Tag: Cablevision

Archaic Telecom

FCC Reminds Fox,CableVision of its Obligations

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On Friday, the FCC sent out a letter to Fox and Cablevision requesting both to state how they  are meeting their statutory obligations ( “to negotiate in good faith”) over their current retransmission dispute.  As Yankee fans are painfully aware, Cablevision and Fox had an agreement that expired on October 15 to carry WNYW, WWOR, and WTXF channels. Cablevision pulled its rebroadcasting of local MY 9 and Fox 5 television, which carries the Yankee games in the New York area, in a disagreement over its payments to Fox.

You can read the full letter after the jump.

It is powerful thing to see the public interest that’s written into the telecom laws being asserted with these two combatants. As a  former coworker of mine would sometimes remind us  during contentious meetings: where’s the customer’s voice in all this?Continue reading

Archaic Telecom

Answering David Pogue's Cable Puzzler

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Last week David Pogue, The New York Times technology reporter, was perplexed (in a good way) that his local cable company, Cablevision, had been setting up free WiFi hotspots during the last year in the tri-state area (NY,NJ, CT).   Pogue’s been delighted that Optimum WiFi has been showing up with greater frequency on his menu bar for whatever gadget he’s currently holding.  He’s not sure why CableVision is doing this.

(Glad to hear it , David.  I’m not getting the same WiFi love from Comcast, my “information service” provider, who seems more reserved in dispensing her wireless gifts.)

But wait there’s more. Pogue said that Comcast, Cablevision, and Time Warner have formed a partnership that will begin letting subscribers roam between WiFi networks for free.

Wow.

Pogue asked his loyal readers (count me as one) to explain why three competitors have joined together.  I think I have a partial answer.Continue reading