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Alphabet picks former cable exec to run its Google Fiber division
The Alphabet division behind Google Fiber finally has a replacement leader 5 months after its former chief left. The tech giant has hired Dinesh Jain, most recently Time Warner Cable's former chief operating officer, as the Access team's CEO. He'll watch over business in the nearly 20 markets where both Fiber and Webpass operate. There aren't any indications as to whether or not he'll usher in a change of direction, but his career may speak volumes about Alphabet's intentions.
The FCC is peddling its net neutrality spin as facts
Last week, the FCC released the final draft of its proposal to roll back net neutrality protections, a plan that the agency will vote on next month. Removing these protections has been a targeted goal of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai since he took the position, and even in the face of immense pushback from both the public and hundreds of companies and organizations, the FCC has moved forward with the plan and is fully expected to approve it in just a couple of weeks. Since its release, the draft proposal has continued to draw intense opposition and now the FCC has released a list of myths vs. facts in regards to the plan. But this list, which poses as an explanatory breakdown of the FCC proposal and is most definitely the agency's attempt at damage control, is nearly as ill-conceived as the plan itself.
Data leak exposed millions of Time Warner Cable customers
Verizon isn't the only big US telecom whose corporate ally left customer data out in the open. MacKeeper developer Kromtech has discovered that BroadSoft, a frequent partner to service providers, was storing over 4 million Time Warner Cable customer records on Amazon cloud servers without a password. The records, which stemmed from the MyTWC mobile app, date as far back as November 2010 -- years before Charter bought TWC. The information included email addresses, user names, financial transactions (though there's no indication of credit card data) and billing addresses. There was even closed-circuit camera footage from BroadSoft's Indian offices, as if to rub salt in the wound.
Comcast's live TV streaming service could launch by year’s end
Earlier this year, rumors circulated that Comcast was planning to launch Xfinity Instant TV, a live TV streaming service for Comcast internet customers that don't have a cable package. During an earnings conference call today, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said the service could be launched before the year's end, though no official date was set.
Looney Tunes and other classic cartoons get a streaming service
Your favorite Saturday morning cartoons are going digital. Turner and Warner Bros. are teaming up for a new standalone video subscription service called Boomerang. It'll offer over 5,000 titles from the Hanna-Barbera, Looney Tunes and MGM animation libraries when it launches this spring.
New York sues Charter over slow internet speeds
There's no question that many American internet providers fall short of expectations, but New York might just hold them accountable for making promises they don't keep. In the wake of a probe that revealed terrible broadband speeds, the state has sued Charter over claims that the cable giant's Spectrum badge (formerly Time Warner Cable) misled customers over the performance they'd get. Subscribers who paid for premium plans (100Mbps and beyond) from 2012 onward frequently got speeds up to 70 percent slower than advertised -- so pokey that they didn't even meet the performance of less expensive tiers. And if you believe investigators, this was very intentional.
FCC boss shares a fresh compromise on set-top box rules
The FCC and cable companies have been butting heads for nearly a year over how to regulate set-top boxes, and today FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler outlined his latest plan in an LA Times op-ed. The new plan to "Unlock the Box" is a compromise that embraces some earlier suggestions from the cable industry. Notably, Wheeler's proposal calls for pay-TV providers to create free apps that consumers can download on the device of their choice, such as Roku, Apple TV, Xbox One, PS4, smart TVs, or Windows, iOS and Android devices. Or, consumers can keep their set-top boxes.
Apple's negotiation tactics might be hurting its TV plans
We're nearly a year into the era of the newest Apple TV, which packs plenty of power, access to apps and a reworked remote with Siri voice control. Despite the new hardware, rumors of a big Apple push into TV still haven't turned into anything real. A report from the Wall Street Journal may help explain why by claiming negotiations with companies like Comcast and Time Warner Cable fell apart over things like how much the cable companies would pay Apple and how they would share customer information.
NY Attorney General tells TWC its broadband is 'abysmal'
Late last year, the New York Attorney General's office called on internet customers to submit broadband speeds as a part of its probe into service providers keeping their promises. After the stats were tallied, the AG found one company to be the worse than the others. In a letter from senior enforcement counsel Tim Wu, the office informed Time Warner Cable that speeds customers has submitted were "abysmal."
Charter will axe the Time Warner Cable brand
As of today, Charter officially owns both Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks... and the newly expanded telecom giant isn't wasting much time making changes. A spokesman tells Bloomberg that Charter will eventually drop both the Bright House and Time Warner Cable names. Yes, that's right: Time Warner Cable, a name that's synonymous with terrible customer support and sub-par service quality, is going away. It's largely a symbolic move, but likely a welcome one -- especially if you're still trying to remember that Time Warner and Time Warner Cable are separate companies.
Fiber cut knocks out internet for some in the northeast
If your internet is or was out this evening and you live in the northeastern part of the US, you are not alone. Customers in New York City, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and other nearby areas are seeing outages, which can apparently be traced back to what Time Warner Cable has said are "multiple fiber cuts" at a network provider. Customers from Comcast and Cox have also reported problems, and the network provider in question, Level 3, says it is working on restoring service. In a statement, the company attributed the outage to third-party construction and said technicians are onsite. Time Warner Cable just updated us that repairs are "well under way" and it has restored service for customers in NYC, which matches what we're seeing on outage tracking websites like DownDetector. Update: As of 8:30AM, Level 3 reported service was restored, although most users were back online well before that. Additionally, Comcast contacted Engadget to say that it did not see any effects as a result of this fiber cut.
Charter acquisition of Time Warner Cable approved by the FCC
It feels like forever since Time Warner Cable agreed to merge with Charter Communications, for an estimated $55 billion. But today, nearly a year after the two companies struck a deal, the Federal Communications Commission has finally granted its approval. The announcement follows FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and the US Justice Department green-lighting the merger in April, which confirmed that it was only a matter of time before it became official.
It's official: Uncle Sam says Charter can buy Time Warner Cable (update)
Charter Communications purchased Time Warner Cable in a deal estimated at $78 billion, and today the US Department of Justice and FCC chairman Tom Wheeler gave the acquisition the green light. The companies agreed to the deal in May 2015, when it was estimated at $55 billion. The approval comes with a few caveats: The DoJ says Charter is not allowed to impede access to streaming content, for one. Wheeler says Charter will not be allowed to impose data caps or charge usage-based prices, nor will it be able to charge interconnection fees.
Time Warner Cable's monthly prices are going up in New York
Last month, Time Warner Cable confirmed some customers would see their bill go up beginning in mid-January. And, well, here we are. The upcoming price hikes apply to both cable and internet users in the state of New York, as the Albany Times Union pointed out. For starters, TWC's Basic and Standard web services will now cost $49.99 and $59.99 per month, compared to the previous $47.99 and $57.99, respectively. That's not much of a change right away, sure, but it adds up over time.
Time Warner Cable: 320,000 customers may have been hacked
Time Warner Cable (TWC) may have a data breach on its hands. The cable outfit told Reuters that up to 320,000 customers' email passwords were potentially comprised, either through phishing or hacking of third-party companies that store TWC customer information. The FBI notified the company of the possible attack, saying that some of its customers' emails and account passwords "may have been compromised."
Time Warner Cable's Roku TV test starts in NYC for $10 per month
We've been telling you about Time Warner Cable's plan to test streaming TV for its internet-only customers since before it was officially announced, but now customers can actually sign up for it. If having a cable box is part of what you hated about cable TV, now internet customers can get access to the TWC TV app on a variety of devices without adding a box or having a tech come out. During the trial, testers will get a free Roku 3 player, and the cheapest plan (with channels like ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and TBS among the 20+ included) starts at just $10 per month on a 12 month contract . Adding Showtime and Starz doubles the price, and testers can get a pretty healthy package with channels like Disney and ESPN for $50 per month. As we detailed when it announced, there's no DVR with this setup, but it is an easy way to get TV without some of the hassles. The main drawback here? Unlike something like Sling TV, this is only available to Time Warner Cable customers, and during the test it's only in NYC -- check out the site for all the details.
Time Warner Cable tests the 'evolution' of streaming TV in NYC
Confirming plans Engadget exclusively revealed to you, Time Warner Cable is very close to publicly testing a way for its internet-only customers to get TV services. Fundamentally the big change is that until now, to get TV service and access to its streaming TWC TV app, you needed to be a "TV" customer and have a cable box. Soon, if you're a Time Warner Cable customer in New York City with just internet service, the company will also offer access to its TWC TV Roku Trial. CEO Rob Marcus told investors that the plan is an "evolution" of TWC TV, as customers eventually can get access to video without needing to rent any hardware at all. GVP & GM of Video Product Alix Cottrell told me that the focus for the test is making sure everything is "really easy and straightforward" before it's potentially rolled out to customers outside New York City.
Internet providers invest in networks despite net neutrality jitters
If you ask most big US internet providers, they'll swear up and down that the newer, tougher net neutrality rules will kill investment in their networks. Surely the only way to promote growth is to loosen regulation, right? Well, not quite. After digging through carriers' earnings, Ars Technica has determined that most big ISPs have been spending more on upgrading their networks in recent months. Comcast's capital expenses increased 11 percent year-over-year, largely due to newer-generation home equipment; it's also launching pushing hard on multi-gigabit service. Time Warner Cable also spent 10 percent more upgrading its network in the first nine months of the year. Telcos like AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have seen mixed spending, but they're still pushing harder than ever on services like gigabit internet and upgraded cellular data.
New York's Attorney General probing state broadband speeds
For an industry obsessed with accuracy, it seems hilarious that the broadband speeds that you pay for are so vague and ill-defined in reality. It's a situation that has angered New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (pictured), so he's launching a statewide probe into users internet speeds. Reuters is reporting that the official is targeting the state's big three providers, Verizon, Cablevision and Time Warner to see if, as he says, "many of us may be paying for one thing and getting another." The three firms have all been sent letters asking them to provide all disclosures made to customers about speed, as well as the details of any internal testing that they carry out.
Time Warner Cable will test internet-only TV in NYC next week
If you want cable TV without the cable box, Time Warner Cable may have something for you soon. Reliable sources tell Engadget that starting Monday, Time Warner Cable will beta test a version of its TWC TV service made available for the company's internet-only customers living in New York City. Similar to Sky's Now TV in the UK it will support a number of hardware platform but the plan is to focus on streaming TV through Roku's set-top boxes, and any participants will get a Roku 3 for free. On top of their internet service, customers can pick up a "Starter" TV package for an extra $10 per month. Another option that adds Showtime and Starz will be available for $20 per month, and for those who want all the usual channels but without a cable box, a Standard option with Showtime and Starz costs $50 per month. Judging by the usual cable packages, Starter customers should have about 20 channels, while the Standard package has more than 70.
