Comcast’s Xfinity Wireless gateway is still the industry’s fastest device at more than 700 Mbps, said Allion USA in an analysis released last week. The analysis shows that Comcast delivers speeds that are more than seven times greater than the speeds offered by the AT&T gateway and almost 20 percent faster than the most current Verizon gateway, Comcast said in a news release Tuesday. The analysis said the Xfinity and Verizon Wireless gateways had 3x3 antennas and the ability to leverage both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, compared with the AT&T’s 1x1 antenna system and single band.

The FCC Media Bureau granted ESPN’s request for exemption from video description rules that are applicable to the top five national nonbroadcast networks, the bureau said in an order and public notice Friday in docket 11-43. The top five national nonbroadcast networks are defined by an average of the national audience share during prime time of nonbroadcast networks that reach 50 percent or more of multichannel video programming distributor households and have at least 50 hours per quarter of prime time programming that isn't live or near-live or exempt from the video description rules, the bureau said. MVPD systems that serve 50,000 or more subscribers have to provide 50 hours of video description per calendar quarter during prime time or children’s programming for these networks, as of July 1, the bureau said. ESPN provides less than 50 hours per calendar quarter of prime time programming that isn’t live or near-live, it said. After ESPN’s exemption, the top five nonbroadcast networks that are subject to the video description requirements are Disney Channel, History, TBS Network, Turner Network Television and USA Network, it said.

Charter Communications "has never prevented customers from attaching their own modems to Charter's network," it said in an ex parte notice Feb. 26 in FCC docket 14-57. A Charter spokesman noted that Charter addressed Zoom Telephonics' issues in the ex parte notice. Charter restricted subscribers from attaching customer-owned modems for more than two years with rules for certification of cable modems, Zoom said (see 1503090030). This statement is incorrect and based on an erroneous FAQ page on Charter's website and "was never Charter's policy," Charter said in the filing. Charter customers used third-party modems during this time, it said. Several third-party modems were "inhibiting signal delivery and preventing customers from obtaining advertised speeds," so Charter had a right to restrict the attachment of devices that could harm its network, it said. Charter's standards "are necessary to protect Charter's network and ensure a positive customer experience," it said.

Time Warner Cable asked the FCC Media Bureau to reconsider its petition for special relief for effective competition for three Massachusetts communities that TWC cable systems serve, it said in a petition for reconsideration filed Friday in docket 12-1. The commission granted in part and denied in part TWC's petition in a Feb. 5 memorandum opinion and order. Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) penetration in Adams exceeds the 15 percent statutory threshold for effective competition, TWC said. A recount found that DBS penetration in Adams is 15.22 percent, TWC said. The bureau rejected that Adams is subject to effective competition by discounting the DBS subscriber count by 0.87 percent, subtracting five homes from the count as seasonal, vacation and temporary dwellings, which brought DBS penetration to 14.90 percent, it said. The bureau “failed to follow its own precedent,” TWC said.

HBO’s new stand-alone streaming service -- HBO Now -- will launch in April and be available via subscription exclusively to Apple customers, a news release from HBO parent Time Warner said Monday. When the service is launched, Apple customers can subscribe using the HBO Now app on an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch or directly on Apple TV for $14.99/month. HBO will offer a 30-day introductory free trial period to new HBO Now customers who sign up through Apple in April. The service provides instant access to HBO programming over the Internet. HBO CEO Richard Plepler used Time Warner’s investor meeting in New York last fall to drop the news that the company will offer a "stand-alone HBO streaming service" in 2015 (see 1410150095).

Discovery Communications and Liberty Global became shareholders in Formula E Holdings, that company said in a news release Monday. Formula E, which oversees the fully electric car Formula E racing series, called the move an important step in the “long-term development of the series and confirms its potential on the motorsport scene.”

Bright House Networks said it plans to begin offering 300 Mbps download/15 Mbps upload broadband speeds in its Florida service area beginning later this month. BHN’s service area includes the Tampa Bay metropolitan area and the Central Florida region. The 300/15 speed tier will allow the state's Bright House customers to “more easily access and use other applications that require high bandwidth,” the company said Friday. “We continually look for ways to provide the best available choices to our customers,” said Executive Vice President-Cable Operations Kevin Hyman in a news release. “Just a few months ago, we increased our maximum bandwidth offering to 150 Mbps.”

The 17 largest U.S. cable and phone providers added 3 million net broadband subscribers in 2014, Leichtman Research Group (LRG) said in a news release Thursday. Cable companies have 51.9 million broadband subscribers and phone companies have 35.4 million, it said. AT&T's U-verse and Verizon's FiOS broadband subscribers make up 53 percent of telco broadband subscribers, up from 37 percent at the end of 2012, LRG said. In 2014, the top cable companies added 2.65 million broadband subscribers and the top phone companies added about 345,000 subscribers, LRG said. In 2014, the top cable companies saw 2.3 million more net additions than phone companies did, compared with 1.7 million net adds in 2013, it said.

Time Warner Cable’s Go Green initiative reduced by 38 percent its carbon intensity over the past two years, said a TWC news release Thursday. That exceeded the 15 percent goal it set in 2012, it said. To reach that percentage, TWC increased energy efficiency and improved waste and vehicle management, promoting sustainability within its supply chain, and building employee green teams. TWC had a 15 percent increase from 2012 fuel efficiency within its fleet of 20,000 vehicles by buying more fuel-efficient vehicles, it said.

FCC staff contacted the Alliance for Community Media Feb. 23 and asked for suggested conditions that might “ameliorate” ACM's concerns with AT&T's planned buy of DirecTV, said an ex parte filing posted in docket 14-90 Wednesday. Though ACM said its position remains that the FCC should deny the deal, it proposed conditions that would require AT&T to make public, educational and government (PEG) access channels available on its U-verse product the same way it does local broadcast channels. AT&T also should be required to carry PEG channels for at least five years after the deal is consummated, ACM said.