Multichannel News

Charter Communications has raised the downstream speeds supported by its business-class broadband service for small- and mid-sized businesses in St. Louis, with its high-end tier now maxing out at 200 Mbps.

Charter Business said it is raising speeds for three of those business Internet tiers for no added cost:

• Customers on the 60 Mbps tier are now getting 100 Mbps;
• Customers on the 80 Mbps offering are now getting 150 Mbps; and
• Customers on the 100 Mbps plan are now getting 200 Mbps.

Perhaps there’s too much of a focus on raw speeds and the focus on megabits and gigabits. An initiative underway at CableLabs is lavishing some attention on milliseconds.

CableLabs is exploring the implementation of Active Queue Management (AQM), a technology that’s designed to reduce latency, buffering and packet loss – elements that can improve the overall performance of DOCSIS-delivered broadband services.

Posting big speeds will always provide grist for the marketing people, but CableLabs believes that an additional focus on latency can juice up the performance of broadband-fueled multiplayer gaming, video conferencing, video streaming and even the simple task of loading Web pages.

Bernstein Research says that if T-Mobile and Sprint drop their merger plans, as expected, it will benefit other potential merger partners Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV, as well as the Federal Communications Commission, the regulator faced with those two, already filed, deal proposals.

Rep Maxine Waters (D-CA) and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus are urging the Federal Communications Commission to use its upcoming merger reviews to promote more diversity in the media business through a laundry list of enforceable conditions mandating diversity in virtually all aspects of company business.

In a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, and 50 other legislators outlined a set of guidelines for the commission as it vets the proposed Comcast/Time Warner Cable and AT&T/DirecTV and Sprint/T-Mobile mergers, saying those unions are an opportunity to "encourage" diversity.

Following Comcast into the world of prepaid broadband, Frontier Communications has introduced Pay-As-You-Go Internet, a service that allows customers to buy access in increments of one day, seven days or 30 days.

Like Comcast’s prepaid offering, Frontier’s does not require a credit check, a Social Security number or a bank account, opening up a way to obtain customers who don’t want or otherwise don’t qualify for a post-paid broadband service.

Comcast has begun to roll out speed upgrades in Houston and parts of California, according to customers. Comcast is jacking up speeds without a price increase.

However, some customers might need a new DOCSIS 3.0 modem to get the new speeds, which Comcast will swap for no additional cost.

A growing number of small and independent cable operators are preparing to get rid of the very product that once drew customers to their business: TV programming.

With the wholesale price of programming increasing at a rate far higher than the retail cost, many operators are generally ready to get out of the programming business and instead allow customers to pick and choose programming services with an IP, or over-the-top system.

AT&T will extend its fiber-based “GigaPower” network to parts of Nashville, where it will eventually offer speeds up to 1 Gbps. Nashville, served by incumbent cable operator Comcast, is also one of 34 potential expansion cities being sized up by Google Fiber and its 1-Gig-capable platform.

Rep Bob Latta (R-OH), vice chairman of the House Communications Subcommittee, has asked Senate Commerce Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Committee Ranking Member John Thune (R-SD) to vote on and approve the House version of the STELA Reauthorization Act, which passed in the House.

Reps Latta and Gene Green (R-TX), who also signed the letter, point out that the House bill was bipartisan, that STELA needs to pass by the end of 2014 and that it includes targeted video reforms.

The Justice Department continues to press the Congress to clarify that Internet streaming can be prosecuted as a felony and not just a misdemeanor.

Felony prosecution would mean larger penalties, and DOJ argues, better deterrence to online pirates.