Cable Companies to Use Blockchain?

CableLabs, the organization formed by cable and Internet providers to spearhead the industries' technological developments was formed almost thirty years ago. It has just recently posted a blog about adapting the cutting edge tech of the blockchain to the cable industry.

The blog really just spoke in general terms about how the distributed ledger that is the blockchain could help Internet of Things (IoT) security, record keeping, privacy rights and much more. They called 2018, the year of the Blockchain! Steve Goeringer even said that cable companies should probably create their own blockchain.

Cable and Internet provider, Comcast Cable has formed a blockchain crew and are looking at using blockchain for automation.

Phone, Internet and video provider, AT&T is also partnering with Amino Payments for better digital payment transparency.

Charter Cable Workers On Strike For More Than a Year

Charter Cable and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3 members in the city of New York have been fighting for more than a year now. The number two cable company’s disagreement with the almost 2000 New York City Union tech workers doesn’t look to be settled any time soon.

IBEW Local 3 says Charter Communications (Cable and Internet provider) is trying to take back the benefits they already enjoy. Benefits like overtime and holiday pay are in limbo for the workers that were acquired when Charter purchased Time Warner Cable a few years back. The union workers want to keep the same benefits they have had since before the purchase. For their part, Charter Communications says the New York employees should be happy with the pay increase Charter is offering.

It seems that Cable, Internet and telephone companies are often in negotiations with their workers. AT&T, Frontier and other companies have recently been in strikes, negotiations or just settled them.

At the same time, Charter Cable and Internet wants to renew the New York City cable franchise it got from the Time Warner Cable acquisition. Charter’s CEO Tom Rutledge got almost $100 million in pay and other benefits from the company in 2016.

The Best Way to Find Cable Internet

A lot of people prefer the high speeds of cable Internet to older technologies like telephone lines. Unfortunately it is not always easy to find the best high-speed cable Internet in your neighborhood.

The great news is that the days of having to look high and low to find the best Internet are over. Just go to the website http://cableinternetbyzip.com/ and type in your zip code to find the providers in your area.

You won't just find one or two providers. Those guys at http://cableinternetbyzip.com/ have already looked high and low to find the cable Internet providers where you live.

Whether it is one of the big Internet providers like Charter or a smaller provider like Buckeye Cable you will get your answer there.

Senator Wants to Reinstate Comcast Merger Conditions

Cable TV, Internet and voice bundle provider Comcast also owns NBCUniversal. Therein lies the rub according to some lawmakers. That is a lot of power.

The Democrat Senator from Connecticutt, Richard Blumenthal, wants to keep the conditions Comcast had to agree to as part of the approval for their purchase of NBCUniversl in 2011. Blumenthal, along with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn penned an op-ed about Comcast, the largest cable and Internet company, that was published in Bloomberg recently titled  “It’s Too Soon to Unleash Comcast.”

Since Comcast provides bundles of TV, Internet and phone, in addition to the content of NBC and Universal studios, they do have a lot of power that they wouldn't have if they were smaller or didn't also own NBC. Senator wants to make sure that doesn't give them unfair advantage.

President Trump Unveils his New Rural Broadband Plan

President Donald Trump just announced his new plan to make high-speed broadband Internet available in rural areas.  Trump was speaking at the 99th annual American Farm Bureau Federation convention in Nashville, Tennessee. The President told farmers and other attendees that with the high speed Internet “you can compete on a level playing field, which you were not able to do.”

Much of the plan was as a result of new report from the President's Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity, which promised to "use all viable tools to accelerate the deployment and adoption of affordable, reliable, modern high-speed broadband connectivity in rural America, including rural homes, farms, small businesses, manufacturing and production sites, tribal communities, transportation systems, and healthcare and education facilities."

As part of his new Rural Broadband plan, the Department of the Interior will be directed to devote funding toward broadband installation in rural America. The President's plan also calls for the network installation processes to be streamlined with standardized forms. Seems that they would already have standardized forms. The plan is to also review requests to place antennas on federal buildings. The FCC has said that 53% of rural communities still can’t find high speed broadband service in their area.

For the most part, rural America supported Trump over Hillary Clinton in the election last year and if he wants to count on their support in the future he needs to come through with the promises he made on the campaign trail. Helping small rural businesses get high-speed Internet in the towns where they live would be a step in that direction.