Jeff Baumgartner

Cox Communications is being pressed to change or alter its "powered by fiber" ad claims to "clearly and conspicuously disclose" that its cable broadband service is not offered with fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) technologies. The National Advertising Division (NAD) made the recommendation following a challenge raised by AT&T, a Cox competitor that is expanding and upgrading a portion of its footprint to fiber. In its assessment, the NAD noted that Cox's cable broadband service delivers service over fiber to the node, where it's then transitioned to coaxial line

Some of the nation's top cable operators have begun to ramp up promotions focused on smartphone subsidies. These cable-led promotions mark a shift in the dynamics of the US mobile market, according to MoffettNathanson. Analyst Craig Moffett said this new wave of mobile promotional offers from operators such as Comcast, Charter, and Cox illustrates that they're indeed needed in today's competitive market. "Cable's emergence as a promotional discounter was entirely predictable, notwithstanding their early protests to the contrary," Moffett explained. However, he tempered predictions on how we

Charter Communications CEO Chris Winfrey believes fixed wireless access (FWA) won't meet speed and bandwidth demands. In fact, Winfrey likens it to DSL – a product that had its moment but saw many customers flee to cable's higher-quality connections. The initial success of FWA "shows there's a nice, niche market for limited-bandwidth, limited-capacity, and limited-reliability product," Winfrey said.

Frontier Communications' move to bridge a funding gap by securitizing fiber assets in the Dallas (TX) area to the tune of $2.1 billion of additional committed capital could prompt other fiber network builders to do the same, reckons an industry analyst. Frontier's stock popped in the wake of the transaction, which centers on about 600,000 fiber locations in the Dallas area.

A handful of cable and telecommunications industry organizations reasserted arguments that certain requirements linked to the Federal Communications Commission's new nutrition-style broadband labeling order are "wholly unwarranted." A specific quibble centers on directing customers to the labels, which provide data on elements such as broadband speeds and pricing, via "alternative" sales channels, such as by phone or in-store sales. "Requiring that providers collect identifying information and document every customer interaction would be highly disruptive to consumers seeking information th

Policies, regulations and standards governing video and broadband remain vitally important to the "cable" industry. But the cable industry is now keeping close tabs on other critical areas that weave into the broader telecommunications sector as cable operators move rapidly into mobile and wireless and explore ways to fully converge their networks and services. Meanwhile, those same operators must also get engaged with standards and policies focused on new and emerging categories such as cybersecurity and artificial intelligence (AI). That's all to say that Dr.

Small and midsized cable operators agree that broadband is as important as ever, but the way they are implementing their video strategies is still a mixed bag. While some operators are upgrading to new IP- and app-based services and platforms, others are also partnering with third-party streaming services or, in some extreme cases, exiting the video business altogether. 

AT&T CEO John Stankey said Internet Air, the company's new fixed wireless access (FWA) product, is "performing well" in the early going. But Stankey stressed that Internet Air will continue to be used on a limited, targeted basis.

AT&T and Charter Communications are best positioned to benefit from the multi-billion-dollar Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program based on state-by-state allocations and the presence of each operator in those states, reckon analysts that have broken down the numbers. "The larger the presence an operator has in a state with a sizable allocation of BEAD funding, the greater the opportunity there is for it to see benefits from a build-out near its existing footprint and fill-in additional pockets across its DMAs [designated market areas] with edge-outs," the analysts at IS

The second quarter (Q2) of the year is usually a tough stretch for cable operators.