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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]