America’s Communications Association, the Competitive Carriers Association and Charter Communications met with aides to FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks about their proposal for the C band. The groups called mid-band spectrum “vital to unleashing the power and promise of 5G, and underscored that how this spectrum is reallocated will have significant impact on our nation’s wireless and broadband future,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 18-122.
A Maine law mandating cable operators provide a la carte options, being challenged in federal court, is unique to that state, a cable lawyer told us Tuesday. L.D. 832, which became law in June, violates federal law and the First Amendment and would result in higher costs and fewer programming choices, said cable operator Comcast and a variety of programmers in a complaint last week (in Pacer, docket 19-cv-00410) in U.S. District Court in Bangor. The suit asks for the defendants including Gov. Janet Mills (D) to be permanently enjoined from enforcing or giving effect to the law. The cablers said the law would require extensive and expensive modifications to distributors' network infrastructure; ordering, subscription management and billing systems; and consumer equipment, and give rise to costly contractual disputes between programmers and distributors. Plaintiffs also include A&E, C-SPAN, CBS, Discovery, Disney, Fox, New England Sports Network and Viacom. Defendants also are state Attorney General Aaron Frey (D) and Bath, Berwick, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Brunswick, Durham, Freeport, Woolwich and other communities Comcast serves. The governor's office didn't comment.
RDX closed on its buy of Charter Communications' managed cloud services Navisite (see 1908260005), they said Monday.
Comcast and LG launched the Xfinity Stream beta app for LG’s smart TVs from model years 2017-19, they said Thursday. Customers can access live, on demand, and cloud DVR programming included with their Xfinity TV subscription on LG 4K and HD smart TVs without a set-top box. LG's in the Xfinity TV Partner Program.
DOCSIS equipment makers are starting to develop and integrate Low Latency DOCSIS (LLD) features into their software updates for their cable modems and cable modem termination systems, with the features available to cable operators starting in 2020 as they prepare their networks to support low-latency services. That according to CableLabs technologists Karthik Sundaresan and Greg White in a blog Thursday. They said CableLabs is putting on events this year and next to bring manufacturers together "to help iron out the technology kinks." They said LLD is a route to using a hybrid fiber-coaxial network for latency-sensitive services.
Roku extended its smart speaker line Wednesday. The soundbar includes Roku Connect wireless protocol, Dolby Audio, Bluetooth, compatibility with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and a voice remote. Customers can search across channels for programming based on price and use voice commands.
A series of petitions filed with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking review of the FCC's 2008 leased commercial access order have been dismissed. In a docket 08-3369 order Wednesday (in Pacer), Judges Richard Suhrheinrich, Alice Batchelder and John Nalbandian said the NCTA, ShopNBC, Time Warner Cable, Verizon and Comcast petitions were moot due to the agency in June vacating the 2008 order (see 1906060029), which never took effect.
Comcast's NBC Sports Group and AEG are jointly rolling out NBC Sports Pub Pass. It's a customizable over-the-top platform aimed at the U.S. pub and restaurant market. It will feature soccer, rugby and cycling content, including content not seen on linear TV, Comcast said.
AT&T and Lionsgate's Starz signed a multiyear content carriage agreement giving AT&T the rights to offer various Starz offerings on DirecTV, AT&T TV and U-verse, they said Friday. It includes HD, on-demand and online services.
The FCC Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau reminded video programming distributors of emergency information obligations. An aural description must accompany visual emergency info, and closed captions should be provided with audio information, said Friday's public notice. It included information on how consumers can file complaints about inaccessible emergency information, including on an FCC website page.