New Offer - Cebridge (Texas)

The Dallas system was the first market in which WhiteFence launched Cebridge Digital/Analog Cable and High-Speed products, and WhiteFence recently launched the remainder of the Texas area, including suburban, small-town and rural communities. Digital packages start at 49.95, and high speed Internet service is $29.95 ($49.95 for non-Cebridge cable subscribers). For information on this provider and others, visit the WhiteFence Web site.

Want to know where EarthLink is headed?

EarthLink executives outlined some initiatives at an investors' conference yesterday. According to Telephony Online, these initiatives include:

"Helio, the announced MVNO EarthLink is launching with Korean mobile provider SK Telecom. As CEO Sky Dayton, EarthLink's founder, explained to analysts, the spring launch of this venture will focus on post-paid customers, targeting the 18- to 34-year-old market and Korean-Americans.

New Edge Networks, the data CLEC EarthLink is acquiring. When the deal closes in April, EarthLink will provide new funding for marketing and sales to enable the company to post double-digit growth in the SMB market, and add EarthLink's Web hosting and security products to its successful VPN sales.

TrueVoice and Home Phone, EarthLink's two VoIP offerings. The company is actually offering free PC-to-PC calling, a la Skype, then hoping to move those customers up market to trueVoice, which is more Vonage-like and requires an ATA, and then to Home Phone, the line-powered ADSL 2+-based service EarthLink is trialing with Covad Communications in four cities and will be rolling out across its markets later this year.

Satellite video resale. The company earlier this week announced distribution deals with both DirecTV and EchoStar, owner of Dish Networks, to resell their video services, and it could add content of its own, such as video-on-demand, going forward."

If you want to read more about EarthLink's current direction, read EarthLink to telecom world: Watch us now.

Moving 101: Calculating moving costs

So, you've always heard that moving is hard on your wallet, but just how hard will it be on you? With this online moving calculator, you can estimate how much you will spend on your move based on how far you are moving and how much you are moving. This is a smart tool to use, because once you know how much you are likely to spend on your move, you can budget your other expences accordingly.

New show to debut on Sirius

Starting March 20, the Court TV Morning Show will debut on Sirius. The show will be hosted by Court TV's Vinnie Politan and will provide in-depth commentary on the day's programming on Court TV.

Comcast announces new channel

Comcast announced yesterday that they will begin to carry The Africa Channel, an independent channel that delivers content with the rich and diverse perspectives of those from Africa. This channel launched on Cox Communications systems last September in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The channel will begin to air on Comcast's Atlanta system on March 20. David Jansen, Vice President of International Programming for Comcast, said that this programming will be a valuable addition to Comcast's programming. He said:

"The Africa Channel provides a unique and compelling lineup that we believe will be welcomed by viewers, and we look forward to working with The Africa Channel to bring this valuable programming to our customers."

DIRECTV's Expectations

In addition to announcing their 24 new DIRECTV local HD markets (bringing their total to 36 local HD markets) that I mentioned yesterday, DIRECTV also announced that they are expecting to have about 18 million DIRECTV subscribers by the end of 2008. They believe the lure of HDTV will bring people to the company at about 1 million new customers per year said DIRECTV's CEO Chase Carey at an investor conference in New York City. According to SkyReport.com, DIRECTV also announced that it will "deliver on-demand content to DVR set-top boxes via satellite and through a broadband connection. Hundreds of hours of popular content will be sent via satellite while niche offerings would be delivered by broadband."

Update on the Netflix settlement

As referenced in a previous article by Stas about Netflix, many Netflix subscribers who return movies quickly have been subject to Netflix "throttling." These customers do not get priority on new releases in favor of customers who rent fewer movies or are new to Netflix. Though this practice has caused issues with some customers, Netflix says they currently have an unbelievably high customer satisfaction rating. Netflix executives say they simply use a "fairness algorithm" to determine which customers get movies faster.

However, in response to a class action lawsuit filed by several unhappy Netflix customers, Netflix will soon be giving out free DVDs for a month to anyone who was a Netflix subscriber prior to January 15, 2005. According to the article Netflix Mulling Revision to Settlement, almost 4.1 million former Netflix subscribers will be offered a free month of service, while another 2.08 million current customers will be offered a free month-long upgrade.

Time Warner may have an issue with their bondholders

After the recent truce was reached between Time Warner and stockholder Carl Icahn last week, some Time Warner bondholders have voiced their worry over Icahn's now close position with the Time Warner's board. These bondholders are worried that if Time Warner is too interested in the rights of the shareholders, the bondholders' interests might be forgotten. Read this article to find out more about Time Warner's bondholders' fears.

Quality of VoIP

If you have tried VoIP in the past and weren't satisfied, you are not the only one; however, the quality of VoIP phone calls have increased significantly since just two years ago. Now, people are switching to VoIP without even realizing it.

"It's being marketed as digital telephone service and priced at what traditional VoIP is," explained Keith Nissen, senior analyst with research firm In-Stat, in the article VoIP getting better all the time. "It's a case where the customers are being asked to leave their telephone service and go to the cable company. It's totally transparent to the customer."

And it's not only the quality of VoIP that has improved, but also the perks that VoIP includes. So, if you've tried VoIP before and weren't satisfied, or if you've never tried VoIP before, you might want to look into it and see if it is right for you.

New Offer - Cox Cleveland

Cox is the third largest cable provider in the nation and is noted for its high-capacity, reliable broadband delivery network as well as the company's ability to provide superior customer service. You can currently get Cox Cleveland through WhiteFence's Cable and High Speed Internet categories. Cox Cleveland footprint falls under the following communities: Lakewood, Seven Hills, Parma, Olmsted Falls, Olmsted Township, Rocky River, Fairview Park, Broadview Heights, Parma Heights, Brooklyn Heights, Middleburg Heights and Independence. Go to WhiteFence to find out more about Cox Cleveland.