Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Comcast Corporation

Comcast Increases Data Limit From 250GB To 300GB

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:28:11 +0000

Comcast has increased the data limits from 250GB to 300GB. The reason for the change is because of video streaming devices like the iPad and Roku box, which is known for consuming lots of data. “Four years ago, when we first instituted a broadband Internet data usage threshold, the iPhone had just been introduced…the iPad didn’t exist…and the experience of watching streaming video on your home PC or through a Roku box or direct to an Internet-capable TV was much different than it is now,” said Comcast. If you want to go over the 300GB data cap, you can buy additional blocks of data at $10 per 50GB.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Complains About Comcast On Facebook

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 03:48:30 +0000

It’s been about two weeks since Netflix CEO Reed Hastings publicly bashed on Comcast from his personal Facebook account. Hastings bashed on them one more time because of the way that Comcast handles bandwidth. Hastings is accusing Comcast of violating “net neutrality” principles by favoring their own web video services over those offered by Netflix, HBO, and Hulu when it comes to data usage. Last month Hastings had also complained that he was not able to watch HBO Go on his Xbox.

Comcast no longer following net neutrality principles.

Comcast should apply caps equally, or not at all.

I spent the weekend enjoying four good internet video apps on my Xbox: Netflix, HBO GO, Xfinity, and Hulu.

When I watch video on my Xbox from three of these four apps, it counts against my Comcast internet cap. When I watch through Comcast’s Xfinity app, however, it does not count against my Comcast internet cap.

For example, if I watch last night’s SNL episode on my Xbox through the Hulu app, it eats up about one gigabyte of my cap, but if I watch that same episode through the Xfinity Xbox app, it doesn’t use up my cap at all.

The same device, the same IP address, the same wifi, the same internet connection, but totally different cap treatment.

In what way is this neutral?

Net neutrality is a principle that advocates no restrictions by ISPs or governments on consumers’ access to networks that participate in the Internet.

Comcast Launches Videos Streaming Service Streampix For $4.99 Per Month

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 20:27:58 +0000

This week Comcast Corporation is launching a new video streaming service called Streampix. Streampix will only be available to existing Comcast subscribers. The Streampix package costs $4.99 per month when bundled with other Comcast video packages. Streampix will allow users access to past seasons of TV shows like 30 Rock, Lost, The Office, Grey’s Anatomy, etc. Users can also access movies like Brokeback Mountain, The Big Lebowski, and Ocean’s Eleven.

Streampix competes directly against other video streaming services like Hulu, Redbox, Amazon.com and Netflix, which charges about $7.99 per month. Comcast’s content partners include ABC, NBC, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and Cookie Jar Entertainment. Streampix will be integrated into Xbox 360 and Android soon.

Sprint and Cable Companies Looking to Acquire Clearwire

Riley Kennysmith — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 17:51:07 +0000

A group of companies, including Sprint, Comcast, Time Warner and Bright House, are in to acquire Clearwire. Clearwire recently expressed interest in building a 4G LTE network. Sprint would head the deal with funding from the cable companies, giving Clearwire the means to light up the network and giving the companies access to that network. There is no word yet on what the official agreement would be. [TechCrunch]

ISPs Officially Agree to Piracy Punishment Program

Riley Kennysmith — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:06:17 +0000

United States ISPs have agreed to a “six strike” program to deal with online copyright infringement. Companies in the deal include AT&T, Cablevision, Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Verizon. Ars Technica reports that the warning system operates solely between the ISP and the subscriber, and that ISPs will only release guilty subscribers’ information with a court order.

The agreement is, according to the press release, intended to “educate and stop the alleged content theft in question, not to punish.” The education comes in the form of alerts that notify potential pirates of their copyright infringement, none of which involve real legal action. There is no threat of complete disconnection, and the agreement promises that services like email and home security will always be available despite a user’s piracy warnings.

The first two warnings are just “educational” notices about piracy. The third and fourth warnings require the user the user to acknowledge receipt of the warnings. The fifth and sixth warnings involve “mitigation measures” that act as ISP-enforced punishments for the users’ piracy.

Yahoo Possibly Looking to Acquire Hulu

Riley Kennysmith — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:43:15 +0000

Hulu may soon be in the hands of Yahoo Inc. Yahoo is reported to have approached Hulu about a possible acquisition, according to the LA Times. Hulu is currently owned by News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp., though spokespeople for the companies have declined to comment and Hulu’s board has reportedly not yet met to consider Yahoo’s offer.

Comcast Cuts Off and Then Reinstates Funding For Nonprofit After A Negative Tweet

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 20 May 2011 20:08:56 +0000

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is very sensitive to criticism. Last week after Comcast decided to hire a sitting member of the FCC named Meredith Attwell Baker, an employee of the Reel Grrls nonprofit education program sent a tweet questioning whether this was a conflict of interest. Baker had voted in approval of Comcast’s merger with NBC Universal. Comcast cut off funding for Reel Grrls after that tweet was sent out.

Reel Grrls is a non-profit where 15 teenage girls learn how to script write, edit, and make films. Baker starts her job at Comcast on June 3 and she has recused herself from further FCC voting.

““OMG! @FCC Commissioner Baker voted 2 approve Comcast/NBC merger & is now lving FCC for A JOB AT COMCAST?!?” wrote a Reel Grrls employee on TWitter. The Comcast executive that is in charge of sponsoring Reel Grrls read the tweet and did not approve. Comcast VP Steve Kill wrote to Reel Grrls in an e-mail that they would not contribute the $18,000 they promised for the camp.

“I am frankly shocked that your organization is slamming us on Twitter,” said Kipp. The tweet “has put me in an indefensible position with my bosses. I cannot continue to ask them to approve funding for Reel Grrls, knowing that the digital footprint your organization has created about Comcast is a negative one.”

This isn’t the first time that Reel Grrls negatively wrote about Comcast on Twitter. In the past Reel Grrls also wrote a tweet that was critical of Comcast’s deal with NBC getting approved. After receiving inquiries from the media, Comcast spokeswoman Sena Fitzmaurice said that Reel Grrls would receive the funding and that Kipp was not authorized to pull the sponsorship.

Reel Grrls executive director Malory Graham said that she likes that Comcast apologized, but is not sure whether they will accept the funds. Reel Grrls wants to continue their partnership with Comcast, but without having to be censored about their ideas.

[Washington Post]

Netflix Now Has 23.6 Million Customers, Surpassing Comcast

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 04:16:57 +0000

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has announced that they have hit 23.6 million subscribers. They had a major first-quarter growth spurt that pushed them ahead of Showtime and Comcast in terms of the subscriber number. About 3.59 million new subscribers joined for the quarter ending in March.

Netflix is slightly behind HBO, which has about 28.6 million subscribers. Netflix’s first quarter net income was $60.2 million with revenues of $718.5 million. Netflix’s net income is almost double from the year before at $32.3 million with revenues at $493.6 million during the same time last year.

[SFGate and Digital Trends]

Comcast Allowed To Acquire NBC, But Not Control Hulu

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:40:46 +0000

The federal government is allowing Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to merge with NBC, but there are limitations. Comcast will not be allowed to sabotage Hulu.com when buying NBC. Comcast’s acquisition of NBC was worth about $30 billion. Media industry executives were interested to see how Comcast would influence Hulu.com. NBC Universal helped create Hulu and owns about 30% of the website.

“Comcast has an incentive to prevent Hulu from becoming an even more attractive avenue for viewing video programming because Hulu would then exert increased competitive pressure on Comcast’s cable business. If the proposed transaction were to be consummated without conditions, [Comcast] would hold seats on Hulu’s board of directors and could exercise their voting and other governance rights to compromise strategic and competitive initiatives Hulu may wish to pursue,” stated the U.S. Justice Department in a court filing.

Clearwire Chair Craig McCaw Steps Down

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:30:52 +0000

Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ:CLWR) Chairman Craig McCaw has stepped down from his position late last week. McCaw, 61, was one of the pioneers of mobile phone technology. Clearwire is struggling to build high-speed wireless 4G networks across the U.S. according to Bloomberg.

Clearwire has also struggled to raise enough funding to build and operate networks. This is forcing them to cut jobs and eliminate projects. The company said that they may run out of cash by mid-2011. The company will be laying off 15% of their employees and reduce the sales and marketing teams.

In 2008 Google, Sprint Nextel, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Intel and several other investors had put in $3.2 billion into Clearwire for them to build a 4G wireless network. Some of the investors put in an additional $1.56 billion funding round last year.

Another rumor that is floating around about the company is that Sprint may invest an additional $200 million to assume Clearwire’s debt. This will allow Sprint to maintain a 50% ownership in Clearwire. Clearwire provides WiMax infrastructure that powers the Sprint EVO and the Epic devices.

[Bloomberg]