Here is the letter Comcast sent the FCC after eyebrows were raised when Level 3 accused the cable company of setting up a effective tollgate to collect fees when L3 tried to deliver Netflix content to Comcast customers. [More]
comcast
A Cautionary Comcast Tale: Decimal Points Are Very Important
By 12.2.10
When a California retiree missed a decimal point and sent Comcast an online payment of $6,894 instead of $68.94, the massive overpayment didn’t raise any red flags in Comcast’s system. It didn’t cause a cascade of overdrafts in his bank account, either, since he had enough money to cover it. To bring the situation to Comcast’s attention, though, he had to enlist the help of a local newspaper and a television station. [More]
The 'Cable Constrictor' Hits The Streets To Warn People About Comcast/NBC Deal
By 11.30.10
As we told you earlier today, our brethren at Consumers Union have launched a public awareness campaign to alert consumers about the risks of the proposed sale of NBC Universal to Comcast. And as part of this campaign, CU’s Cable Constrictor moving billboard wended its way around Capitol Hill this morning. [More]
Comcast Charges Toll For Netflix Delivery
By 11.30.10
The largest broadband backbone provider in the world says Comcast has set up a tollbooth, charging it a fee to deliver Netflix content to Comcast customers. “This action by Comcast threatens the open Internet and is a clear abuse of the dominant control that Comcast exerts in broadband access,” said Level 3 in a statement. [More]
Consumers Union Asks You To Say No To Comcast/NBC Deal
By 11.30.10
With the clock still ticking on the proposed purchase of NBC Universal by Comcast, our benevolent benefactors at Consumers Union has launched a new website and advertising campaign to step up its efforts to alert the public to the perils of the deal. [More]
Comcast Outage Hits Parts Of East Coast
By 11.29.10
A Comcast TV and internet outage hit Boston and parts across the eastern seaboard yesterday, with a fix still pending this Cyber Monday. [More]
Al Franken Asks Justice Dept. To Investigate Comcast
By 11.23.10
Minnesota senator Al Franken is doing what he can to throw a wrench into the merger between cable giant Comcast and NBC, the network he once called home during his years on Saturday Night Live. Yesterday, he asked the Justice Department to investigate whether or not Comcast violated anti-trust laws when it announced who would fill the top positions in the acquired company, even though the deal has yet to get DOJ approval. [More]
TWC Offers New Cheaper Cable Package
By 11.22.10
Time Warner is offering a new tier of cable package called “Essentials” with fewer channels and a lower price. [More]
Comcast "Upgrades" Signal, Drives Loyal Customer To DirecTV
By 11.10.10
The cable television business model is, in essence, very simple. We consumers pay the cable company. They zap programming to our eyeballs, and we send them money. One longtime customer was happy to exchange about $60 every month for access to a little bit of TV. Then Comcast transitioned to a digital signal, and everything just went to hell. [More]
Comcast Offers You $25 To Take Phone Survey, Gives You Number For Time Warner Cable
By 11.9.10
Consumerist reader and Comcast/Xfinity subscriber Amy recently received a promo in the mail from the folks at Kabletown asking her to take a quick survey, for which they would send her a $25 check. One hitch — the number on the mailer sent her to a Time Warner Cable operator. [More]
DirecTV Pulls Plug On G4
By 11.1.10
Yes, Fox might have kissed and made up with Cablevision and Dish Network over the weekend, but there is still unrest in the world of carriage fees, as DirecTV has recently pulled the plug on Comcast-owned cable channel G4. [More]
Family Claims Comcast Let Grandma Bleed To Death On Thanksgiving
By 10.28.10
What happens when you have phone service through Comcast and you dial 0 for the operator in an emergency? A family in Florida claims that Comcast’s negligence killed their grandmother. The elderly woman bled to death next to her phone while waiting for the Comcast operator and emergency services to figure out where she lived. Now they’re suing Comcast. [More]
Comcast Installs Cable By Draping It Across Yard
By 10.21.10
Reading this story, I imagine that on September 1st, the Comcast worker was standing there on the lawn, looking at the cable he had just installed for the two octogenarians. The cable went from the cable box to the house. It lay on the yard like a large, immobile black anaconda. He crossed his arms and said, “Yep, that looks about right,” and drove away to go eat a sandwich. The cable has now been lying out there for almost 2 months. [More]
Comcast Political Giving Up 61% Since Announcing NBC Deal
By 10.19.10
Since reaching a deal to buy NBC Universal in Dec. 2009, Comcast has increased its PAC contributions to election campaigns by 61% over the amount it gave in the same period leading up to the 2008 elections. [More]
Worst Company In America Trophy Mailed To Comcast
By 10.5.10
We are super-duper late in mailing out Comcast’s Worst Company In America trophy so we decided to spice it up with a disco lightshow for the award and a nice congratulatory letter. [More]
Comcast Can Read Your E-mails, But Swears They Aren't
By 10.5.10
Somewhere on page 4 of Comcast’s Acceptable Use Policy [PDF], the company states that while it’s not obligated to monitor customers’ e-mails, “Comcast and its affiliates, suppliers, and agents have the right to monitor these transmissions.” But, the cable giant tells Ars Technica, they don’t really want to read your messages to your Aunt Lolly in Wisconsin. [More]
FCC Questions Slow Down NBC/Comcast Merger Express
By 10.5.10
Unlike the recent United/Continental merger, which blazed through its regulatory hurdles like something that goes really fast through something else, the marriage of NBC Universal and Comcast isn’t moving as speedily. Yesterday, the FCC hit both bride and groom with a handful of questions it wants answered before giving its blessing to the union. [More]
Comcast Shuts Off Customer's Internet Access For Phantom Data Usage
By 9.30.10
Jodi writes that while she doesn’t agree with Comcast’s habit of turning off customers’ Internet access due to “excessive usage,” while she’s their customer, she intends to play by their rules. This would be a lot easier if her usage meter didn’t indicate that her household used more bandwidth than should have been technically feasible. [More]
