Among the three ISPs that received letters, Verizon and Time Warner Cable have paid interconnection deals with Netflix; Cablevision is a partner in Open Connect, Netflix’s private CDN program that relies on single-purpose edge caches. The attorney general also requested copies of internet speed tests.
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People living in New York may not be getting the broadband speeds they’re paying for.
Basically it seems that the state of New York is under the belief that these companies could be charging customers who bought packages for a certain speed, but at the same time aren’t delivering those promised speeds.
Cablevision spokesman Charlie Schueler denied the claims, saying, the company’s Optimum Online service “consistently surpasses advertised broadband speeds, including in FCC and internal tests”.
The CWA has continued to bash Verizon over accusations that the operator has not properly maintained its legacy copper network in New York.
In the letters, Mr. Wu wrote that the discrepancy between actual speeds and those advertised may be wide enough apart to “render the advertising deceptive”.
In one of his first major initiatives since joining Schneiderman’s team and taking a leave of absence from his post as a professor at Columbia Law School, Wu requested a lengthy list of documents including detailed performance metrics, sales- employee training materials and information on interconnection agreements and policies. The companies have a deadline of November 8 to cooperate with the investigation.
Officials were alerted to a potential problem amid a slew of consumer complaints and public data from third-party researchers.
Another concern that will be investigated is whether or not Time Warner Cable and Cablevision can deliver speeds to consumers over “the last mile”, or in between a customer’s home and the Internet service provider’s network infrastructure.
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In the letters, Schneiderman’s office says it is concerned that customers paying a premium for higher speeds may be experiencing a disruption in their service due to technical problems and business disputes over interconnection agreements. He added that the cable TV firm is happy to provide performance information to the AG’s office as it does to its customer. He warned records could be subpoenaed and legal action taken to stop any deceptive business practices.
