A home in Frederica was deemed dangerous and unsafe Tuesday after Comcast employee David R. Cox, 50, drove the company’s 2011 Ford F450 truck into the front porch.

(Bruce Wormsley/WBOC-TV)

Cox told authorities he lost control of his truck and smashed into two parked vehicles and then into the home.

The accident destroyed the front porch and damaged the home’s foundation and structural integrity.  Local housing inspectors later condemned the home.

Neither the Comcast driver or occupants inside the house were injured, but the homeowner was left without both vehicles and the home. Victims of such accidents should seek assistance from injury attorneys. They may also consult a lawyer who can answer their inquiries like ‘Can workers’ comp force you to see their doctor?‘. However, if the lawyer you hired doesn’t seem competent or responsible enough, you may need to consult with a Michigan legal malpractice lawyer.

Delaware State Police charged Cox with inattentive driving and released him from the scene.

Building inspectors have temporarily shored up the home with temporary braces and have cordoned off the property for the safety of passersby.

(Courtesy: The Consumerist)

Comcast Cable subscribers in Colorado Springs got more than a bowl of Froot Loops Thursday morning when local ABC affiliate KRDO was suddenly replaced with hardcore adult pornography during an airing of Good Morning America.

Viewers were outraged by the risque replacement, which most assumed was the fault of the TV station.

“I’ve been on the phone already this morning after the porn that was broadcast while my daughter was eating breakfast,” wrote one angry viewer or KRDO’s Facebook page. “I’m outraged! Sick!”

The problems started just after 4 in the morning when Comcast technicians set off a series of cascading failures that ended up disrupting several broadcast TV signals on the cable dial throughout southern Colorado.  But amidst snowy pictures, technical difficulty slides, and test patterns, the appearance of XXX-rated programming for several minutes during ABC-TV’s popular morning news show caused some chaos at KRDO studios when the phones started ringing.

Station officials could do nothing but watch the parade of adult entertainment on their studio monitors.  Since the problem was at the cable company, only Comcast subscribers coped with the mishap.

“We are aware that Comcast is not airing our programming right now,” KRDO posted on its Facebook page early Thursday morning. “It’s an issue with Comcast. We are working on getting it fixed.”

Later Thursday, visibly upset station management appeared on the evening local news to apologize for the error.  Comcast later admitted responsibility for the technical snafu:

We sincerely apologize for the programming interruption on KRDO News Channel 13 (ABC) in Colorado Springs and Pueblo. In the process of correcting a technical system issue, a series of channels were inadvertently shown live on KRDO during the morning programming. The issue was a result of human error which has been resolved and preventative measures have been taken to avoid this from happening in the future.

[flv width=”480″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KRDO Colorado Springs Comcast Channel Switcheroo 4-12-12.mp4[/flv]

KRDO in Colorado Springs found its regular airing of Good Morning America replaced with hardcore pornography on Comcast Cable.  (2 minutes)

Comcast’s national low-income Internet service, Internet Essentials, is getting an upgrade.

Out of more than 14 million Comcast broadband customers, fewer than 50,000 families managed to qualify and successfully obtain the $9.95/mo low-speed Internet service. On Tuesday, Comcast announced it was relaxing some of the program’s requirements to include more families and has also doubled the service’s speeds to 3Mbps for downloads and 768kbps for uploads.

Susan Jin Davis, vice president of Comcast’s Strategic Services explained the changes on the company’s blog:

[…] When we first started out, Internet Essentials was offered to families with children eligible to receive “free” school lunches under the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Today, we have officially extended the program to include families with children eligible to receive “reduced” price lunches too. This change adds about 300,000 households in our service area who can now apply for the program — bringing our estimated total to about 2.3 million eligible families.

[…] Second, we doubled the speed of the broadband connection provided with Internet Essentials. It now comes with up to 3 Mbps downstream and up to 768 Kbps upstream, which makes the online experience even better than it was before. The increase is available now and we notified customers by email that the only thing they need to do is reboot their modems in order to immediately get the new speeds.

Third, as we announced in January, we have streamlined the application process by providing an instant approval process for all students attending schools with the highest percentage of NSLP participation, including Provision 2 schools.

Comcast’s Internet Essentials program was launched as part of an agreement with the Federal Communications Commission to win approval of the cable operator’s merger with NBC-Universal.  Comcast also committed to an expansion of its broadband service in rural areas.  The company says it expanded its service area by 199,876 additional homes in 33 rural communities.

A fiber optic network may be only as good as the marketing that sells it.

If that is true, Fort Wayne residents have made their choice, and they prefer Comcast Cable over Frontier Communications FiOS.

City officials released figures this week showing Comcast has a clear lead in the Indiana city.  Both companies pay the city franchise fees to do business in Fort Wayne, and Comcast paid almost $435,000, almost double Frontier Communications’ $262,556.

Ft. Wayne, Indiana

Frontier assumed control of the fiber optics network when it purchased the local assets of Verizon Communications.  But Frontier quickly found that volume pricing for video programming gave the old owner a decided advantage.  Frontier found programming prices for its comparatively smaller footprint far higher than what Verizon paid, and quickly began encouraging its fiber video customers switch to DirecTV satellite service.  Comcast responded with a billboard campaign that suggested Frontier was getting out of the fiber business, and encouraged customers to come back to cable.

Some did, but Frontier says it remains committed to its inherited fiber network, even though it lost over 10,000 customers last year.

“We’ve completed our evaluation of our business model and pricing,” Frontier’s Matt Kelley told the Journal-Gazette. “We’re offering an attractive bundle price. Customers are recognizing the quality and value, and that it’s a very compelling service.”

Frontier does appear to be serious about maintaining the broadband and phone service attached to its FiOS product, but has been looking for ways to bring down the wholesale cost of cable television programming and so far has shown no interest in expanding it.

“Our focus is not on FiOS video deployment,” Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter told investors in 2010. “The costs to install, set up and market new FiOS video customers are very expensive and, in our view, uneconomical.”

That’s less of a problem for Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator.  It enjoys volume discounts few other providers can negotiate.  Comcast always had a built-in advantage associated with its incumbency.  Getting customers to switch providers isn’t easy.  But despite the presence of an advanced fiber optic network operated by the competition, Comcast has held on to customers.

“Our customers that are staying with us and joining us are enjoying our services, especially since the introduction of our Xfinity home security management system,” said Comcast’s Mary Beth Halprin, not missing an opportunity to pitch the cable company’s latest new product line. “The home security service costs $39.95 a month and provides around-the-clock monitoring and allows customers to watch live-streaming video from wireless cameras using an iPhone or iPad.”

A man claiming to represent Comcast talked his way into a Huntsville, Ala. woman’s home last Wednesday, claiming he had to work with the cable line and do something about a bulk package. After gaining entry, he groped the woman, who was home alone.

“He decided when it was time to go he was going to try to put his hands on my breasts, and I told him that has nothing to do with Comcast – get out,” the woman told WAFF-TV in Huntsville. “Then he put his hands on my shoulders and sat me down in the chair like he was about to give me a massage and then touched my breasts. I said, ‘No, you have to get out.'”

The woman thought the man was a legitimate Comcast employee because he had company paperwork and seemed extremely knowledgeable about the company’s products and prices.  After she threw him out, he returned hours later, getting into what the woman thought was a personal vehicle.

“I didn’t know what to think but now looking back on it, I feel stupid because I’m always telling my friends check IDs, check their badge,” the woman told the station. “Look what happened to me.”

Comcast told the station they were cooperating with local authorities and shared this statement:

If anyone receives an unexpected visit by an individual claiming to be a Comcast representative, identification should be requested prior to allowing entry into the home. All Comcast employees and representatives are required to carry company-issued identification.

If there is any suspicion of a potential scam or other questions, the homeowner should call 1-800-COMCAST immediately to verify legitimacy.

Most telecommunications companies that do in-home work require employees to have clearly visible photo identification with the company logo.  Most companies will not send a repair person to a customer’s home without an appointment, although repair crews may conduct work outside of the home on nearby poles without prior notice.  If an unexpected technician arrives at your door, ask the individual to display credentials through a nearby window or peephole.  Call the provider for verification, and do not open your door until appropriate verification has been obtained.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WAFF Huntsville Woman groped by man claiming to be with Comcast 4-16-12.mp4[/flv]

WAFF in Huntsville talked with a local woman who was groped by a man claiming to work for Comcast Cable.  (Warning: Loud Volume) (4 minutes)