Digital Trends
Cox Cable has introduced a new traffic management system on its broadband network that will "momentarily" throttle data transfers on content it deems less time-sensitive—like file uploads, P2P applications, and Usenet—during periods of network congestion. The new system will be tested in Kansas and Arkansas, and expended to other Cox markets if the trials go well.
Cable operator Cox Communications has had its eye on wireless services for a while, putting a substantial amount of money into spectrum licenses in the 700 MHz band the FCC auctioned off earlier this year and which will become available once analog TV shuts off in the United States. Since then, Cox has bought up between $500 and $550 million in wireless capacity in its cable markets—New Orleans, San Diego, Omaha, Las Vegas, Kansas, New Mexico, and (of course) its home turf of Atlanta, and plans to offer wireless service to its existing 6 million cable customers.
Telecommunications operator AT&T has announced it will begin selling its U-verse broadband Internet and digital video service through retailers Circuit City and Walmart beginning this month. The offerings will be available in more than 600 retail locations in and near neighborhoods where U-verse services are available: right now, that includes regions of Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and Wisconsin, although AT&T plans to expand the offering to other locations in the future.
In a move to streamline operation in the wake of significant subscriber losses, Sprint Nextel has announced it will lay off approximately 4,000 workers and close 125 of its company-owned retail locations. The move follows the layoffs of about 5,000 employees last year.
Sprint says it had a net loss of 683,000 subscribers and 202,000 pre-paid users during the fourth quarter of 2007.
In addition to closing 125 retail locations—about an eighth of its total retail operations—Sprint says it plans to shut down more than 4,000 of a total 20,000 “third party distribution points,” or sales outlets with other retailers that offer Sprint products and services.
The preponderance of cell phones in U.S. society may be creating all sorts of businesses opportunities that didn’t exist two decades ago, but it’s bad news for at least one former stalwart of the American landscape: pay phones. Over the last few years, public coin-operated phones have gone from being something one could see on many street corners and in most businesses to quaint rarities…nowadays, if you need one, you can expect to spend a lot of time trying to find one, and, if you can find one, you’ll be astonished at the cost of a single local call. There used to be almost 3 million public pay phones in the U.S.; now, there are an estimated 1 million in service.
Back in 2002, Microsoft agreed to a landmark settlement in its huge antitrust case with the federal government. Part of the settlement was that Microsoft agreed to oversight of its business activities to ensure the company did not abuse its monopoly position in the computer operating system market. Most of those restrictions were set to lapse on November 12, 2007, but Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is responsible for overseeing the antitrust settlement, has agreed to a delay to consider whether those restrictions should be extended another five years.
While some school districts in the US are dealing with record budget cuts, the students and teachers in the Olathe Unified School District in Olathe, Kansas get another 2,300 Palm handhelds to play with thanks to a recent purchase. Today’s purchase of the new Palm TX PDA’s now doubles the school district’s current inventory. The Olathe Unified School District is considered one of the most technologically progressive school districts in the state.
Ever feel that a lot of the films which make it to DVD
Satellite television provider DirecTV has agreed to pay $5 million and restitution to thousands of customers to settle a 21-state investigation into complaints about the company’s advertising and marketing practices, undisclosed fees, channel availability, and cancellation policies.
The settlement was announced by the office of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The investigation began in early 2003 in response to consumer complaints regarding DirecTV satellite service; customers reported that advertised shows and local programming weren’t always available, specific sports programming was sporadically blacked out, reception was poor, and cancellation fees were both unfair and not disclosed upon entering into a DirecTV subscription contracts.
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