Comcast Business expanded its DOCSIS 3.1-based data service to business customers across the Northeast and mid-Atlantic U.S., including the Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., areas, it said in a news release Tuesday. It said additional deployments would be done through the fall, adding to its existing DOCSIS 3.1 footprint in Atlanta, Chattanooga, Chicago, Detroit, Huntsville, Miami and Nashville.

CNN will cease and desist from failing to hire former Team Video Services employees at its Washington, D.C., and New York City bureaus because of their union-represented status at TVS or because of their union activities and membership, the National Labor Relations Board said in a proposed judgment (in Pacer) filed Friday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The proposed order also would have CNN notify the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians that it recognizes the union as the exclusive representative of the employees in the bargaining units recognized by TVS and that it will bargain with the union concerning those workers' work terms and conditions. The proposed judgment also lists more than 100 TVS unit employees from the D.C. and NYC bureaus who would be offered employment at their former positions or substantially equivalent positions within 14 days from the order, and more than 200 D.C. and NYC bureau employees who would be made whole with lost earnings and benefits. CNN outside counsel didn't comment Monday. The D.C. Circuit was split earlier this month on enforcing the NLRB action against CNN (see 1708040050).

Citing an AT&T cybersecurity report based on a survey of 5,000 global enterprises, CableLabs on Thursday blogged that 85 percent of enterprises have IoT device deployments in the works, but only 10 percent of those feel confident they could secure them in a cyberattack. On what the cable industry is doing to secure devices, Ron Ih, Kyrio Security Solutions director-business development, said the most important IoT security trend this year is the use of digital certificates and public key infrastructure to better secure the onboarding process when a device is authenticated and added to a network. Main challenges facing the IoT, Ih said, are that most device makers don’t have security experts and are “unprepared to manage security complexities.” Device makers deal with millions of devices per year, work with firmware and small footprint applications and the devices have limited computing power and storage, he said: Security can be limited to what’s deemed essential to reduce costs and delivery times.

Xfinity Mobile has been rolled out across all of Comcast's footprint, it said in a news release Thursday. The company said it doesn't anticipate soon offering the wireless service beyond that (see 1704270001).

Anticipating piracy of its pay-per-view broadcast of the Aug. 26 boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, Showtime is suing an array of John Doe defendants who allegedly operate livestreaming site LiveStreamHDQ and 41 affiliated websites that apparently plan to pirate the broadcast. In a lawsuit (in Pacer) filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Showtime asked for a temporary restraining order and injunctions prohibiting the sites from making the fight available for streaming. Mayweathervsmcgregor.livestreamhdq.com on Thursday had a disclaimer that it existed for information purposes only and that it "will not stream any videos live here."

Layer3 TV CEO Jeff Binder met with Chairman Ajit Pai to talk about opportunities for and hurdles to new entrants in the market, the company said in a docket 17-105 ex parte filing posted Wednesday: There are "considerable costs and resources required to provide a competitive suite of channels to a wide range of subscribers, while" many cable network and broadcast partners are "supportive of Layer3 TV’s growth, expansion and reduction of costs."

Local franchising authorities continue to make such demands as requiring multiple franchises for services offered over the same cable system, fees in excess of 5 percent of gross cable revenue and sizable in-kind requirements, NCTA representatives told FCC Media Bureau and Office of General Counsel staff, according to a docket 05-311 filing posted Thursday. Pointing to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling last month rejecting FCC rules counting various in-kind charges toward franchise fees (see 1707120039), NCTA said it urged the agency to address the LFA issues.

With no one opposing or commenting on Radiate Holdings' planned buy of Wave Holdco (see 1706270013), the companies urged the FCC to approve the transaction quickly, in a docket 17-158 filing posted Tuesday on a meeting between companies' outside counsel and representatives of the International, Media, Wireline and Wireless bureaus and Office of General Counsel.

Sling TV launched a beta version of an in-browser player on Google Chrome Tuesday, enabling customers to watch live and on-demand TV in a web browser, with no app download required, it said Tuesday. Users can start live and on-demand TV “with a click of their mouse” and without having to download plug-ins or log into another device, it said. The player, offering “My TV,” the “Continue Watching” ribbon and access to account settings and parental controls, will roll out additional features on Google Chrome, including DVR and a grid guide, it said.

Restrictions on Charter Communications' debt are probably the biggest hurdle to any merger or acquisition, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker emailed investors Monday. She said that despite Charter having been named repeatedly in recent weeks as a possible target for companies such as Altice, Verizon and Comcast, Charter's post-Time Warner Cable debt structure includes a debt capacity cap that makes a potential buyer dependent on substantial equity to fund such a deal: Altice is the least-likely buyer; Comcast is unlikely to join Altice in a joint bid; and a Verizon deal faces too many regulatory and financial barriers, she said. MoffettNathanson's Craig Moffett last week also dismissed Charter M&A speculation (see 1708100027).