Multichannel News

Computer companies and others were quick to praise a congressional effort to ban paid prioritization, while cable operators suggested the Federal Communications Commission had it under control.

Following the introduction of the Online Competition and Consumer Choice Act on June 17 in both the House and Senate, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association said that it supports the FCC's new rules and is not prioritizing anyway.

“The cable industry has consistently stated our support for sensible but clear rules which ensure that American consumers continue to enjoy an open and unfettered Internet experience," NCTA said. "Cable companies do not engage in paid prioritization and have every incentive to ensure that all consumers enjoy fast and robust Internet services. We are confident that Chairman Wheeler can restore effective rules under the path that the Court suggested, and we will work with all parties to preserve consumer protections enforced by the FCC and Federal Trade Commission.”

The Computer & Communications Industry Association was all for the bill, praising its focus on the last mile connection, but also using that as a jumping-off point to criticize paid peering. “Congresswoman Matsui and Senator Leahy have prudently focused their legislation on the problems arising from the power which Internet access providers have to arbitrarily charge edge providers for priority local or “last mile” delivery capacity," CCIA President Ed Black said, then turned it to the issue of middle mile and payments for interconnection hand-offs.

Mediacom Communications campaigned in Iowa for a proposal to obtain government funding for a pilot program that could help bring high-speed broadband to more Iowa farms.

Dan Templin, senior vice president of the cable company’s Mediacom Business unit, appeared at the 2014 Connect Iowa Broadband Summit in Arkeny, Iowa, and plugged a proposal that’s been made by Mediacom and Deere & Co, better known as farm-equipment supplier John Deere.

In March, they pitched the Federal Communications Commission on a plan to help farmers better exploit the advanced technology of their farming equipment by spreading high-speed broadband to underserved areas of the state.

The companies’ March proposal seeks $800,000 in total for pilot programs in Audubon and Carroll counties. The money as proposed would come from the Connect America Fund, which takes former Universal Service Fund money and reallocates it from phone-service support into capital for rural broadband projects. Money from Mediacom or other sources would provide at least 20% of the funding needed for the project, the company said.

In the FCC filing, Mediacom said after it extended fiber lines into the counties, it would “provide retail Wi-Fi service to farms, small businesses and residences over the distributed antenna system at speeds up to approximately 50 Mbps down by 5 Mbps up for approximately $30-80 per month. The Mediacom-provided retail Wi-Fi would support Internet and broadband data services and voice services.

National Association of Broadcasters President Gordon Smith has renewed his contract through Dec 31, 2018, NAB Board chair Charles Warfield said. The announcement comes the day before the board and members celebrate Service to America awards for stations' public service efforts.

Smith has been in the post since 2009. He is a former two-term Republican senator from Oregon and has been leading NAB's efforts to secure a fair incentive auction process.

[Commentary] In the ongoing air wars over net neutrality, personal attack and comedic fodder have sadly obscured an accurate portrayal of the issues now confronting the Federal Communications Commission in the wake of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit’s decision in Verizon v. FCC.

Instead of following the old adage of “when in danger, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout,” perhaps we ought to take a breath and refocus serious attention on the task before the agency.

First, we ought to see that inflammatory attacks claiming that the FCC is about to “wreck” net neutrality are nothing but hyperbolic hot air. You can’t “wreck” rules that no longer exist.

Second, as parties seek to manufacture a continuing din of discontent, we ought to acknowledge what we are not fighting about. Though it’s seldom reported, it’s worth remembering that the cable industry has long supported an open Internet and, in fact, supported the 2010 Open Internet rules adopted by the FCC.

Allowing the net-neutrality conversation to be hijacked into a peering debate is a mistake that will only cloud the commission’s ability to move forward in the Open Internet proceeding. Netflix’s peering gambit is primarily about improving its own economics and says more about Netflix’s power than about any ISPs.

We should stay focused on the last-mile issues that gave rise to the Open Internet rules in the first place, and ensure a clear path forward to reinstate new rules in line with the court’s direction.

[Powell is president and CEO of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association]

Condé Nast Entertainment has signed a first-look deal with Twentieth Century Fox Television for its scripted television projects.

Under the terms of the deal, which is the first of its kind for Condé Nast Entertainment, the company will develop and produce scripted series for both broadcast and cable. Broadcast series will be produced for Twentieth Century Fox Television, while cable series will be produced for Fox 21.

The partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Television is managed by Gina Marcheschi, vice president of scripted television for Condé Nast Entertainment.

Saying the Federal Communications Commission could not have meant to purposely leave 23 diversity proposals, including some of the FCC's own, out of its consideration of the quadrennial ownership review, the Minority Media & Telecommunication Council has petitioned the FCC to admit it made a mistake and "clarify" that they remain under consideration.

"The facts surrounding the history of these proposals, many of which have been pending for more than a decade, indicate that they fall squarely within the scope of the 2014 Quadrennial Ownership Review due to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals mandate to consider them within the quadrennial review," said MMTC, "yet the Commission has failed to consider them in the current proceeding."

It's not that the FCC did not mention them. But MMTC points out that its "entire disposition" of them was to say that though “accompanied by detailed and thoughtful analysis, and some of them may warrant further consideration…they are outside the scope of this proceeding.”

Comcast tooted its on-demand horn by announcing that its set-top video-on-demand platform now provides access to the top 100 cable and broadcast TV shows as measured by Nielsen.

Of that total, 64 of those Nielsen-ranked shows are also offered on Comcast’s authenticated TV Go app and Web site, said Comcast, which notably has been testing out an On Demand Credit Ratings model that could open the door to the increased offering of all episodes of a current TV season via the multiple service operator’s VOD platform.

Comcast, citing an online survey by Harris Poll commissioned by the MSO, said over half (55%) of binge-watchers would rather watch current season episodes over past season.

Following recent approval from Winston-Salem (NC) city officials for Durham have ratified an agreement that gives AT&T the green light to deploy its 1-Gbps-capable, fiber-based U-verse with GigaPower platform.

Like the earlier deal with Winston-Salem, the Durham agreement stems from AT&T’s discussions with the North Carolina Next Generation Network (NCNGN), an initiative comprised of six cities, four universities, and local business leaders, that’s aimed at stimulating deployment of next-gen broadband networks in the state.

AT&T said the approved plan covers “potential fiber deployments” to businesses and residential areas in “parts” of Durham, which is also served by incumbent cable operator Time Warner Cable, but has not elaborated on which areas will be covered.

AT&T also has not announced a specific timeline for its NC-area rollouts, but noted that, like its plan for Winston-Salem, the build in Durham will get underway “within a few weeks," and will reveal more detailed rollout plans later. AT&T has similar ratifications pending in four other North Carolina areas: Carrboro, Cary, Chapel Hill and Raleigh.

AT&T officially filed its proposed DirecTV merger with the Federal Communications Commission, including public interest statements, saying the deal was all about the bundle.

"This transaction will unite two companies with uniquely complementary assets to create a strong, national competitor that delivers consumers an unparalleled combination of broadband, video, and wireless services," AT&T told the FCC.

AT&T said that the main reason for the meld was that they could achieve together what they could not separately: "A compelling bundle of video and broadband services" that neither company could offer individually.

AT&T pointed out that 97% of AT&T's current video customers already take at least a double-play of services, predominantly video and broadband. AT&T said the deal would allow it to expand its video footprint sufficiently to get more and better programming.

"As a result of its relatively limited video footprint, AT&T is far smaller than Comcast and Time Warner Cable, its principal competitors. Lack of scale particularly hinders AT&T with respect to content acquisition, which is by far the largest variable cost of MVPD service."

AT&T outlined the consumer benefits of the deal, which it summarized as being the stronger competitor to cable that bundling will allows. But it also talked about offering high speed broadband to an additional 15 million customer locations within four years.

Comcast said it will offer all 64 2014 FIFA World Cup matches in Spanish through Instant On Demand, an emerging new service from the multiple service operator that lets customers restart TV shows already in progress.

Comcast said it’s the only operator enabling this feature with Univision’s Spanish coverage of the soccer-fest, noting that it’s the first time it’s using the new technology to make such a broad selection of time-shifted content available in a language other than English.