Comcast tells AT&T to lay off its coax, seeks restraining order

Never one shy to pick a fight, Comcast is now taking square aim at AT&T, which it alleges is wreaking havoc with its internet service as a result of shoddy installs of the company's U-verse TV service. More specifically, as Ars Technica points out, while both companies use different lines outside of the home (copper coax for Comcast and twisted pair for AT&T), they each use the same coaxial wiring inside the house, which Comcast says causes "feedback" to leak back out onto its network, possibly as a result of the two services using similar frequencies or filters. That, Comcast says, has caused service disruptions for some 20,000 users in the Chicago area, with it particularly affecting those that mix and match Comcast and U-verse services. To put a stop to that, Comcast is now seeking a restraining order against AT&T, although it apparently hasn't received one as of yet. For its part, AT&T not only unsurprisingly says that "the suit lacks merit and that the company intends to vigorously fight it," but that it plans to significantly ramp up the roll out of U-verse in Illinois.

[Via Online Media Daily, thanks Alan M]

[peshue @ Apr 24th 2008 5:27PM]

Yeah well Comcast is messing with my bitorrent constantly so screw them.

[Blackstar @ Apr 24th 2008 6:44PM]

Telecommunications Thunderdome! Two companies enter, one company leaves!

[ethana2 @ Apr 24th 2008 7:47PM]

Yeah great, just we need. /less/ competition.

[OneLove @ Apr 25th 2008 1:57PM]

I read that as "Comcast tells AT&T to lay off its cocks, seeks restraining order". lol

[ericdano @ Apr 24th 2008 5:28PM]

As a one week owner of U-Verse, I'd have to say it was the worst thing ever. Shoddy install is being nice. They also do not allow you to have any other service going into the same residence. So, if you have roommates that have DSL, they will be shut off without warning, and then you'll have to play phone tag with AT&T lame ass phone support. I had to go though this back in December. Terrible.

[pokey @ Apr 24th 2008 5:40PM]

I had Time Warner Cable running side by side with UVerse for a week. If you didn't tell your installer that you'd only accept installation if they keep your old feed alive then it's your own damn fault. I highly doubt they would lose a customer to having to do an additional few cable drops.

[mmmooonpie @ Apr 24th 2008 5:43PM]

ericdano,

The entire lawsuit is premised on U-Verse being used with other services. Waht you're saying about AT&T mandating the cutting off other services is simply untrue.

I don't know why you would want a DSL + U-Verse set up, as U-Verse internet is cheap and fast when compared with DSL.

I've got U-Verse too, and my installation was excellent (and simple). Though I'm sure that out of thousands of installs some idiot technician has screwed up, I do not understand why Comcast is connected to people who are subscribed. They have their box, they can cut off their cancelled customers.

I have had so many problems with Comcast screwing everything up. At least with U-verse I got a secured wireless internet connection that has never been offline (and hasn't even slowed down) since I set up service. Faster torrents I've ever run, btw. It's about $30 cheaper than comcast, and the TV and Internet are just better.

AT&T has a terrible customer service record, but I've haven't really had to deal with them.. .my bill has been exactly as expected, and I'm turning the screws on a Cable company monopoly that I'm sick and tired of. U-Verse wouldn't have a chance to exist if the cable companies were doing their best job.

Final point: the coax cable in my house that Comcast installed is an improvement to my home, and therefore is legally MY PROPERTY. It does not belong to Comcast in any way whatsoever. If Comcast is too stupid to disconnect my lines when U0Verse is running on them, or too stupid to filter (and deal with AT&T, who would probably benefit from some kind of filtering agreement) then that's Comcast's problem.

Comcast is just trying to sue away a competitor. Again. Screw them.

[BigD145 @ Apr 24th 2008 6:59PM]

moonpie: Some people happen to live like sardines because it's the only way they can afford to. Have you ever been the person that has to split a phone bill with 4 other people? The reason people have multiple services is because of the headache involved in sharing. It is somewhat cheaper, but it also can be much more expensive for the 1 person that has the bill in their name.

[mmmooonpie @ Apr 25th 2008 2:35AM]

BigD, I don't understand how what you're talking about relates to what I'm saying. I was saying that this lawsuit proves that U-verse installations do not absolutely require disconnecting other services, the other dude said that U-verse installers are refusing to permit more than U-verse, and that's not true.

Now, I think you're saying that if you have 4 roommates, it makes sense to have 4 internet accounts? Or 4 cable accounts? Surely you're kidding.

Seriously, of all the things you might have to share with your mates, internet has got to be the easiest. It's freaking rare to overdraw an "unlimited" internet connection... what kind of douche would force his mates to get their own? And TV is exactly the same. Get a calculator and divide by four, and that's it. I assume your roommates are already splitting rent, so what's the problem? If you can't work this out, you don't need to be living with those people, anyway.

I can understand difficulties splitting electricity or a land line phone, or grocery bills, but internet and tv? That's mad, my fiend.

[John Stracke @ Apr 25th 2008 11:26AM]

@moonpie: "I don't know why you would want a DSL + U-Verse set up"

Maybe they want the DSL to run servers on. (You can do that with Speakeasy, for example.)

[Dave @ Apr 24th 2008 5:32PM]

I guess that explains all those murders in Chicago this month

[Mobile Phone Diva @ Apr 29th 2008 5:45AM]

That's insulting.

[Jimmy Jones @ Apr 24th 2008 5:37PM]

I smell Comcast demise and fear coming soon. It is increasingly making it to the news lately..........more or Apple vs. M$ cat and dog fight in here. If Comcast isn't missing court dates and appearances, someone out there is figuring out how it is charging its customers for net services but throttling its network mgmt. Just bunch of ComDogs.

[spencer cree @ Apr 24th 2008 5:53PM]

I have Comcast (Who recently bought out InisghtBB) and ever since that bought InsightBB, my internet has SUCKED!! It drops out at least once a day, if not more, and seems to be moving slower. With InsightBB, it never dropped out, but now it is a daily thing. The only thing is, they are the only cable internet providers in this area, and I do not want to get DSL.

[mike @ Apr 24th 2008 6:42PM]

DSL is just as good as cable. Unless you are trying to downloadmultiple full HD movies a day, the difference can be hardly noticeable. And very rarely do you ever get the ComCast issue of 'up to xx Mb /sec' with the little * saying blah blah blah Comcast cannot guarantee these speeds all the time blah blah blah.

Unless you have to work with Verizon North, I would go with DSL. Cable companies overcharge.

[mexdodge @ Apr 26th 2008 2:16PM]

U-verse is run on Fiber Optics to the Node (that box down the street from your house) and then run to your house on copper. They have built a new shiny box that acts as a storage compartment where you get all your goodies from. Doing this, allows you to get everything AT&T offers quick as hell. AT&T offers 10M internet speed for the moment, and im sure once they get their feet better grounded, speeds will shoot up.
I cannot wait for U-Verse to be available in my area and it's only a matter of time. The new V-Rad box is up 100 feet away, just not powered as of yet. Goodbye Time Warner. You suck!!!! Just hope AT&T doesnt fuck us over too.

[Todd @ Apr 24th 2008 5:55PM]

Reminds me of that scene at the end of Jurassic Park where the Velociraptor ( Comcast ) has the family ( Us Consumers ) cornered and is about to eat them, when all of a sudden T-Rex ( AT&T ) appears out of nowhere and chomps down on the Velociraptor, unintentionally saving the family.

Here's hoping they sue each other into bankruptcy and both co out of business!

[Jimmy Jones @ Apr 24th 2008 5:58PM]

My guess s that you have a Swedish or Japanese keyboard....cuz you seem to be making quite obvious typos which makes my eyes going back n forth trying to understand ur post............. :-)

[Ian @ Apr 25th 2008 9:51AM]

Yeah cuz thats exactly what we want! Verizon being the only provider of TV and Internet and Phone! FANTASTIC IDEA!

[Todd @ Apr 24th 2008 6:16PM]

@Jimmy Jones

Actually I am currently sitting on the toilet at the Moscone Center in San Francisco replying to you using a jail broken iPhone.

[Seth A @ Apr 24th 2008 6:24PM]

Wow, you have been on the crapper for awhile.

[kal326 @ Apr 24th 2008 6:13PM]

Most service agreements put the wiring maintenance up to the home on the service provider and inside the home up to the owner. I seriously doubt any installer would go to the trouble of tracing and mapping out ever piece of copper, twisted or coax in a house if it didn't affect their install.

I recently bought a house and would have pitied the soul of any installer that tried to figure out how to install phone service or cable in that place. I swear I pulled out at least 4 coax splitters that where 3 or 4 outs each and at least 200ft of cable. I ripped out as much of the coax as possible and ran my own line for phone straight form the outside box in.

[scott @ Apr 24th 2008 6:24PM]

pop tarts.

[Austin @ Apr 24th 2008 7:28PM]

What isn't mentioned is that AT&t already won this lawsuit in reverve and Comcast is not allowed to use AT&t's twisted pair on the primary outlet back...

[BigTeebo @ Apr 24th 2008 7:56PM]

In order to go though with the restraining order, they are going to have to prove a prior relationship with the cables.

[Omega @ Apr 24th 2008 9:11PM]

Well, now at least theres a reason why here in good 'ol Chi-town that Comcast goes down so much...."It's not are fault, its AT&T's fault"...just reminds me more and more why I stick with AT&T service, they can man up to a problem.

Comcast installers do a crap job! Last time they came in they bored a hole through my dry wall and didn't even try to make it look neat...

[happy_penguin @ Apr 24th 2008 11:20PM]

Comcrap can suck it.

[Garst @ Apr 24th 2008 11:41PM]

Hopefully AT&T brings U-Verse here. They won't have any problem Comcast here, they don't service my town.

[kg1 @ Apr 25th 2008 12:00AM]

I had Comcast for 3 years and it just got too expensive with the cable add on. I switched to AT&T dsl and DISH about 4 months ago, and I hate the AT&T dsl. I never had a problem with connections dropping and my programmes going screwy like I do with AT&T now. I'm stuck with the contract though so...

[Chad @ Apr 25th 2008 10:03AM]

kg1,

I had similar problems last year when I switched. I couldn't get better than 768 up even though I was on the 1.5 plan and the connection was always "iffy". It took weeks of calling every day to complain and 3 technicians coming out at separate times but they finally took the time and found out I had a Tip to ground short at the junction (It was rusted through). Once they moved the pairs to a good block I upgraded my service to 3.0 and it's been smooth sailing ever since. The problem is getting them to respond in the first place. I won't even go into the 3 months it took them to agree to let me switch from their very buggy HomeZone service to a straight Dish receiver. They just installed the Fiber to the CO in my neighborhood and I have been calling every day to see if U-Verse is available.

[oakie @ Apr 25th 2008 12:51AM]

we can only hope for mutually assured destruction... but then again, enron will probably take over what's left and sell our bandwidth wholesale to the chinese.

[aus @ Apr 25th 2008 2:42AM]

AT&T Would Crush Comcast. Plus the fact that comcast is a pathetic company with clueless customer service reps.

I cannot wait for FIOS to be installed in our area..

[Chad @ Apr 25th 2008 10:12AM]

I think the description you use is interchangeable between the two but I believe AT&T has the better product all around as well as much more experience with the technology. If I run into a problem with AT&T that I need their help with it almost always takes at least 5 calls before I actually get anything useful accomplished but you can eventually get results. All I usually got from Comcast / Time Warner was "We are unaware of any problems at this time. Have you checked your wiring / router?"

[Kawika @ Apr 25th 2008 3:09PM]

I've been waiting for two hours at home only to find out Comcast isn't coming to fix our Internet connection. Meanwhile, I've signed up for U-verse. I had hoped to get the best of both. Comcast's 16Mbps Blast service and AT&T's U-verse premium TV package. Now I'll probably dump Comcast altogether and stick with a slower, 6Mbps connection from AT&T. It's a challenge to discern which firm is the lesser of two evils, but for now I'll choose AT&T -- until they send my browsing records to the NSA.

[mike @ Apr 25th 2008 3:44PM]

the cable isnt considered private property until its INSIDE the building.

i have one long cable coming from the drop, extending 80ft alongside my building, into a room, and across my whole apt. legally i can do whatever i want to the part of the cable inside the building, but not outside.

comcast has a horrible service record.. they need a good, hard spanking.

[Dave Brinda @ Apr 25th 2008 7:33PM]

U-Verse is fantastic! I had it installed about a month ago and LOVE it. Install was super smooth in and out in a couple hours tops. Internet is blazing fast, and the TV UI is stunning. (and that's coming from a TiVO die-hard) There is no comparing the U-Verse interface...Comcast should be embarrassed by their UI...SO happy to final dump them.

[Len @ Jun 1st 2008 10:18PM]

Recently just switched to uverse in the Chicago area. The one down side is no Comcast Sports Net in HD??!!!??? Must be how Comcast is getting back at them. I went through this with DirecTV and now ATT, URGH!!!

Any idea when this will be available? Have HD service and not to watch the Sox, Bulls and the Hawks in HD is a waste of my time and the life of my HD LCD TV. Any help or info. would be appreciated.