Via a new PC Magazine study, cable has once again shown to deliver the fastest broadband speeds to the most homes across the US.  Cox, Comcast and Charter take the first three spots, with other cable operators not far behind.  As we’ve noted previously, cable broadband is available to 93% of U.S. households, offering speeds of 5 Mbps or faster to more than 90% of U.S. households

Over the past 15 years, cable has invested more than $170 billion to upgrade networks, add new equipment and improve next-generation networks.  From this significant investment, consumers are reaping the benefits of the fastest speeds to connect with family, telecommute or download an HD movie for their next trip.

But cable is not stopping here.  Operators are continuing to invest and deploy the latest technology for even faster speeds to even more homes.  As we said in an earlier post, Comcast announced in April that it is offering 105 Mbps service to 40 million homes.  At year-end 2010, speeds of 50 Mbps or faster were available to more than 80 million homes by cable operators.  SNL Kagan notes that ultra-fast wideband service – with speed tiers that exceed 100 Mbps – should reach 94 million homes by the end of 2011.

Most importantly, cable’s customers are pleased with these faster speeds and reliable networks.  A June 2010 FCC survey showed that 91 percent of subscribers are satisfied with the speed of their broadband service.

The Federal Communication Commission’s new report, Measuring Broadband America, confirms that cable operators are delivering world-class services to their customers.

Based on a rigorous testing process, the Commission found that, on average, during peak periods (7:00 – 11:00 p.m. local time), cable-based services delivered 93 percent of advertised download speeds and 108 percent of advertised upload speeds.  When off-peak performance is included as well, many of the cable operators in the test delivered more than 100 percent of the advertised download speed and the majority delivered more than 100 percent of advertised upload speeds.  To the extent the National Broadband Plan suggested there might be a significant gap between actual and advertised speeds, the report dispels those concerns and makes clear that “actual download speeds are substantially closer to advertised speeds” than was asserted previously.

The positive results reported by the Commission reflect the cable industry’s long track record of network investment and innovation and our focus on providing services that are attractive to consumers.  As with Commission surveys showing extremely high consumer satisfaction levels, the results of the SamKnows testing confirm that marketplace forces are working for the benefit of consumers.

The testing also demonstrates the significant consumer benefits associated with PowerBoost technology, which is used by many cable operators.  PowerBoost enables consumers to receive bursts of additional throughput when there is excess capacity in the network.  As the Commission’s report demonstrates, PowerBoost increased download performance by as much as 52 percent during peak periods for some offerings.

Beyond the substantive importance of the results, the SamKnows testing is equally important for the procedural lessons it teaches.  The Commission faced a challenging task in developing a testing mechanism that could accurately measure the performance of different types of ISP networks.   To the Commission’s credit, it recognized that the best way to develop such a process would be to work in a collaborative manner with the ISPs whose networks were being tested, as well as academics, equipment manufacturers, consumer groups and others.  We appreciate the hard work and dedication of the Commission staff throughout this process.

It is important to keep today’s report in perspective.  The test involved only a small fraction of the ISPs operating in the United States (and only covered wireline providers), each ISP had only a small number of test panelists, and the report covers only one month of performance data.  Further analysis of the data is needed to ensure that the testing process fairly and accurately measured the performance of each ISP.   We look forward to reviewing the report in more detail and continuing to work with the Commission staff and other interested parties on these issues.

In an op-ed in today’s Washington Post, Karen Kornbluh, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and Daniel Weitzner, White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Internet Policy, made a powerful case for building an international consensus around the benefits of an open, interconnected Internet.

According to Kornbluh and Weitzner, the Internet is such a powerful engine of economic and social advancement because no centralized authority governs it and no nation owns it – which “means that nations that choose to take a heavy-handed approach to regulating the Internet can reduce its value for every other nation and user.”

In particular, Kornbluh and Weitzner argue that “[t]he first threat is posed by some governments and international institutions intent on imposing pre-Internet-era telecommunications regulatory schemes to provide them control over the flow of information (and money) they enjoyed in the old days of the monopoly phone company.”

We couldn’t agree more.  In this country, the FCC opened a docket to examine whether broadband Internet access service should be reclassified as a pre-Internet-era common carrier service under Title II of the Communications Act.  NCTA and others pointed out that imposing a top-down Depression-era regulatory structure on modern broadband facilities would not only be unlawful but would depress broadband investment and job-producing economic growth at the worst possible time.

Fortunately, the FCC declined to reclassify broadband Internet access service in its Open Internet Order.  Unfortunately, the reclassification docket was expressly left open.

If we want other nations to reject the idea of imposing old-style regulatory structures on the Internet, there’s no place to start like home.  It’s time for the FCC to close the Title II reclassification docket.  That would prevent a future Commission from turning back the clock, and send a clear message to the rest of the world.

As part of The Cable Show 2011, we are producing a special venue on the exhibit floor called The Park.

It is not an exhibit itself. Nor is it a set of panels. It is a series of nine one-hour talk shows that will be streamed live over the web and that attendees can witness in person.

The conversation in The Park will center on the dynamic changes that the cable industry is going through, which are transforming the customer experience.

For its first 50 years, the cable industry was primarily about delivering traditional television. Since the commercial launch of cable modems 15 years ago, the focus has gradually been shifting to broadband; we have now reached a point where broadband is an enabling platform for a variety of services and is re-defining the traditional media business.

In previous phases of our industry’s history, cable had a particular infrastructure and utilized certain technologies, which then enabled a set of services it could deliver to customers. The Park will show, through practical demonstrations and thought-provoking discussions, that we are now entering a new phase, in which our business operates in a different way, delivering new types of services to our customers.

This is a new world in which Consumer Electronics, Information Technology and Hollywood have become intertwined. At a time when some critics have accused the cable industry of being an obsolete dinosaur, doomed to distinction, the industry is actually turning into a dynamo, becoming a part of the broader ecosystem and finding innovative ways to carry our hybrid fiber-coaxial infrastructure into the future.

Here is the list of the topics we’ll be addressing in The Park over the three days:

• Socially Acceptable: Community Engagement in a Socially-Driven Interactive World. We’ll examine the enormous impact of social media, especially in the areas of customer service, politics and commerce.
• Unplugged: The Mobile Extension of Cable’s Value Proposition. Cable’s broadband services (both video & Internet) are becoming unchained from the set-top box and the modem, allowing consumers to extend the value of their subscription to mobile devices and even outside the home.
• Ideas in Action: Partnerships That Drive Broadband Adoption in America. With the increasingly critical role that broadband plays as a driver of economic recovery, job creation and global competitiveness, how are cable operators helping to drive broadband adoption? Also, a presentation of Cisco’s annual Visual Networking Index will document the growth and use of IP networks worldwide.
• Consumer Voices: Digital Natives – Habits and Habitats of the Next Generation. A special focus group of real consumers will feature tomorrow’s consumers. We’ll be able to learn firsthand from young consumers their experiences, practices, expectations about use of digital platforms in their daily lives and behaviors – today and tomorrow.
• Cable Bridge: You CAN Get There From Here. Cable’s shift to new platforms is still evolving, so we’ll examine the growing momentum towards multi-platform delivery.
• TV Everywhere: The Latest in Cable’s Anytime, Anywhere App-Focused Attitude. Programmers are undergoing radical shifts in their business as well, while still partnering with cable operators. New apps empower authorized subscribers to access shows & movies in a convenient, personalized and portable manner.
• Consumer Voices: New Advertising Strategies & What Consumers will Find Helpful (or Not). Advertising will be key to generating revenue in this new environment. This focus group will look at how consumers will view new ad strategies implemented on diverse platforms including product placement.
• Network Nirvana: Achieving Harmony in Cable’s Connected Home. As broadband converges everything, distinctions between cable’s voice, video and data services begin to fade. Cable’s connected home  allows content to be streamed to any device in the home, and leverages the network to enable new services like home monitoring, automation and security.
• Problem Solvers: Innovating for the Greater Good. Advanced technology is not only a commercial venture, but also a power force for good, affecting everything from educations to civics. In addition, we’ll also discuss cable’s role in advancing the critical IPv6 transition that will make the Internet continue to function properly.

Tune in Tuesday afternoon (June 14) at live.thecableshow.com beginning at 12:30 p.m. (CT) to see the conversation. The whole schedule is online at The Cable Show website.

As we reported, yesterday was World IPv6 Day, an important time of testing for the transition from our current IPv4 system to IPv6.

According to initial feedback, there appeared to be some intermittent software issues, but overall this 24-hour test was a success for those websites participating in World IPv6 Day (See ISOC’s release). It will take some time for Internet companies (websites, ISPs and others) to collect and examine their data, so it will likely be days or weeks before the results are fully analyzed.

As I indicated earlier this week, the cable industry was fully engaged in World IPv6 Day, as befitting our role as leading broadband providers in America. CableLabs, the industry’s research & development organization, kept an open communications line for 26 hours, in order to allow for quick MSO discussion and response to any issues that might have arisen.

We will continue to be involved in this and other key Internet issues (e.g., our sponsorship of the 85th meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force next year).

Kudos to the Internet Society for taking the lead on this initiative, and for their role to help promote the transition to IPv6.