Celebrate Earth Day by Watching TV
Happy Earth Day! People everywhere are finding ways to make cities greener, fight climate change, and support renewable energy solutions. And in the wonderful world of technology, building and upgrading devices with energy conservation in mind is just as important. The cable industry views energy efficiency as a strategic imperative that is good for our business and good for our customers. Two years ago, along with energy advocacy groups, we established the voluntary set-top box energy conservation agreement, or VA. The VA works to cut energy use in the 90 million American homes with cable’s
Chief Executives and FCC Leaders Take the Stage at INTX 2015
We’re exactly two weeks from the start of INTX: The Internet & Television Expo and the speakers and sessions are almost final. Today, we’re thrilled to reveal the latest, and quite impressive, group of speakers for the Wednesday General Session and Wednesday INTX Talks. First, a panel of chief executives from leading national and international cable operators will be featured. The panel will be hosted by CNBC’s Julia Boorstin and include James Dolan, Chief Executive Officer, Cablevision Systems Corporation; Pat Esser, President, Cox Communications; Michael Fries, President & CEO, Liberty
How Broadband Competition is Really Technology Competition
On NCTA.com’s Broadband By the Numbers page, we show that 88 percent of Americans have access to at least two wired Internet service providers and 98 percent have access to at least two mobile wireless providers. Not to mention 97 percent have access to at least three mobile providers. These are impressive stats, but only tell part of the story. If we look a bit closer, we also see technological diversity between those home broadband competitors. According to NTIA, 58 percent of U.S. households have access to at least 10 Mbps DSL. Another 27 percent have access to those speeds from fixed
Why We Are Appealing The FCC’s Title II Decision
Today, NCTA filed a Petition for Review of the FCC’s February 26, 2015 order which reclassified broadband Internet service as a public utility, or telecommunications service, under Title II of the Communications Act. We filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. So why are we appealing? It has nothing to do with net neutrality. Indeed, for the better part of two decades our companies have invested billions of dollars into building, maintaining, and improving an open Internet experience for our customers. Our industry has supported the FCC’s original open Internet principles and
Wanted: More Spectrum, Better Wi-Fi
As our technological and digital demands increase and devices expand, so will our need for more spectrum. Fortunately, there is a solution to the Wi-Fi crunch. By freeing up more spectrum and allowing it to be used by unlicensed technologies, we could jump start a new generation of Wi-Fi available in more places and at much higher speeds.
Gigasphere: The Technology Behind Gigabit Broadband
Recently we announced “Gigasphere,” the new consumer-facing name representing DOCSIS 3.1 technology. DOCSIS 3.1 is the technology specifications developed by CableLabs that enables broadband speeds up to 10 gigabits per second, reduces network delays due to congestion, and improves cable modem energy efficiency. For something so impressive, it certainly deserves a better name than DOCSIS 3.1 – hence Gigasphere. Now we’re pleased to take the cover off of a brand new microsite featuring the story behind (and revealing the future of) super speeds through Gigasphere technology. “The same cable
A Look Inside U.S. TV Households
Nielsen’s latest The Total Audience Report dives into the changing TV and media landscape with increased competition among the growing list of services. One of the most interesting charts in this report looks inside U.S. TV homes to see what other services consumers are adopting. What stands out to us is that 75% of U.S. homes with a TV also have a broadband Internet connection. That means that U.S. households that have TV service are more likely to also have broadband service, as broadband adoption in the U.S. currently stands at 70%. It is also interesting to note that 40% of U.S. TV homes
The Technology Behind Baseball on Opening Day
Here’s how the game goes from field to screen. Spring is in full swing, which means one thing: baseball is back. — And it’ll be with us through the fall; over the coming months each team will battle it out over 162 games, which equates to roughly 7,300 hours of play — plus playoffs. While you might be suitably psyched to tune in and watch, we’re geeking out just as much about the technology involved with thrusting America’s favorite pastime onto our screens. Today’s ballpark contains a veritable feast of statistic capturing machinery, phantom cameras, and it seems wearable tech may also adorn
Online Video Rides Mobile Tidal Wave
TV Everywhere has expanded the video experience to any screen, at any time, and anywhere. And mobile online video viewing in particular is leading the way. Adobe’s recently released U.S. Digital Video 2014 Inaugural Report captures this fascinating online video trend. When it comes to authenticated video, which includes online apps and websites that require a cable subscription login, almost one-third of all authentications occurred on an iPad. By year-end 2014, TV Everywhere consumers logged 21 billion authenticated videos, an enormous increase of 266 percent over 2013 totals. From the above
Comcast Ups Cable’s Gigabit Parade
Cable’s plan to deliver gigabit broadband speeds to residential customers has been in the formative stages for years as improved technology is making wide-scale deployment more possible. But even before the next generation software platform known as Gigasphere is market ready, several cable operators are pushing ahead with significant gigabit offerings. Last year Brighthouse announced it would be bringing gigabit broadband to homes in Tampa, Florida. Then Cox starting offering residential gigabit service in Phoenix and Southern California. Now Comcastannounced that it will be bringing not just