20 thoughts on “”

  1. “Floated in relation to reclassification of minimum “broadband” speeds.”

    My confusion, even after quickly reading the Verge piece:

    Does this kind of reclassification have any impact whatsoever, beyond just “name and shame”?

    (And it is a great quote, even if it’s coming from an execrable motivation and person…)

  2. The Bandwidth can be figured out even if the power source and method are still unclear
    so yes – I want enough bandwidth to make pizza and such appear in my house in 30 seconds or less…

  3. One comment on the Verge article may have had a good point. By changing the definition they drop a large number of AT&T and Verizon subscribers off of broadband, and increase the percentage of broadband customers using Comcast and TWC. That could have big implications with the merger.

  4. “By changing the definition they drop a large number of AT&T and Verizon subscribers off of broadband, and increase the percentage of broadband customers using Comcast and TWC. That could have big implications with the merger.”

    Exactamundo. You beat me to the punch, as I just discovered that via the FT:

    “The Federal Communication Commission’s decision has big implications for Comcast’s bid for TWC because it dramatically changes the competitive landscape for broadband — a central consideration for regulators deciding whether to approve the deal.

    “The change means the number of American families reliant on a single provider for true broadband services will climb from 19 per cent to more than half. In most cases, that provider will be one of the big cable companies, which have fiercely resisted the change.”

  5. Yeah, so here’s the deal with Mom. Her condo fees include Comcast – I thought it was about 30ish of her total, but can’t recall or maybe I imagined it. She can’t reduce the lineup and it doesn’t seem like there’s an effective way to create a “double play” with Internet for some bundle savings. Included in the condo-negotiated dealio is one free SD STB and two free DTAs if needed.

    She currently has two DTAs in play and I had her call in to schedule the addition of two new HD STBs (at $10/mo each) for each of her new Roku TVs. After calling in, the rep said she already had two SD STBs and he’d have to charge her for the second. So that was the first bit of silliness. She apparently negotiated it down to the cost of a DTA $2.99/mo… which is of course, what she already possess and should be free/included. And then the terminology just confused the crap out of her, so she has no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow. Also the rep didn’t indicate if there would or would not be a fee for the onsite visit – I would think that sort of thing should be communicated.

    After the poor call, I tried to prep her for the visit – she wants to end up with two new HD STBs and she wants the guy to verify her current DTA hardware, including serial number, on the account so the billing is straight. (And if the DTAs really are SD STBs, she’s to trade them for DTAs.) Maybe the timing will work out and I’ll be able to sneak over there. Sadly, I can’t manage the TV portion of her Comcast account online as this bulk MDU plan isn’t available like that and seperated from her Internet account (which I can see online).

  6. “She apparently negotiated it down to the cost of a DTA $2.99/mo… which is of course, what she already possess and should be free/included. And then the terminology just confused the crap out of her, so she has no idea what’s going to happen tomorrow. Also the rep didn’t indicate if there would or would not be a fee for the onsite visit – I would think that sort of thing should be communicated.”

    It’s Comcastic! It’s interplanetary!

  7. I love free association. “Interplanetary” led me to “Intergalactic”, which led me to spin the Beastie Boys’ Hello Nasty.

    And I don’t mean to brag, I don’t mean to boast. But I’m intercontinental when I eat French toast.

  8. Speaking of Mom and Beastie Boys, she chauffeured me and a pal to a concert in the 80s. At some point towards the end she got bored in her car and walked in… and was pretty horrified or maybe amused by the 20′ or however large inflated/inflatable uh phallus on stage. Yeah, I can free associate too.

  9. If it ties into the Comcast/TWC merger and/or Internet-as-a-utility, it could matter. It could also matter if all those service fees and taxes we pay for universal access get pulled in. It also might not matter at all. Most importantly, it’s a highly entertaining industry quote.

  10. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel wants to increase the minimum broadband standards far past the new 25Mbps download threshold, up to 100Mbps. “We invented the internet. We can do audacious things if we set big goals, and I think our new threshold, frankly, should be 100Mbps. I think anything short of that shortchanges our children, our future, and our new digital economy,” Commissioner Rosenworcel said.

  11. “If it ties into the Comcast/TWC merger … it could matter.”

    I think that’s what today was all about. This was the gears of bureaucracy starting to crank into motion to block the merger.

    Yesterday, I thought the merger was likely to happen. Today, I think it’s likely to be blocked.

    Comcastic!

    “Most importantly, it’s a highly entertaining industry quote.”

    We only got that great a quote because the correctly vanquished understood the stakes well enough to be bitter.

  12. “so yes – I want enough bandwidth to make pizza and such appear in my house in 30 seconds or less…”

    Interestingly enough, the Vudu Pizza Streaming Stick only requires about 18mbps for materialization. But you’ve got to have that level of bandwidth as your consistent absolute minimum, otherwise the crust gets burnt beyond an acceptable level of char.

    So, if you’re trying to do this via WiFi, you’d better have excellent in-home wireless infrastructure. Otherwise, you’re better off with wired Ethernet.

  13. Your point about the merger is a good one. As a current TWC customer I am opposed to the Comcast merger because I don’t want to have to deal with caps. If this helps to block the merger then I am happy. On another level, will this new rule prompt TWC to upgrade my current 20/1 service for free? I doubt it.

  14. “On another level, will this new rule prompt TWC to upgrade my current 20/1 service…”

    Nope. As stated, yesterday was all about the merger. Had nothing whatsoever to do with anything like what you want.

    However, if the Dingo In Chief reclassifies data as title ii, and if Google is actually serious that reclassification would make them significantly increase heavy investment in fibre-to-the-home, you could have competitive wireline providers in few years, which would be very good for you…

  15. Beyond the FCC vote itself, the importance of that highly entertaining quote is that, while O’Rielly is entirely correct that while interplanetary teleportation is not yet possible, he let the cat out of the bag that teleportation within a planet is apparently a reality. Who knew?

    So, next year’s CES will again be all about the IoT, but this time it’ll be the Internet of Teleportation…

  16. Toldja! It was the broadband reclassification wot done it:

    “I think that’s what today was all about. This was the gears of bureaucracy starting to crank into motion to block the merger.

    “Yesterday, I thought the merger was likely to happen. Today, I think it’s likely to be blocked.”

    From the NYT post-mortem:

    “Not long after the president’s video, the F.C.C. made good on his promise to regulate Internet service providers more rigorously when it voted to raise the speed required for broadband Internet connections. The decision was a nod to the fact that more than one person is often online at the same time in many of today’s households.

    “It was another move that may not have been explicitly aimed at the proposed merger, but it was ominous all the same. It meant that a lot of Americans living in rural areas no longer had what qualified as high-speed Internet access — making Comcast’s already large share of the broadband market considerably larger.”

    Interplanetary! Comcastic!

    (And despite the sideshow of potential collateral damage for TiVo, I think this is obviously excellent public policy. We all though the Wheeler appointment signaled doom on all fronts. Little did we understand that we were in POTUS YOLO mode.)

  17. See, that was my first post since yesterday, one hyperlink, and still went into the moderation queue. So it’s definitely not a time between posts thing.

    (While slightly annoying, I’m certainly not asking you to take the time to troubleshoot and fix this. Life goes on, and I’ll keep commenting. I just find sussing out the moderation queue criteria to be a profoundly deeper mystery than Malaysia Air 370.)

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