Multichannel News

As if there were any doubt, Google and its policy allies will continue to push their vision for Smart Cities with a focus on education and health applications during the coming years. Rural plus small-town deployment will remain a centerpiece of their political efforts. At a Next Century Cities (NCC) program in Washington on Nov 30, bipartisan speakers extolled broadband's value and some, such as Sen Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), indicated plans to keep their agenda alive no matter what policy barriers lie ahead. "," the title of the event, was sponsored by Google Fiber, the Ford Foundation, Internet2 and Harrison Edwards. The program was held at Google's Washington office. In prepared remarks, Sen Klobuchar said, “Everyone, from the farmers in rural Minnesota to those in our towns and cities, must be able to log on and participate in this new digital economy.” Sen Angus King (I-ME), described high-speed broadband's capability to enable people "whether they live in rural Maine or New York City, to realize unprecedented economic, educational and cultural opportunities."

The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition and US Ignite, which supports next-generation Internet applications, co-hosted the event. Other speakers included several mayors, school and library administrators plus familiar broadband cheerleaders such as Harvard Law professor Susan Crawford, Gigi Sohn, the outgoing counselor to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, and Brookings Institute senior fellow Blair Levin.

Altice USA is placing a bet on fiber that’s so large that it will become grossly inaccurate to refer to the company as a “cable” provider in the years to come. Altice USA, the service provider comprised of Altice NV’s acquisitions of Cablevision Systems and Suddenlink Communications, has embarked on an ambitious investment initiative that will skip DOCSIS 3.1 and instead focus on a fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) upgrade that will encompass the bulk of its footprint over the next five years.

The five-year deployment schedule, referred to by Altice USA as “Generation Gigaspeed,” is slated to start in 2017 and bring FTTP to its entire Optimum (former Cablevision) footprint and to most of its Suddenlink footprint. The company plans to announce its initial rollout markets in the coming months. It’s a big and bold move, as the combined footprint of Optimum and Suddenlink pass about 8.3 million fiber/cable homes. Altice USA’s plan also bucks the industry trend.

Tiny public utility Conway Corp., is the latest company to enter the ultra high-speed Internet arena, with plans to unveil a 1-Gigabit per second broadband service in Conway (AR) in December. Conway Corp. started operating the city-owned utility system 85 years ago. The company provides electric, water, wastewater, cable, Internet, telephone and security services within the Conway city limits. Conway Corp. plans to price the service at $94.95 per month.

Conway Corp. began offering broadband in 1997, after it completed construction on a city-wide fiber-coax network, a two-year project that cost $5.6 million. When the network went live, Conway Corp. said, it became the third company in the country and fifth in the world to offer high-speed, broadband cable Internet service.

Daphna Ziman, president of Cinemoi, the women-owned high-end lifestyle programming network, took aim at the proposed AT&T-Time Warner merger. There is no Federal Communications Commission docket to post such comments in because the deal has yet to be filed with the commission, and there is even a question of whether it will have to be filed there at all. But the merger will definitely get Justice Department scrutiny at least, and FCC advice in the process at a minimum, if past is prologue (which it may or may not be in a Trump Administration). Whichever agency does the vetting, Ziman wants them to know she thinks the merger could adversely impact independent programmers.

"The lack of women and minority ownership is a threat to diversity of viewpoints and equality," she said. "Cinemoi looks forward to supporting the FCC and Congress in creating protections which address these concerns." "Gender diversity in media is absolutely critical for our democracy, never more glaring than now" she said. "This proposed merger could have serious public interest consequences."

Comcast said it is rolling out a free speed upgrade in several markets that will raise the max download of its “Performance Pro” tier to 100 Mbps (from 75 Mbps), and “Blast Pro” to 200 Mbps (from 150 Mbps). Comcast said it’s deploying the speed boost in Washington state, Colorado, Utah, Tucson, parts of New Mexico, Houston, Oregon/Southwest Washington, Minnesota, and the Kansas City area. The company said most new customers in those areas should get the new speeds immediately when they sign up, and existing customers can expect to see the new speeds before December 1. Those speed tiers also include free access to more than 15 million Xfinity WiFi hotspots.

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence met Nov 20 with BET founder Bob Johnson, currently the head of RLJ Entertainment, an over-the-top video company. It was not clear whether President-elect Trump is considering him for a position in the Administration or was simply seeking guidance and input.

Johnson is a fan of the Federal Communications Commission set-top revamp plan, which Republicans on the Hill have warned the FCC not to vote on during the transition to a Trump Administration. Johnson, who became a billionaire when he agreed to sell Black Entertainment Television (BET) to Viacom in 2000, has said that just as BET would not have existed had cable not "broken the broadcast monopoly," new over-the-top offerings, like his own, will not be able to flourish unless the FCC eliminates cable's "stranglehold" on set-top boxes.

[Commentary] On Oct 27, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a Report and Order purporting to “protect the privacy of customers of broadband and other telecommunications services." The rules require consumers to affirmatively opt-in before Internet-service providers (ISPs) can collect "customer proprietary information," which applies to information that the ISP "acquires in connection with its provision of telecommunications service."

As FCC Commissioner Michael O'Rielly discussed, because ISPs need consumer information in order to offer targeted benefits, these regulations simply raise the costs for ISPs to engage in online advertising, zero-rated programming or other targeted consumer offerings. Consumers who choose not to opt in will be confused because edge providers will continue to collect their information and sell it to ISPs. And it's likely ISPs will increase the price of broadband service to cover the costs of purchasing consumer data from edge providers.

[Michael J. Horney is a research associate at the Free State Foundation.]

Pushing ahead on a pledge tied to its acquisition of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, Charter Communications has launched a standalone, low-cost broadband service for qualified seniors and families that costs $14.99 per month. The uncapped, contract-free offering, called Spectrum Internet Assist, delivers 30 Mbps downstream by 4 Mbps upstream, speeds that exceed the Federal Communications Commission’s current definition of wireline “broadband” -- 25 Mbps down by 3 Mbps up. Those customers can also add in-home Wi-Fi through Charter for an additional $5 per month. Qualified customers (families with students that participate in the National School Lunch Program and seniors 65 and older who receive Supplemental Security Income program benefits) can also bundle other Charter services. A triple-play under the program that includes phone and TV, starts at $74.97.

While prospective customers for the program can’t have had a broadband subscription from the operator within 60 days of signing up, they likewise won’t be denied the offering due to a bad credit score. However, they must clear any outstanding debt incurred within the last year with Charter, Time Warner Cable or Bright House Networks in order to be eligible. Charter is initially offering Spectrum Internet Assist in its legacy service area, and expects to make it available across its remaining footprint by mid-2017.

Comcast said is extending Internet Essentials, the company’s high-speed Internet program for low-income homes, to senior citizens in Boston (MA). Comcast also said it has donated $100,000 to Boston's Tech Goes Home for digital literacy training for seniors. The operator also donated 110 laptops to seniors at the South Boston Neighborhood House and high school students throughout the city. Comcast has introduced a similar Seniors-focused trials of Internet Essentials in Palm Beach County, Philadelphia, San Francisco County, and Seattle. Internet Essentials, originally a voluntary commitment linked to Comcast's acquisition of NBCUniversal, provides high-speed Internet service (up to 10 Mbps downstream) to those who qualify for $9.95 per month, plus subsidized computer equipment (less than $150 each) and free Internet training.

Sen Al Franken (D-MN), a big backer of Hillary Clinton and critic of President-elect Donald Trump, says that broadband infrastructure buildouts may be one area where he and President-elect Trump can agree. Sen Franken has big differences over issues like climate change and healthcare with populist Republican President-elect Trump, but when asked by CNN's Jake Tapper where he might find agreement, Sen Franken was quick to say "infrastructure." And he said that went beyond roads and bridges to broadband buildouts. "This is something I think we should be doing," he said, adding: "I think I may be more in line with the new President than my Republican colleagues in the Senate and the House."