Net Neutrality Ruling

The Net Neutrality, a ruling that was set by the US government in the past, had required major internet service providers to treat web traffic without giving preferential treatment to a particular website. In other words, internet providers should not block a website or throttle speeds to make surfing a different website much easier.

The Net Neutrality ruling is now repealed, following a campaign favoring the deregulation from FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “I think ultimately it’s going to mean better, faster, cheaper internet access and more competition among the carriers,” Pai said.

Those favoring Net Neutrality and disagreeing with Pai include Congress members, officials of certain states, tech firms, and some advocacy groups. They will challenge the Net Neutrality repeal in federal court, while many US states plan to implement their own set of laws, which may further muddle the situation.

The Net Neutrality ruling of 2015 prevented internet providers from slowing down web connections, charging content providers for quicker streaming of videos over the web, and blocking accesses to specific websites. Starting this month, such practices will not be prohibited.

For now, internet service providers have to inform how they are managing their own networks. If any of the ISPs violate promises, or show practices that threaten consumers or competition, they fall under FTC’s jurisdiction. When FCC adopted the repeal back in December, Ajit Pai and his allies from the Republican Party argued that Net Neutrality would free the heavy regulations that restricted Telco giants from investing toward expansion of broadband.

High Speed Internet

However, Democrats charged that the Chairman of FCC had ignored millions of comments that flooded from all quarters, especially the internet. Many of those comments had urged FCC to keep the previous ruling on Net Neutrality, which had treated internet providers similar to public utilities.

Aji Pai commented that people who reverted to online vitriol were misinformed, and that “some of the politicians who’ve been grandstanding on this issue have been misinforming the public.” In particular, the FCC Chairman said that the politicians were Senate Democrats, or social media influencers with millions of followers, who tweeted that repealing Net Neutrality would immobilize web speeds.

Reports say that a few ISPs have acknowledged that they would not block websites or throttle speeds or charge for quicker delivery of content over the web, although they might take advantage of the Net Neutrality repeal.

Video Streaming Services

If you are planning to visit South Korea to catch the live action of the upcoming Winter Olympics, then you will most likely wish to share your good fortune with your friends and family members who are not able to make it to South Korea. So, you will be probably planning to keep them up-to-date with the live actions from the Olympics but you will certainly need unlimited data, calling, and text to do so.

Two of the leading internet providers in the United States, AT&T^® and T-Mobile^® have already introduced attractive offers for their customers so that they can stay connected to their loved ones who are back at home. In a recent announcement, the officials from T-Mobile^® said that their customers who are attending the Winter Olympics in South Korea will be able to enjoy unlimited data, text, and calling throughout the event.

The best thing about T-Mobile’s new offering is that customers will not have to do anything to reap these benefits. This means that customers will not need to pay any sort of additional charges to enjoy these benefits. Yet it is crucial to note that the unlimited data and calling offering to customers across South Korea will automatically kick in from February 7 to March 20, 2018, and it will be available to all postpaid customers of T-Mobile^®.

International Day Pass

The President and CEO of T-Mobile^®, John Legere said, “The Winter Games are full of unforgettable moments, and now, T-Mobile^® customers in South Korea can snap, tweet, and share those big moments without worrying about bill shock when they get back home. And while the carriers gouge you and make you jump through ridiculous hoops, the Un-carrier makes it easy! Free and unlimited data and calling just happen from the moment you step foot in South Korea.”

Likewise, one of the best internet providers in the country, AT&T^® has also announced that their customers who are in South Korea for the Olympics will be eligible to access the International Day Pass of the provider at zero additional charges. This implies that AT&T^® customers will be able to save $10 a day on unlimited texts, calls, and data usage. However, the officials from the telecom company have not confirmed whether customers will have to call ahead to get the International Day Pass.

Gigabit Internet Service

Reports from several reliable sources indicate that Charter Spectrum^® subscribers across the Capital Region will soon be able to enjoy the Gigabit Internet service of the telecom giant. However, the Gigabit Internet service offered by Charter Spectrum^® is mostly available only to the schools and businesses in the country at the present.

Charter Communications^®, who are currently operating under the brand name Spectrum^®, have already started to offer their high-speed internet service in the lower Hudson Valley and New York. Customers who have subscribed to the Spectrum^® internet service in these areas will be able to enjoy a maximum internet speed of 1 gigabit per second, which is approximately 10 to 40 times faster when compared to the internet service available to customers in the Capital Region.

It is significant to note that gigabit internet speeds offered by the leading internet providers in the country were usually available only to business and government entities in the Capital Region. However, Verizon recently started to offer a 1-gigabit service to the residential subscribers in their FiOS network but the drawback is that this service is available only in certain parts of Albany and Schenectady counties.

High-Speed Internet Service

The new internet service launched by Charter Communications^® will certainly allow most residents to get connected to a reliable and high-speed gigabit internet service. Even though most residents are happy and content with the current internet speeds, the availability of gigabit internet service will increase the download speed, boost the streaming quality, and customers will be able to connect more number of devices to their internet network at the very same time.

In a recent interview, a spokesman from Charter Communications^® said, “We’re currently in the process of upgrading the Capital Region to all-digital, which is an important first step to enabling faster speeds, including gigabit connections for residential customers. We intend to launch gigabit connections in additional markets in 2018 but haven’t announced any plans yet.”

The official also stated that customers would be able to stick to their Time Warner Cable^® package if they wish to or they could even switch to the Spectrum^® plans. He added, “They can keep their legacy Time Warner Cable^® package or switch to Spectrum^® if they prefer. We believe they will find Spectrum^® is a better value with superior products and services, like the 100 Mbps starting speed for Spectrum^® internet.”

Distribute Original Content

Charter Communications^® is making plans to create and distribute original content. The Telco wishes to foray into programming like other major providers in the country. Because of that, Charter^® had already appointed a new senior vice president to oversee its plans to produce and distribute original programming. The new senior vice president will focus on creating original content that is in tune with the interests of the viewers. Charter^® has brought in Katherine Pope, the former NBC Universal and Chernin Group TV production executive, to serve as its new senior vice president.

The creation of original content is seen by Charter^® as a way to offer a different experience for its Spectrum^® customers. The hiring of the new executive will supervise the creation of planned original programming, such as a lineup of shows to aid on Charter^®-carried channels. Charter^® has a previous partnership with AMC and Viacom that involves co-production of television shows, and this new announcement will help in its quest to produce and air an array of original content.

Katherine Pope stated, “I’m excited to partner with networks, studios, and creators to build a high-quality original content experience for Charter’s wide-reaching and diverse audience. I look forward to working with David and the extraordinary team at Charter^®.” This appointment of the new executive follows a previous deal between AMC and Viacom. It has reached an agreement with these companies regarding co-production and co-funding of content that will be air across the Spectrum platforms of Charter^® in this year.

Charter®-Carried Channels

Under the former agreement, Viacom and Charter^® had reached an agreement regarding the co-production of original content that will be exclusively available to Charter^® subscribers. David Ellen, Charter^® Senior Executive VP said, “Katherine’s creativity, strategic prowess, and wealth of industry knowledge will play an instrumental role in positioning Charter^® as an industry leader in the creation and distribution of high-quality, original entertainment that will further differentiate Charter’s market-leading video products in ways that create value and drive subscribership.”

Recently, many of the major cable and internet providers have also come with collaborating with various content production houses. The acquisition of NBC Universal by Comcast^® is one key example that demonstrates this new trend among providers. Charter’s action plan for the creation and airing of original content makes it one among the other providers who have done the same with various production houses. Moreover, this comes amidst the rise of its internet service and a decline of video subscriptions.