Comcast have been close behind looking to offer matching (or greater speeds) in the same markets. One competitor that is touting faster speeds — actually, twice the 1Gbps speeds offered by Google Fiber — is Comcast. Comcast’s 2Gbps symmetrical Gigabit Pro was first announced in April for the Atlanta market, and will soon begin expanding to the San Francisco Bay Area, Chattanooga, and parts of Colorado and Oregon. What was unknown up until the point is how much the service would cost customers. Well, we hope you’re sitting...
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Remember Dish Network’s Sling TV service? The streaming service launched to much fanfare earlier this year and secured 100,000 subscribers during its first month of availability. For a price of $20 per month, customers can access nearly twenty channels (including ESPN and TBS, and CNN) with the option to add themed packages like Movies and Sports for $5 each. Comcast is now launching its own service, called Stream, which gives Xfinity Internet customers access to roughly a dozen channels for $15 per month (this is paid in addition to your existing internet charges). The channel lineup will include all the major broadcast channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, etc.) along with fan favorites like HBO. The...
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When it comes to American mega-businesses, Comcast doesn’t exactly have a sterling reputation. Its reputation is quite the opposite in fact, twice earning the top honors in The Consumerist’s Worst Company in America competition. You can blame poor customer service, a lack of humor, and wasting $32 million of its own money on the failed Time Warner Cable acquisition for Comcast’s typically “grinchy” behavior. The behavior also extended to allowing third-party streaming services to piggyback on its Internet connections. While HBO Go has been available for quite some time for the Amazon Fire TV, customers that have Comcast Internet have been unable to access the service. That changes today, as we...
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Comcast customers in select parts of Colorado and Oregon are about to have bragging rights over Google Fiber and AT&T GigaPower subscribers. That's because Comcast has begun rolling out its crazy-fast Gigabit Pro service to residents living in the metro Denver area and Colorado Springs, with plans of also serving parts of Oregon and Southwest Washington.Gigabit Pro is a symmetrical 2Gbps service (upload and download) that's delivered through Comcast's fiber network. It requires the installation of professional grade equipment, and residents have to live within close proximity to the network. While location restrictions can be a little tricky in terms of widespread deployment, Comcast said...
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Comcast is one of only two companies to be voted "Worst Company in America" multiple times, having come away with Consumerist's title in 2010 and again in 2014. The cable giant is aware that it has an image problem, one that largely stems from poor and sometimes downright horrid customers service, and it's going on a hiring spree as part of a plan to change the customer experience. One of the core elements of Comcast's plan is to create 5,500 customer service jobs over the next few years. Comcast hopes that this investment in workers will allow the company to always be on time for customer appointments, which is more than a desire, but a goal it aims to meet by the third quarter of this year....
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With the failed Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger firmly behind it, Comcast gave its customers a digital treat. But whether you see it that way will depend a lot on what Comcast services you and your family or friends use. The new Xfinity Share app is meant to let people record photos or video with their phone and stream them to a TV. More importantly, the app lets you stream live video to the TV over the Internet. (It can’t be long until this feature finds its way in to a horror movie.) Image credit: Comcast “We’re giving our customers the power to share special moments in their lives as they happen,” said Comcast Vice President of Communications Patti Loyack in a statement. “Whether a child’s...
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Still licking its wounds following the spectacular collapse of its bid to acquire Time Warner Cable (TWC), Comcast is refocusing its energy on expanding 2Gbps fiber Internet across the country. Comcast kicked off its 2Gbps Gigabit Pro service in Atlanta, and later in parts of Florida and the San Francisco Bay Area. Gigabit Pro is now expanding to none other than Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was just seven years ago that Comcast threw down the gauntlet, suing the Chattanooga Electric Power Board (EPB) to block the creation of the city’s own fiber Internet and cable TV service. The EPB only took this step after it fought for years to persuade Comcast to improve its Internet speeds. After Comcast...
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Comcast's proposed $45.2 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable hit a brick wall when the Federal Communications Commission recommended what's called a "hearing designation order," a procedural move that tasks an administrative law judge to determine if a merger would be in the best interest of the people. Rather than go down that road, Comcast bailed on the deal, taking a $32 million hit in the process. As to Time Warner Cable, it looks as though Charter may make a run at the cable company.There are multiple reports that Charter is formulating a plan to bid on TWC, and if accepted, it would create a cable giant with 15.6 million video subscribers and 16.4 million broadband customers. For the...
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Had things gone to plan, Comcast would be celebrating the thumbs up by the Federal Communications Commission to proceed with its proposed $45 billion acquisition of Time Warner Cable (TWC). But it didn't go down that way. The merger received intense criticism and opposition from the get-go, and instead of giving Comcast the go ahead, the FCC said the matter had to be settled in court. That prompted Comcast and TWC to throw in the towel and count their losses, all 32 million+ of them. Yes, the telecoms reportedly spent over $32 million lobbying Washington in hopes of approving the merger. And had they lobbying worked, it would have been a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things. But it...
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From the moment the proposed $45 billion Comcast-Time Warner Cable (TWC) merger was announced over a year ago, many consumers were understandably worried about what that would mean for competition in the broadband and TV markets, not mention how it would affect their bills each month. Add that in with the fact that both companies have customer service rating that rank near the bottom and that Comcast is a two-time winner of The Consumerist’s “Worst Company in America” award, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many have been skeptical of the deal actually passing muster with regulators. Thankfully, we started hearing more of the government’s concerns over the past week with sources within the...
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If Comcast and Time Warner Cable have a Plan B, they may want to consider implementing it. Just as was expected would happen, the Federal Communication Commission's staff reportedly recommended what's called a "hearing designation order" to determine if the proposed $42.5 billion Comcast-TWC merger is within the best interest of consumers.A hearing designation order is an undesirable procedural move in which an administrative law judge would ultimately decide on the fate of the proposed merger. And while the FCC hasn't come right out and said it opposed the deal, this can be viewed as a strong sign that it's not on board with the idea of these two cable titans teaming up. This is the same move...
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The opposition to the $45 billion Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger is growing. Late last week, we reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) antitrust division is damn near close to recommending that the deal be nuked. The DOJ’s recommendations could ultimately lead to a lawsuit aimed at stopping the deal in its tracks. For its part, Comcast contends that a merger with TWC would be good for consumers. “There is no basis for a lawsuit to block the transaction,” said Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice last week. Fitzmaurice went on to add that the deal would “result in significant consumer benefits -- faster broadband speeds, access to a superior video experience, and more competition in business...
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It’s funny how a little bit of competition will force a company to wake up realize that its customers have compelling alternative services to consider. We’ve seen that in the past as both AT&T and Time Warner Cable have responded to Google setting up camp in cities across the country with Google Fiber. Comcast even succumbed to the pressure in Atlanta, announcing its 2Gbps Gigabit Pro fiber Internet service in Atlanta (it only did so after Google Fiber was confirmed to be coming to the area). The competition is now forcing Comcast’s hand in the San Francisco Bay Area. The company announced yesterday that its Gigabit Pro service will now be offered in Central and Northern California beginning...
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