A jury trial is scheduled to start Aug. 1 on record labels' claims of Charter Communications' Bright House Networks not doing enough to combat music piracy by its broadband subscribers (see 2108120002), per a docket 8:19-cv-710 order Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Tampa.

Altice boosted the download speeds of its Affordable Connectivity Program broadband service from 100 Mbps to 300 Mbps, the cable ISP said Thursday. ACP-eligible homes can receive the 300 Mbps service at no cost after the program’s up to $30 monthly credit is applied, said Altice.

WideOpenWest's 1.2 Gbps broadband data tier is now available across its footprint, the cable ISP said Tuesday. The speed tier also offers 50 Mbps upload speeds, it said.

When a previous group of music labels sued Charter Communications in U.S. District Court in Denver, the court "mistakenly granted confidential treatment to too many documents [and this court] does not intend to make the same mistakes in this case," U.S. District Judge Brooke Jackson said Friday (docket 1:21-cv-02020). Jackson denied an unopposed Charter motion to restrict access to a pair of declarations and three exhibits but approved restricting access to one exhibit. Charter is fighting claims it played a contributory role in music piracy by its broadband subscribers (see 2108120002). "The Court does its business in the public eye unless there is good cause to restrict access, namely, a specific and convincing indication that public access to the document would likely cause undo [sic] harm to a party," Jackson said. "That the disputing parties agree to confidential treatment of much of what they file is not dispositive."

The FCC shouldn’t modify or replace the emergency action notification (EAN) code used for alerting in nationwide emergencies, said NCTA in an ex parte call with the Public Safety Bureau Tuesday, according to a filing Thursday in docket 15-94. “The EAN code is substantially different” from other emergency alert system codes “in that it is hard-wired into downstream equipment” such as set-top boxes, NCTA said. “Thus, any changes to the EAN code would be difficult to implement.” Modifying the code was among several proposals the FCC floated last year for updating emergency alerting (see 2110200065). Cable set-top boxes have about a 10-year lifecycle, and many customers may have even older boxes, NCTA said. “Older set-top boxes are frequently phased out via attrition, rather than actively replaced.”

Administrative Law Judge Cameron Elliot at the International Trade Commission set Oct. 2, 2023, as the target date for completing the Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into allegations in a Broadband iTV April 22 complaint that set-top boxes from Comcast, Charter and Altice infringe four VOD and electronic program guide patents (see 2204280027), said an order he signed Tuesday in docket 337-TA-1315. Elliot’s order has five days of hearings scheduled to begin Feb. 6, and his initial determination in the case is to be ready by June 2.

U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven in Tampa rejected summary judgment motions by Bright House Networks and music labels suing it (see 2205180022), in a pair of docket 8:19-cv-710 orders last week. Scriven disagreed with the music labels, saying a variety of issues preclude summary judgment, including whether the digital files that Bright House broadband subscribers distributed are infringing copies of the plaintiffs' copyrighted works and whether Bright House had knowledge of alleged infringement. In denying Bright House's summary judgment motion, the judge said such factual disputes "preclude resolution on summary judgment," adding the case will go to trial for a jury to decide.

Fiber-to-the-home from telco operators will cover about 55% of the U.S. by the end of 2025, up from about 35% today, providing "a significant competitive threat" to incumbent cable operators, S&P said in a note Thursday. It said wireline telcos have undertaken their FTTH investments because of their restructured balance sheets and third-party private investments. It said FTTH's ultimate penetration will depend on variables including returns on capital and the use of aerial vs. buried fiber, it said. Cable will likely lose "some" market share to telcos' FTTH overbuilds, slipping from an average 60%-65% penetration for its copper-based services to 50%-55% in three to four years, it said. The biggest impact on cable might be in eliminating existing growth opportunities from telco customers that would otherwise switch to cable, it said. S&P said helping in the competition with telco overbuilds is that cable operators have heavily invested in their networks over time and most can deliver 1 Gbps download speeds across their footprints, as well as cable operators' pricing flexibility. It projected cable operators can increase subscriber numbers at around 2% annually through 2024, with that growth coming from new home formation and footprint edge-outs as competition grows and the market matures. It said cable operators will likely be active bidders in the broadband equity, access and deployment program as government-subsidized rural markets present a growth opportunity.

By the end of 2025, more than 90% of U.S. households will have access to at least one broadband provider offering 100/20 Mbps service and at least one offering 25/3 Mbps service, ACA Connects said in a white paper Thursday. Citing FCC data and trend lines, it said 84% of households will have access to at least two providers offering 100/20 Mbps service. The paper said increased competition, plus FCC ability to regulate prices and speeds for broadband services it subsidizes, makes moot any supposed need "for common-carrier-style regulatory intervention." It said 7% of U.S. households are in areas served by a subsidized broadband provider, and the number of those households will grow in coming years due to the FCC's broadband equity, access and deployment program spending and other federal stimulus programs. ACA urged that even if there is common-carrier-style regulation on larger broadband providers, smaller operators should be exempt.

Breezeline launched a series of online educational resources aimed at digital literacy and online safety issues, it said Wednesday. They include webinars on digital literacy created in partnership with Cyber-Seniors, videos and webinars created with Boston Children's Hospital's Digital Wellness Lab on media's impact on children, and resources created with CyberSecurity NonProfit on cybercrime prevention.