Could Comcast be the big winner from Cisco’s purchase of S-A? That was among the more interesting takes we saw, from The Diffusion Group. The reasoning? Wanting to rid itself of the S-A/Motorola duopoly, Comcast started working with other vendors. It leased fiber backbones through an agreement with Level 3; worked on an IP-based digital set-top; paid Gemstar $250mln for an EPG license; and bought low-end set-top middleware software assets from Liberate. "By opening the interfaces of its network and relying on standard networking components, new vendors (other than Motorola and S-A) would enter the competitive fray, thus reducing prices," Diffusion says. "The real winner is Brian Roberts and Comcast, as well as the cable industry in general."

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Industry to FCC: Hang Up on Call Center Rules

When it comes to the FCC’s proceeding on onshoring customer call centers, NCTA argues that it’s outside the agency’s authority and should be something instead that Congress decides whether to move forward on.

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