Tag Archives: cmcsa

Netflix pays to play on Comcast’s broadband network

After publicly supporting net neutrality, Netflix (NFLX) on Sunday revealed that it had caved to U.S. cable giant Comcast (CMCSA) and signed a multiyear agreement that gives it a “more direct connection” to Comcast’s network. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. Described as a “mutually beneficial interconnection agreement,” the deal will provide Netflix (NFLX) customers using Comcast  (CMCSA) broadband Internet service “a high-quality Netflix video experience for years to come,” the companies said in a joint press release . After Netflix reported its fourth-quarter results on Jan. 22, Netflix executives gave statements backing net neutrality rights for Internet companies vs. broadband Internet service providers. In a letter to shareholders, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells said Netflix customers would rise up if cable companies tried to throttle the bandwidth used by over-the-top Internet video services like Netflix. They made the comments in response to a U.S. appeals court victory by Verizon Communications (VZ) in January that struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality policy.

FCC to give net neutrality rules another try

The Federal Communications Commission plans to write new rules to prevent Internet service providers from charging fees to companies like Netflix (NFLX) and Google (GOOG) to reach consumers at the highest speeds. The FCC said Wednesday it wants to ban broadband Internet providers like Comcast (CMCSA) and Verizon Communications (VZ) from blocking or slowing down access to any websites. U.S. courts have ruled against the FCC’s last two attempts to enforce so-called “net neutrality.” But the government agency says the policy is crucial to keeping the Internet free and open and allowing smaller companies to compete with larger firms. Internet service providers want the option to charge fees to content companies that use more bandwidth. But the FCC says that would give ISPs the power to determine winners and losers online and to crush potential over-the-top video services like Netflix. On Jan. 14, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the…

Comcast-TWC Deal May Spur More Pay-TV Mergers

The proposed merger of Comcast and Time Warner Cable, the nation’s Nos. 1 and 2 cable TV firms, reverberated throughout the industry Thursday, as analysts speculated over deal opposition from content programmers and others as well as possibilities that satellite TV leaders Dish Network and DirecTV Group might now look to merge. Comcast (CMCSA), which last year gained full ownership of media giant NBC Universal, offered $45