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Comcast poured concrete for its new tower last weekend [Comcast Roundup]

Plus: Comcast in the courts. The company is paying $50 million in a class-action lawsuit and is being sued over its hotspot initiative.

A rendering of Comcast's Technology Center tower (center) which will house the company's new entrepreneurial support program. (Courtesy image)

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  • ‘Rain or shine,’ concrete will pour in Center City [Philadelphia Inquirer]: “Contractors for Comcast Corp.’s new skyscraper on the 1800 block [of Arch Street] will pour 400 truckloads of concrete over 10 to 12 hours beginning [last] Saturday for a 10-foot-thick, 15-million-pound foundation mat. This foundation mat for the city’s tallest skyscraper will attach the building’s structural support — its core — to city bedrock. Officials said Thursday that it will be one of the largest concrete pours in city history.”
  • Comcast subscribers can soon stream HBO, Showtime via Roku [CNET]: “Most owners of a Roku streaming device have been able to subscribe to HBO Go and Showtime Anytime and then watch these channels through the device’s Web-based apps. However, Comcast subscribers have been denied this service through the failure of apps to authenticate — stemming from an ongoing dispute with Roku.”
  • Comcast deserves a fair shake [Philadelphia Inquirer]: A commentary from the CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce: “For starters, there is virtually no chance Comcast can be a dangerous ‘gatekeeper’ of the Internet. Comcast is actually the only Internet service provider bound by the Federal Communications Commission’s Open Internet rules since they were struck down by the courts in January — Comcast remains bound to the rules due to a separate promise to the FCC, and has pledged to extend that protection to the customers of Time Warner Cable.”
  • Comcast just increased Internet speeds for residential customers in these five cities [GeekWire]: “Comcast announced this week that it ramped up download speeds for residential customers in Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Colorado Springs.”
  • What’s at stake in the legal battle over Comcast’s home WiFi hotspots [GeekWire]: “A lawsuit filed in a California federal court seeks class-action status, claiming Comcast is costing consumers electricity and bandwidth, and creating security risks, with its nationwide hotspot ‘neighborhood initiative.’ The suit claims Comcast has violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, along with several other claims. […] Lead plaintiff Toyer Grear says tests show running the hotspots puts the burden of extra electricity charges on consumers, and they boxes also threatens to slow down users’ Internet access by creating network congestion. Comcast denies the first claim, and says the impact of added congestion will be very minimal, in this Ars Technica story. Besides, Comcast says, concerned consumers can turn off the hotspot feature.”
  • Comcast to pay $50 million in class-action suit [Philadelphia Inquirer]: “The suit, first filed in Philadelphia federal district court in December 2003, claimed that Comcast engaged in anticompetitive behavior by concentrating its cable systems in the broader Philadelphia area and making it difficult for RCN, a competitor, to expand telecommunications services here. By doing so, Comcast could charge higher prices for its cable-TV service, the suit claimed. The plaintiffs originally sought $875 million. Comcast and plaintiffs lawyers battled in courts for years.”
Companies: Comcast
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