Comcast Corporation
Type	Public (NASDAQ: CMCSA)
Founded	1963 in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Key people	Brian L. Roberts CEO & Chairman
Industry	Telecommunications
Products	Cable Television, Broadband Internet, Comcast Digital Voice, Home Networking
Revenue	▲$24. A public company usually refers to a company that is permitted to offer its registered securities ( Stock, bonds, etc The NASDAQ (acronym of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American Stock exchange. Tupelo ( IPA:) is the largest city in and the County seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə Brian L Roberts is Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, an American company providing cable entertainment and communications products and services For other uses of this term see Industry (disambiguation An industry (from Latin industrius, "diligent industrious" In Marketing, a product is anything that can be offered to a Market that might satisfy a want or need Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just Broadband, is high-speed Internet access—typically contrasted with dial-up access over a Modem Comcast Digital Voice (CDV is a Telephone product offered by Comcast Corporation In business revenue or revenues is Income that a company receives from its normal business activities usually from the sale of goods and services 97 Billion USD (2007)
Net income	▲$2. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Net income is equal to the Income that a firm has after subtracting costs and Expenses from the total Revenue. 53 Billion USD (2007)
Employees	87,000
Website	www.comcast.com

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is the largest cable television company and the second largest Internet service provider in the United States. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A website (alternatively web site or Web site, a back-construction from the Proper noun World Wide Web) is a collection of Web pages The NASDAQ (acronym of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American Stock exchange. An Internet service provider ( ISP, also called Internet access provider or IAP) is a company which primarily offers their customers access to the Internet The United States of America —commonly referred to as the ^[1][2][3]

History

Comcast was founded in 1963 by Ralph J. Roberts, Daniel Aaron, and Julian A. Ralph J Roberts (born 1920 is the co-founder of Comcast Communications and was its Chief Executive Officer for 40 years Brodsky based on a recommendation from Warren "Pete" Musser, of Harrisburg, who brought the deal to Ralph Roberts to buy his first cable system in Tupelo, Mississippi. Harrisburg is the Capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America Tupelo ( IPA:) is the largest city in and the County seat of Lee County, Mississippi, United States. Mississippi ( is a state located in the Deep South of the United States The company was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1969, under the name Comcast Corporation from American Cable Systems, though a former insider says that "Comcast" is a derivation of the name "Communications and Broadcasting". Moving into the area of programming content, Comcast became majority owner of Comcast-Spectacor, Comcast SportsNet (in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington DC/Baltimore, MD, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Pacific Northwest and metro Sacramento), E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, G4, The Golf Channel and Versus (formerly known as Outdoor Life Network) over a period of years. Comcast-Spectacor (formerly Spectacor is a Philadelphia Pennsylvania based sports and entertainment company Comcast SportsNet (or CSN) is a group of Regional sports networks The group is primarily owned by the Comcast Cable television company CSN Chicago is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in the Chicago area Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia ( CSN Philadelphia) is a Regional sports network that is a member of Comcast SportsNet. Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic ( CSN Mid-Atlantic) is a Regional sports network in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Comcast SportsNet Bay Area ( CSN Bay Area for short is the regional sports network that serves cable outlets throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as CSN Northwest is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams throughout the Northwest United States. E! Entertainment Television (or simply E!) is an American Cable television and Direct broadcast satellite network The Style Network is an American Cable television network based in Los Angeles, California. G4 is an American cable and satellite Television channel originally geared toward male viewers aged 12&ndash34 devoted to the world of The Golf Channel, sometimes abbreviated as TGC, is an American Cable television network with coverage focused on the game of Golf. Versus is a Cable television sports channel owned by Comcast and shown in the United States. In 2006, Comcast started a new sports channel in cooperation with Major League Baseball's New York Mets, SportsNet New York in the greater New York City region. "Mets" redirects here For the medical term see Metastasis. SportsNet New York ( SNY) is a New York City -based sports cable network which airs in the New York metro area and all of New York state, The City of New York

Comcast also has a variety network known as CN8, or the Comcast Network, available exclusively to Comcast and Cablevision subscribers. The Comcast Network (also known as CN8) is a cable television station that is shown mostly in parts of Comcast Cable services in the Eastern part of Cablevision Systems Corporation ( is an American Cable television company The channel shows news, sports, and entertainment and places emphasis in Philadelphia, New England, and the Baltimore/Washington, D. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the C. areas, though the channel is also available in New York, Pittsburgh, and Richmond. This article is about the city of Richmond the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia. In August 2004, Comcast started a channel called CET (Comcast Entertainment Television). It is only available to Colorado Comcast subscribers. It focuses on Life in Colorado. It also carries some NHL & NBA Games when Altitude Sports & Entertainment is carrying the NBA or NHL. In January 2006, CET became the primary channel for Colorado's Emergency Alert System in the Denver Metro Area.

The UK division was sold to NTL in 1998. After the sale of their cellular division to SBC Communications of San Antonio and the acquisition of Greater Philadelphia Cablevision in 1999, Comcast and MediaOne announced a $60 billion merger which did not occur until three years later (as AT&T Broadband). Before proposing a merge request please see Talk and see if the merger you propose has recently been made and MediaOne was a cable company created by US West in 1995 where the cable service started as a division of US West Media Group AT&T Broadband was the name of AT&T 's cable operations which were composed of the assets of TCI and MediaOne, as well as two Comcast cable

In 2002, Comcast paid the University of Maryland $25 million for naming rights to the new basketball arena built on the College Park campus, named Comcast Center. The University of Maryland College Park (often referred to as The University of Maryland UMD, UMCP or simply Maryland) is a public research Naming rights are the right to name a piece of Property, either tangible property or an event usually granted in exchange for financial considerations Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m Comcast Center (nicknamed "The Cable Box" is the arena for the University of Maryland Terrapins men’s and women's basketball teams

On January 3, 2005, Comcast announced that it would become the anchor tenant in a new skyscraper in downtown Philadelphia, to be named the Comcast Center, not to be confused with the Maryland arena mentioned above. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Comcast Center is a Skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia. The building officially opened for business on June 8 2008 and its primary tenant is The 975 ft (297 m) skyscraper is officially the tallest building in Pennsylvania. A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable Building. There is no official definition or a precise cutoff height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper

In December 2005, Comcast announced the creation of Comcast Interactive Media (CIM), a new division focused on online media. Comcast Interactive Media (CIM is a division of Comcast focusing on online media

Presently, Comcast serves a total of 24. 2 million cable customers, 14. 7 million digital cable customers, 12. 9 million high-speed internet customers, and 4. 1 million voice customers. The company employs over 90,000 people. Comcast is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and also has corporate offices in Houston, Detroit, Denver,and Manchester, NH. Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern The City and County of Denver (pronounced /ˈdɛnvɚ/ is the Capital and the most populous city of Colorado, in the United States Manchester is the largest city in the US state of New Hampshire and the largest city of northern New England, an area composed of Vermont, ^[4]

Acquisitions

Further information: List of assets owned by Comcast

Comcast bought 25% of Group W Cable in 1986, doubling its size. Patial list of assets owned by Comcast Cable Comcast Cable Communications AT&T Broadband Susquehanna Two years later, it purchased a 50% share in Storer Communications, Inc. Comcast acquired American Cellular Network Corporation the same year before combining with Metrophone in 1990. Comcast became the third largest cable operator in 1994 following its purchase of Maclean-Hunter's American division. Maclean-Hunter was a Canadian communications company which had diversified holdings in Radio, Television, Magazines Newspapers and Comcast owned the majority of the electronic retailer QVC from 1995-2004 when its share was sold to Liberty Media. QVC is a West Chester Pennsylvania, USA, multinational corporation specializing in televised home shopping. The Liberty Media Corporation is an American Media conglomerate and the control is exercised by engineer Dr Following other acquisitions, Microsoft invested $1 billion in Comcast in 1997. Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational Computer technology Corporation, which rose to dominate the Home computer

In 2001, Comcast announced it would acquire the assets of the largest cable television operator at the time, AT&T Broadband (AT&T's spun-off cable TV service) for $44. AT&T Broadband was the name of AT&T 's cable operations which were composed of the assets of TCI and MediaOne, as well as two Comcast cable 5 billion USD. The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been In 2002, Comcast acquired all assets of AT&T Broadband, thus making Comcast the largest cable television company in the United States with over 22 million subscribers. This also spurred the start of Comcast Advertising Sales (using AT&T's groundwork) which would later be renamed Comcast Spotlight. Comcast Spotlight is the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable. As part of this acquisition, Comcast also acquired the National Digital Television Center in Centennial, CO as a wholly-owned subsidiary, which is today known as the Comcast Media Center. The State of Colorado ( or chiefly by nonresidents) is a state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America.

Proposed merger name logo, 2001

When it was first announced that AT&T Broadband and Comcast were going to merge, the chosen name for the new company was "AT&T Comcast". That decision was changed so as to not confuse current and future investors in the company, and the merged company retained the Comcast name.

On February 11, 2004, Comcast surprised the media industry by announcing an unsolicited $66 billion bid for The Walt Disney Company, a deal that would have made Comcast the largest media conglomerate in the world. Events 660 BC - Traditional founding date of Japan by Emperor Jimmu. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " A media conglomerate describes companies that own large numbers of companies in various Mass media such as Television, Radio, Publishing, After rejection by Disney and uncertain response from investors, the bid was abandoned in April. It was later discovered that the deal was mostly for Comcast to acquire one of Disney's most profitable operations, ESPN, in an attempt to expand its sports reach. ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to Comcast has since opted to expand OLN's sports coverage with the Tour de France and the NHL, and in the process renaming the network in the United States Versus. History See also:CategoryTour de France by year The dominant sports newspaper in France The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America Comcast's NHL deal also obligated them to launch a U. S. version of NHL Network by the summer of 2007. The network finally launched in October 2007.

Comcast announced on March 25, 2004 that its new gaming-oriented television network G4 (operated by subsidiary G4 Media, Inc. Events 1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which leads to his death on April 6. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " G4 is an American cable and satellite Television channel originally geared toward male viewers aged 12&ndash34 devoted to the world of ) would acquire Vulcan Venture's technology-oriented television network TechTV. Vulcan Inc was founded in 1986 by Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, to manage his investments Technology is a broad concept that deals with a Species ' usage and knowledge of Tools and Crafts and how it affects a species' ability to control and adapt TechTV ( May 11, 1998 &ndash May 28, 2004) was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San The deal was finalized on May 10, 2004 - and the two networks became G4techTV on May 28, 2004. Events 1291 - Scottish Nobles recognize the authority of Edward I of England. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " G4techTV ( May 28, 2004 &ndash February 15, 2005) was a cable and satellite channel resulting from a Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " On January 11, 2005, Comcast announced that it would drop TechTV from the station's name and again be known as "G4". Events 1055 - Theodora is crowned Empress of the Byzantine Empire. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

On April 8, 2005, a partnership led by Comcast and Sony Pictures Entertainment finalized a deal to acquire MGM and its affiliate studio, United Artists, and create an additional outlet to carry MGM/UA's material for cable and Internet distribution. Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc ( SPE) is the television and Film production/distribution unit of Japanese Media conglomerate Sony This article is about the film studio Previously it was affiliated with a cinema chain bearing its name now owned by Regal Entertainment Group. The Internet is a global system of interconnected Computer networks

On October 31, 2005, Comcast officially announced that it had acquired Susquehanna Communications (SusCom,) a York, PA-based cable television and broadband services provider and unit of the former Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff company, for a net cash investment of approximately $540 million. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. York Community Access Television ( YCAT) was a Public access television station in York Pennsylvania. York, known as the White Rose City (after the Wars of the Roses) is a city located in South Central Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff Company is a conglomerate of companies that started in the 19th century with Johann George Pfaltzgraff 's emigration from Germany In this deal Comcast acquired approximately 230,000 basic cable customers, 71,000 digital cable customers, and 86,000 high-speed Internet customers. Comcast previously owned approximately 30 percent of Susquehanna Communications.

On April 3, 2007, Comcast announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire the cable systems owned and operated by Patriot Media, a privately-held company owned by cable veteran Steven J. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Patriot Media & Communications CNJ LLC is a private company that engages in the buying and operating of cable television systems Simmons, Spectrum Equity Investors and Spire Capital, that serves approximately 81,000 video subscribers. Comcast will acquire Patriot for a net cash investment of approximately $483 million. ^[5] By acquiring the niche provider the deal will plug a hole in its central New Jersey service. ^[6]

Adelphia purchase

In April 2005 Comcast and Time Warner announced plans to buy Adelphia Cable. Adelphia Communications Corporation, named after the Greek word "brothers" was the fifth largest cable company in the United States before filing for Bankruptcy $17. 6 billion was to be paid (partly in stock) in the deal that was finalized in the second quarter of 2006 — after the FCC completed a seven-month investigation without raising an objection. Time Warner would become the second largest cable provider in the U. Time Warner Inc ( is the world's largest media and entertainment conglomerate, headquartered in New York City. S. , ranking behind Comcast. As part of the same deal, Time Warner and Comcast would also trade existing subscribers to create larger clusters of customers for each company in various geographical areas.

The changes became effective on August 1, 2006. Events 30 BC - Octavian (later known as Augustus enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. As an example, Comcast's systems in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex were traded to TWC in exchange for Time Warner's North Louisiana market, which covers Shreveport and Monroe. The Dallas – Fort Worth – Arlington metropolitan area, a title designated by the U The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America Shreveport is the third-largest city and the principal city of the third largest Metropolitan area in the U Monroe is a city in and the Parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. Also, Comcast in Los Angeles Area was traded with TWC.

Also in August 2006, Comcast and Time Warner dissolved a partnership that controlled the systems in the Houston, Southwest Texas, San Antonio, and Kansas City markets. After the dissolution, Comcast obtained the Houston system, and Time Warner retained the others. ^[7] On January 1, 2007, Comcast officially took control of the Houston system, but continued to operate under the Time Warner Cable brand in the interim. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. As of June 19, 2007, the Time Warner name was officially retired and replaced by Comcast. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Comcast also took over Adelphia systems in the State College, Pennsylvania area. State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U

In early 2007, Comcast took over Adelphia operations in Palm Beach County, Florida and Bartow, Pickens, Cherokee, and Forsyth Counties in Georgia. ^[8]

thePlatform purchase

In July 2006, Comcast purchased the Seattle-based software company thePlatform. This represented an entry into a new line of business - selling software to allow companies to manage their Internet (and IP-based) media publishing efforts. Customers of thePlatform include Verizon Wireless, Scripps, CourtTV, Amp'd Mobile, WLS-TV, ABC7 Chicago and CNBC. WLS-TV, channel 7 is a Television station in Chicago, Illinois. WLS-TV, channel 7 is a Television station in Chicago, Illinois. CNBC (an abbreviation for the " C onsumer N ews and B usiness C hannel" its official name until 1991 is a cable and thePlatform will also provide media access for Hulu, the joint venture by NBC Universal and News Corporation providing on-demand, ad-supported television programming owned by NBC, Universal Studios, and Fox. NBC Universal is a media and Entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric 's NBC with Vivendi Universal News Corporation (often abbreviated to News Corp) (,,) is one of the world's largest media conglomerate companies by Market capitalisation

High-speed Internet service

Comcast offers downstream speeds of up to 4, 6, 8, or 17. 6 Mbit/s and upstream speeds of 1 Mbit/s, or 2 Mbit/s for the 8 Mbit/s downstream package, for standard home connections. In some areas, they are offering 16 Mbit/s downstream and 1 or 2 Mbit/s (125 kB/s) upstream as a more expensive, yet speedier alternative. These differing speed options are made possible by loading a particular configuration file into the modem. Comcast's "PowerBoost" delivers bursts of 12 to 16 Mbit/s downstream and 1 to 2 Mbit/s upstream for the first 10 MB of the download with their 6 and 8 Mbit/s packages, respectively. In April of 2008, Comcast offered a new tier of speed in two cities in Minnesota. The new tier is 50 Mbit/s down and 5 Mbit/s up and uses the new DOCSIS 3. 0. This is the first of the 20 percent of Comcast territory to see DOCSIS 3. 0. The cost of this new tier is $150. 00 per month. ^[9] Although, unadvertised, Comcast does offer a reduced connection speed (768kb/384kb) at a lesser price in many areas. According to the Comcast High Speed Internet terms of service, customers are provided with dynamic IP addresses. Terms of service (often abbreviated as "ToS" are rules by which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. ^[10]

Comcast has a policy of terminating broadband customers who use "excessive bandwidth," a term the company refuses to define in its terms of service, which say only that a customer's use should not "represent (in the sole judgment of Comcast) an overly large burden on the network. "^[10] Company responses to press inquiries suggest a limit of several hundred gigabytes per month. ^[11][12] In September 2007, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said the company defines "excessive use" as the equivalent of 30,000 songs, 250,000 pictures or 13 million emails in a month. ^[13] Other company statements have said the limit varies from month to month, depending on the capacity of specific cable nodes, and that it affects only the top 1/10th of the top 1 percent of high-speed internet customers.

Controversies

Sports

After the Montreal Expos baseball team relocated to Washington, D. Franchise history Creation of the franchise In 1960 Montreal lost its International League team the Montreal Royals (an affiliate of C. to become the Washington Nationals in 2004, Comcast alienated many fans in the area by refusing to add the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), which airs the team's games, to its channel lineup. The Washington Nationals is an American professional baseball team based in Washington D Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN is a team-owned regional sports network that televises every available game of the Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles throughout In July 2006, as a condition of its approval of Comcast's takeover of a portion of Adelphia's assets, the FCC ordered Comcast to enter into binding arbitration with MASN to settle their dispute. As a result, on August 4, 2006, it was announced that Comcast would carry MASN programming starting in September 2006. Events 70 - The Destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[14]

In the Philadelphia region, Comcast uses the FCC's "terrestrial loophole" to avoid negotiations with satellite television services for delivery of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, which is transmitted via a microwave broadcasting system instead of satellite (as its predecessor, PRISM, was a local-only service). Microwaves are electromagnetic waves with Wavelengths ranging from 1 mm to 1 m or frequencies between 0 PRISM (Philadelphia Regional In-Home Sports and Movies was a 24-hour premium Cable television channel intended for cable customers in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania This essentially denies competition in the Philadelphia market for games of the Philadelphia Phillies (baseball), Philadelphia 76ers (basketball), and Philadelphia Flyers (hockey). The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Baseball is a Bat-and-ball Sport played between two teams of nine players each The Philadelphia 76ers (also known as the Sixers for short are a professional Basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional Ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America Comcast does, however, supply Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia programming to Verizon for their competing FiOS video service, even though FiOS is not available to residents of the city of Philadelphia. "Verizon" redirects here this article is about the corporation see also Verizon Wireless, Verizon Online DSL and Verizon FiOS. Verizon FiOS, sometimes simply FiOS which stands for " Fi ber O ptic S ervice", is an Internet telephone and TV service that is presently A smaller controversy arose when Comcast and Cox Communications announced that their systems in Connecticut (outside of Comcast's systems in New Haven, Danbury, and the Northwest Corner — all areas considered to have a sizable number of Mets fans) would not be adding SNY in 2006, if ever, for varying reasons not fully explained. Cox Communications, also known as Cox Cable and formerly Cox Broadcasting Corporation is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital This came to the anger of Mets fans who would need to switch to satellite to watch games due to all of the state being in the Mets' designated territory (thus, games would not be available through MLB Extra Innings, and most ESPN telecasts would be blacked-out). MLB Extra Innings is an Out-of-Market Sports Package distributed by most cable and satellite providers in North America. ESPN, originally an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American Cable television network dedicated to Comcast's purchase of Adelphia's systems in the state and Cox's skeptical eye towards RSN carriage in regards to fan loyalties (also done with YES and NESN in the past) also could be factors. Adelphia Communications Corporation, named after the Greek word "brothers" was the fifth largest cable company in the United States before filing for Bankruptcy

Comcast does not offer SportSouth as part of its programming package in the Middle Tennessee area which has effected thousands of Atlanta Braves and college sports fans. Braves fans in the Nashville area are basically left in the dark due to Comcast refusal to add the popular sports channel. The irony is that the channel is offered as part of its programming package in the Knoxville, Memphis and Chattanooga area. This decision is sure to force customers to reconsider a move to DirectTV or Dish Network.

Comcast has not as yet agreed to carry the new Big Ten Network that started broadcasting at the start of the 2007-08 college football season. The Big Ten Network is a Regional sports network in the United States launched on August 30 2007 Under the Big Ten's current television agreement ABC/ESPN has the right to choose which Big Ten conference game to air. Big Ten football games not aired on the regular ABC/ESPN feeds have in recent years been syndicated to local television stations and presented as "ESPN Plus" games. The new Big Ten Network will now have the second choice for conference games. The Big Ten Network is currently being carried via satellite on DirecTV and was recently added to Dish Network as well. DirecTV (trademarked as "DIREC' TV' " is a Direct broadcast satellite (DBS service based in El Segundo California, USA, that was founded Not be confused with Indian Service Dish TV DISH Network is a Direct broadcast satellite (DBS service that provides Satellite television The network will also televise each team's basketball games 15-20 times.

According to a March 10, 2008 Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Journal Article, Comcast and The Big Ten Network are close to a deal. A March 11, 2008 Chicago Tribune Article confirmed this report.

Reputation for poor customer satisfaction

There have been many reported incidents with individual customers describing less than satisfying interactions with Comcast's customer services. These include situations with technicians falling asleep on the job,^[15] customers having to spend hours on the phone to fix simple problems, and sending a bill addressed to "Bitch Dog" to a customer who had recently complained about her service. ^[16] On October 15, 2007, a 75-year old Comcast customer named Mona Shaw entered her local Comcast offices with a hammer and destroyed some office equipment before being arrested and fined for damages. Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Mona "The Hammer" Shaw is an elderly Bristow, Virginia resident who rose to national media celebrity in August 2007 when she registered her Mrs. Shaw was angry and frustrated due to a previous encounter with Comcast customer service in which she and her husband wanted to speak with the manager and were forced to wait outside the offices for two hours before being informed that the manager had already gone home. ^[17][18] Comcast's customer service quality has prompted several individuals to create blogs and websites dedicated to informing the public of Comcast's service, including media columnist Bob Garfield's website, ComcastMustDie.com,^[19] ComCraptic.com, Comcast Sucks.org, and the online community, FuckComcast.com. Bob Garfield (b ca 1955 writes the "Ad Review" TV-commercial criticism feature in Advertising Age.

In 2004 and 2007, the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey found that Comcast had the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company or government agency in the country, including the Internal Revenue Service. The American Customer Satisfaction Index ( ACSI) is an economic indicator that measures the satisfaction of consumers across the U ^[20] Comcast's Customer Service Rating by the ACSI surveys indicate that the company's customer service has not improved since the surveys began in 2001. Analysis of the surveys states that "Comcast is one of the lowest scoring companies in ACSI. As its customer satisfaction eroded by 7% over the past year, revenue increased by 12%. " The ACSI analysis also addresses this contradiction, stating that "Such pricing power usually comes with some level of monopoly protection and most cable companies have little competition at the local level. This also means that a cable company can do well financially even though its customers are not particularly satisfied. "^[21][22]

Within the CABLE TELEVISION NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO February 10, 2004^[23] which was required for Comcast's franchise renewal the city's independent consultant found: "Approximately 62% of the respondents, though, were very dissatisfied (along with another 25% who were dissatisfied) with the cost of cable television service. " "A majority of the respondents were satisfied with the friendliness and courtesy of customer service personnel. Overall, approximately 43% of the respondents rated the cable company's performance as fair, 30% regarded it as poor and another 30% rated the cable company's performance as good. "

Internet Traffic Shaping / Network Neutrality

Comcast has recently implemented traffic shaping measures using Sandvine hardware which sends forged TCP RST (reset) packets, disrupting multiple protocols used by peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Traffic shaping (also known as "packet shaping" is the control of Computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance lower latency, The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP is one of the core protocols of the Internet Protocol Suite. For other uses of the term see Peer-to-peer (disambiguation For peer-to-peer networks used for file sharing see File sharing See Shared resource for the conventional meaning of file sharing File sharing refers to the providing and receiving of digital files over a ^[24] This has prevented some Comcast users from uploading files. ^[25]

On August 17, 2007, TorrentFreak reported that Comcast has been preventing bittorrent users from seeding files. ^[26] In October 2007, the Associated Press confirmed the story that indicates that Comcast "actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally. The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio "^[27] In November 2007, Comcast's severe limiting of torrent applications was again confirmed by a study conducted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in which public domain literature is distributed over peer-to-peer networks. The Electronic Frontier Foundation ( EFF) is an international non-profit advocacy and legal organization based in the United States with the stated purpose of being dedicated Analysis of the EFF study finds "strong evidence that Comcast is using packet-forging to disrupt peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing on their network". ^[28] The studies show that Comcast effectively prevents distribution of files over peer-to-peer networks by sending a RST packet under the guise of the end user, and denying the connection, which effectively blocks the user from seeding over BitTorrent. BitTorrent is a Peer-to-peer File sharing protocol used to distribute large amounts of Data. Legal controversy arises because instead of simple filtering, Comcast is sending RST packets to Comcast customers, pretending to be the host user at the other end of the BitTorrent connection. ^[29] Comcast's BitTorrent throttling was revealed to be through a partnership with Sandvine, although Comcast's internal memos instruct employees to respond to the contrary. Sandvine Incorporated () is a networking equipment company based in Waterloo Ontario, Canada. ^[30][31]

There is also evidence of Comcast using RST packets on groupware applications that have nothing to do with file sharing. Kevin Kanarski, who works as a Lotus Notes messaging engineer, noticed some strange behavior with Lotus Notes dropping emails when hooked up to a Comcast connection and has managed to verify that Comcast's reset packets are the culprit. ^[32] A lawsuit, Hart v. Comcast, has been filed accusing Comcast of false advertising and other unfair trade practices for allegedly advertising unlimited high-speed internet access while in reality working to restrict their customers' usage of the internet. Hart v Comcast is a suit filed by Jon Hart a citizen of California against Comcast in Alameda County. False advertising is the use of false or misleading statements in Advertising.

In 2007, Comcast customers reported a sporadic inability to use Google because forged RST packets are interfering with HTTP access to google. Google Inc is an American public corporation, earning revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, e-mail, online com,^[33] which has further angered users. ^[34]

In January 2008, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stated that the FCC is going to investigate complaints that Comcast "actively interferes with Internet traffic as its subscribers try to share files online". Kevin Jeffrey Martin (born December 14 1966) is the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. ^[35] During a February 2008 FCC hearing in Boston, Comcast admitted they paid people to hold seats. The company claimed it was so staffers could attend later, but opponents claimed it was to keep Comcast opponents from attending. ^[36] The FCC has stated it expects to rule on the issue by June 30, 2008. Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common ^[37]

Comcast and BitTorrent agreed in late March 2008 to work together in a collaborative effort that will leave the network provider to reconfigure its network to manage traffic in a more protocol-agnostic way. ^[38] Implementation was projected for late 2008.

Prior to implementation of Comcast's apparent agreements with Bittorrent, Inc. , Comcast is reported to be continuing to limit bandwidth available to peer to peer applications. In April of 2008, Comcast proposed a "P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" to address potential copyright infringement by users of peer to peer applications,^[39] but some scholars argue that this is a veiled attempt by Comcast to strengthen its traffic management capability rather than fight copyright infringement. ^[40]

Lobbying efforts

Comcast spends millions of dollars annually on government relationships. ^[41][42] Regularly Comcast employs the spouses, sons and daughters of influential mayors, councilmen, commissioners, and other officials to assure its continued preferred market allocations. ^{[43][44][45][46]}

Comcast strongly lobbies against "a la carte" bills that would give consumers the option to purchase individual channels rather than a broad tier of programming. These issues continue to garner attention from state governments, Congress and FCC Chairman Martin. ^[47]

HDTV Claim and Quality

In many Comcast markets, new HD channels such as SciFi Channel, USA Network and Animal Planet were added in early 2008. Comcast has started transmitting 3 HD channels per QAM carrier, rather than 2 per QAM like other HD channels. Consequently, available bandwidth per HD channel has decreased, and it has been reported that the video quality of Comcast's new HD channels is inferior to that of competing video services. ^[48]

Hacks

On May 28, 2008 Comcast's internet portal located at www.comcast.net was hacked after members of the underground group Kryogeniks gained control of Comcast's domain management console at Network Solutions. Network Solutions LLC is a Technology company which was founded in 1979 Network Solutions denies this fact but a screen capture of the hack in progress shows otherwise^[49]. A screenshot, screen capture, or screen dump is an Image taken by the Computer to record the visible items displayed on the monitor

When users went to the Comcast portal, it only showed:

This was provided via an embedded iframe sourced to www. defiants. net/hacked. html and then changed to www. freewebs. com/buttpussy69, both of which have since been removed but remained 24 hours after Comcast regained control of their web site.

Also at the same time, email access via the portal and via third-party applications such as Thunderbird and Outlook experienced an outage for most customers and Comcast's high speed network slowed down significantly. Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, Open source, Cross-platform e-mail and News client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. Microsoft Outlook or Outlook (full name Microsoft Office Outlook since Outlook 2003 is a Personal information manager from Microsoft, and is ^[50] The attack began at around 11:00 PM Eastern time, and the hackers owned comcast. net until 4:00 AM the next morning.

Little is known about the interlopers, except for a few traces left behind that hint at some sophomoric sensibilities. In addition to their cryptic defacement, they altered the address for Comcast's administrative contact to "69 dick tard lane, dildo room. " ®^[51]

References

External links

• Comcast.com: Sales, Stock, and Employment
• Comcast.net: For Comcast High-Speed Internet customers
• Yahoo! - Comcast Corporation Company Profile
• Declan McCullough: The Biggest Spammer on the Net? Comcast?
• Site for the cable networks Comcast controls
• Comcast Press Room (2007). Slashdot, often abbreviated as /, is a technology-related news Website owned by SourceForge Inc Retrieved on January 29, 2006.

• Comcast Corporate Overview. Retrieved on July 31, 2007.

• Verizon Signs Agreement With Comcast for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. Retrieved on December 11, 2006.

• Is Comcast's BitTorrent filtering violating the law?. Retrieved on September 05, 2007.