Ajit Pai Repealed Net Neutrality Although Almost Everyone Said He was Wrong

There is a lot of worry what will happen to the Internet due to the repeal of net neutrality rules. Many think that finding high-speed Internet Service Providers in their area that don't treat content unfairly will be hard.

Tim Berners-Lee, the founder of the World Wide Web, along with several dozen US Senators, countless technical experts, a bunch of advocacy organizations and several million American citizens all asked Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Ajit Pai not to repeal net neutrality rules. Did he listen? No. He was doggedly determined to have his way. Or I guess we should say the way of big corporate Internet Service Providers like Comcast, Charter and others. And Berners-Lee had even told him he doesn’t even understand how the Internet works. Pai didn’t seem to care. On Thursday December 14th, he repealed the rules. Ironically Pai called his destruction of net neutrality rules “Restoring Internet Freedom.”

Mayors and City Officials Had Sent a Letter To FCC’s Pai Opposing the Open Internet Repeal

To protect the Internet service in their towns, dozens of mayors and other city and county officials from around the country sent a letter to the FCC head, Ajit Pai (adding to the host of other people and groups speaking out against the repeal of the rules) expressing their opposition to his planned gutting of the rules put in place two years ago. The mayors of Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Tallahassee, Chicago, Chattanooga, Pittsburgh, and New York City are among the officials who signed the letter which reads: “we strongly oppose the Commission’s proposal. It offers carte blanche to powerful service providers but little more than promises to consumers. The Commission’s approach puts those few companies ahead of millions of Americans.”

Attorneys General of Several States Sue FCC Immediately After Pai's Net Neutrality Repeal

The New York attorney general announced that he will be launching a multi-state lawsuit against Ajit Pai and the Federal Communications Commission right after the repeal of the net neutrality rules. So far the AGs from New York, Massachusetts and Washington have signed on but more will likely be joining in the next few days. The day before the vote, the AGs of eighteen states wrote Ajit Pai and the FCC a letter calling for a delay of the vote until the questionable web site comments posted in response to the FCC request could be sorted out. The Attorneys General of California, District of Columbia, Iowa, Illinois, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Vermont, and Washington all signed the letter to Pai so they may all sign on to the lawsuit against him to get good high speed Internet service in their states.

Cox Communications Works to Make a Difference.

Cable TV and Internet Provider Cox Communications is working to create change in the environment by reducing their impact and increase their sustainability. Cox has been working since 2007 to reduce their carbon footprint as they say.

In December of 2013, Cox signed an agreement to increase the efficiency of their set top boxes. Cox has received several green awards including awards from the city of San Diego, Orange County Metro Magazine and the Louisiana Cable and Telecommunications Association.

It is important for Internet and Cable providers like Cox to try to lessen their impact on the environment. Cox often work with the Trust for Public Land, giving Cox Conserves Hero awards.

Cox has a project they started in 2008 in Arizona called TWIG (Turning Waste Into Growth) that collects recylable materials and sells them to recycling companies and donates the proceeds to fund grants for youth education and development programs.

If more Internet Service Providers like Cox became involved with environmental and community programs it might make a difference in the world.

Charter Looking to Buy Cox Communications

Internet providers have been selling bundles with Internet, Cable TV and phone service for years. More and more they are bundling the companies. Charter bought two other big cable companies last year. AT&T is trying to buy Time Warner, the media company. Verizon just bought AOL and Yahoo. Comcast bought NBC/Universal a while back.

Even though they haven’t totally digested Time Warner Cable and The Bright House Networks but Charter, the second largest cable TV company seems to be making overture toward Cox Cable, the third largest cable television company in the US. Time Warner and Time Warner Cable were two different companies. Time Warner Cable sold cable and Time Warner owns studios like Warner Brothers along with HBO and DC Comics. Time Warner Cable was absorbed by Charter.

Cox has bundles that include television, Internet and phone service and also Charter has bundles of Internet, phone and cable TV so I don’t think there is any way the merger would help the customer. We would just have less competition and probably higher prices.

Cox is still owned be descendants of the Cox family, “Cox has been very clear and consistent that we are not for sale,“ said Todd Smith, a spokesperson for Cox.

Cox Contour now Integrates Netflix

Of course Cox Communications has Internet, TV and voice bundles but now Cox and Netflix have announced a Netflix integration on Cox Contour.  Watching Netflix movies and shows has never been easier. Customers can just tell the Cox Contour remote what they want. Cox customers that have a Netflix subscription can watch Netflix content, along with Cox's other programming like live TV, On Demand and DVR content. All this takes place within their Contour TV guide.

Netflix is excited to work with Cox Communications, "Cox Contour customers can now watch TV series, movies, comedy specials and documentaries from Netflix as easily as they watch live TV," said vice president of business development at Netflix Paul Perryman. "Through Contour's voice remote, they can access all of their favorite Netflix or live TV shows all in one place, without juggling remotes or cords."   


The full integration with the Cox Contour and Internet bundle means that finding and watching all of your favorite shows and movies is easy as pie. The Cox Contour remote can be used to:

•     Search for specific Netflix TV shows or movies using Contour voice remote
•     Choose the Netflix icon by simply saying "NETFLIX" to the voice remote
•     Discover and select Netflix titles from the Cox On Demand menu

Cox Internet and TV customers will need a Netflix membership to watch shows from Netflix. 

"Cox has supported Netflix subscribers for years with our high-speed internet service and now we're improving the experience by adding the Netflix service to the Contour TV guide," said president of Cox Communications, Pat Esser.  "Customers want to easily access the content they care about – across sources – anytime, anywhere; we'll continue to look for more ways to improve the video experience."

Cox Contour uses the X1 platform from Comcast which can now include Netflix's content library (with Netflix membership).  You can use the voice remote to change channels, find programs and movies, get recommendations and launch other apps by voice commands.  With the TV app you can get personalized traffic, weather and news. With the sports app you can see scores and other game statistics right on your television screen without any interruption to the game.    

Cox Communications Double and Triple Play Bundles

The Cox Communications triple plays start out at less than $100.00 and offer great value with features like speeds of up to 300 Mbps, cloud storage, Spam Blocker, Cox Security Suite Plus and access to over 500,000 Cox WiFi hotspots. Cox voice gives you unlimited local calling and useful calling features like caller ID, call waiting and automatic redial. 

Free HD, access to pay per view movies and TV shows and digital music channels come with many of the Cox Triple Play and Double Play Bundle packages with Cox Contour television. 

Cox Homelife security is also available bundled with other Cox services. Of course, in addition to the hundreds of TV channels to choose from, Cox Contour TV can include HBO, Cinemax, Showtime and the other major premium channels so you can watch shows like Silicon Valley and Game of Thrones. Of course there are also lots of sports programming so you can root for your favorite team.

Cox has been in the cable television business for over fifty years. James M Cox started buying small cable companies in 1962. Cox Communications is currently privately owned by the Cox family and is owned by the same company that owns AutoTrader, ValPak and Kelley Blue Book.

Cox Communications offers cable Internet service to over 20 million people in 18 states, making Cox the fourth biggest cable Internet service provider of in the United States.

Cox Trivia – Did you know that Cox Communications was the first cable company to offer phone service to its customers?

Panoramic WiFi from Cox Cable

Several months ago Cox Communications' new Panoramic WiFi, their newest High-Speed Internet offering, became available nationwide. The Cox Panoramic WiFi and extenders are designed for a myriad of uses from simple computer connections to whole-house smart home connectivity. Webcams, smart TVs, smart phones, gaming systems will all work throughout your home with the new Panoramic WiFi System. Using cutting edge tech, you can experience higher Internet connection speeds in areas of your home where you couldn't get online before. The wall-to-wall coverage should make dead spots a thing of the past.
The Panoramic WiFi modem is available with most Cox Internet bundles and has speeds of up to 100 Mbps download.
Cox is working to connect you on all your devices in all rooms of your house. The Cox Panoramic WiFi modem can be added to all Cox High Speed Internet plans for fast connection to every single room in your home.
Cox's Panoramic WiFi customers also get access to the largest WiFi network in the country. More than a half a million WiFi hotspots are available to use while traveling. Just look for "Cable WiFi" and log in.
Cox is the third largtest cable company in the US and serves 6 million business and homes.