Comcast

Comcast Corporation is the largest provider of cable, broadband, and telephone services in the United States. From its humble beginnings in the 1960s, Comcast has grown to absorb, alone and through partnerships, AT&T Broadband, MGM, and Adelphia Cable.

On August 28, 2008, Comcast announced that they will be instituting a 250 GB per month cap on data usage for residential customers starting on October 1, 2008.

Fast Facts

1. Stock symbol (Nasdaq): CMCSA
2. Annual revenue (2007): $30.895 billion
3. Founder(s): Ralph J. Roberts, Daniel Aaron, Julian A. Brodsky
4. Year Established: 1963 in Tupelo, Mississippi
5. Industry: Cable Television
6. Phone: 215-286-1700
7. Toll Free: 800-266-2278
8. HQ: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
9. CEO: Brian L. Roberts
10. Staff: 87,000
11. No. of cable customers: 24.2 million
12. No. of digital cable subscribers: 14.7 million
13. No. of high-speed internet users: 12.9 million

Key Dates

• 1963: Company founded
• 1969: Company incorporated in Pennsylvania under name Comcast Corporation from American Cable Systes
• 1997: Microsoft invests $1 billion in Comcast
• 2001: Comcast acquires AT&T Broadband
• 2002: Paid University of Maryland $25 million for naming rights to new College Park campus basketball arena
• 2004: Announces unsolicited $66 billion bid for the Walt Disney Company
• 2005: Comcast and Sony Pictures Entertainment acquire MGM and subsidiary United Artists
• April, 2005: Comcast and Time Warner Cable buy Adelphia Cable
• 2007: Rated worst organization for customer satisfaction in American Customer Satisfaction Index
• 2008: Purchases Daily Candy for a reported $125M

Comcast Cap

In an effort to solve problems with clogged bandwidth on their network, Comcast decided to try to limit excessive bandwidth usage among their customers by instituting a 250 GB cap for residential customers. Starting on October 1, 2008, Comcast customers that exceed the 250 GB limit will be notified by the company. While Comcast contends that 99% of their customers will not be affected by the cap,¹ critics have said that customers may turn to other providers in order to avoid the cap.²

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Comcast Cap | Comcast Hacked | Fancast | Daily Candy | Verizon | Time Warner Cable | Satellite Television | DIRECTV | DISH Network | Time Warner | Landmark Communications | Vodafon

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