Publication of two new CableLabs specifications on point-to-point coherent optics is “the beginning of a sea change for the way data is distributed into the network,” blogged Matt Schmitt, principal CableLabs architect. The new specs unveiled Friday, which CableLabs members and their “manufacturer partners” hope to bring to market quickly, have the potential to expand by a factor of 10 “the capacity of existing cable operator fiber access networks,” while also “meeting ever-increasing capacity demands at the lowest possible cost,” said Schmitt Monday. The opportunities with coherent optics technology “go well beyond improving service to residential broadband customers,” he said. Cable operators also are “ideally placed to support next-generation wireless services like 5G,” he said. “These networks will place network endpoints right where wireless transmitters are needed, and with plenty of capacity to support wireless demand growth in addition to wired growth.”

Gogo plans to unveil a "new integrated business plan" July 12, it said Friday. It said since April, it has been working on a plan aimed at better revenue and improved costs.

Charter Communications should cease and desist saying it complied with -- and exceeded -- New York state obligations to expand its broadband network, agency officials said Tuesday. “These misrepresentations, coupled with Spectrum's overall pattern of unacceptable conduct in New York, call into question the continued viability of Spectrum as a regulated telephone/cable company in this State,” said New York Public Service Commission General Counsel Paul Agresta in a letter to CEO Thomas Rutledge. Spectrum is a Charter brand name. The Department of Public Service referred the matter to the New York attorney general and the SEC, Agresta said. The agency seeks a log of “all such advertising in advance of potential direct enforcement action for penalties” by the New York Public Service Commission, he said. “Preserve all documents, including email, text messages, voice mail, recordings, and other documentation relating to the aforementioned matters.” Charter never told customers about missing a December buildout target that was a New York condition of the carrier's Time Warner Cable acquisition, but instead “continues to assert in advertisements and publications that it has complied with -- and even exceeded -- its commitments to New York,” Agresta said. “Those representations are demonstrably and materially false.” The PSC earlier fined the MVPD $2 million over the charge that it missed the buildout target (see 1806140063). It’s not the first time New York claimed the company misled consumers, added Agresta, referring to the state AG’s lawsuit about the company’s advertised internet speeds that last week got court OK to continue (see 1806210060). “The situation regarding Charter/Spectrum is getting more serious with each passing day,” said PSC Chair John Rhodes, agreeing the company is misleading consumers. The operator “built out our broadband network to more than 42,000 unserved or underserved homes since the merger,” a spokesperson responded. “We find it baffling that the PSC thinks that some New Yorkers count and others don’t, given their belief that access to broadband is essential for economic development and social equity.” New York is unlikely “to do anything drastic,” cable consultant Steve Effros emailed Tuesday. “The regulators, after all, have made strong accusations against most operators in the State at one time or another. This reflects either unreasonable expectations or a regrettable form of negotiating leverage.” Effros doubts New York could find another company to replace Charter that could better meet the state’s timing demands.

The rate at which cable companies replaced lost pay-TV subscribers with broadband subscribers slowed in Q1, Moody's said Monday. It said that growth was driven by Comcast and Charter Communications, which had broadband growth of -0.3 percent and -0.5 percent, respectively, and have nearly 80 percent of the sector's subscriber count.

The New York Public Service Commission ordered Charter to pay $2 million to the state treasury over the state’s claims -- denied by the operator -- that the cable company missed a December buildout target that was a New York condition of the carrier's Time Warner Cable acquisition (see 1805100023). Voting unanimously Thursday on orders in docket 15-M-0388, commissioners directed Charter to accept terms in the merger order or risk having the state’s OK revoked. The PSC rejected 18,363 addresses to which Charter claimed to have expanded its broadband network because the agency said they were already passed by it or another company, or because the ISP was separately required to cover the addresses under state regulations or franchise agreements. The PSC directed the company to revise its 145,000-address buildout plan to remove rejected addresses within 21 days. “Our investigation shows that Charter failed to meet its obligations to expand the reach of its network to unserved and underserved customers at the required pace and that it failed to justify why it wasn’t able to meet its obligations,” PSC Chair John Rhodes said. “Since the company has taken the unfortunate position of refusing to adhere to all conditions set forth in our initial decision two years ago, we now demand the company unconditionally accept all of the conditions as the Commission unambiguously required in 2016, or run the risk of more severe consequences.” The provider “exceeded our last commitment and we continue to meet our merger obligations,” a spokeswoman said.

The FCC established an online portal for ISP broadband disclosure filings required by transparency rules in its net neutrality rollback order, said a Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau public notice in docket 17-108 and Tuesday's Daily Digest. ISPs choosing to disclose their network-management practices, performance characteristics and commercial service terms through the portal will be able to do so starting May 29, though the order doesn't take effect until June 11. Those that don't use the portal must provide the information on a "publicly available, easily accessible website," the PN said.

All top Charter Communications executives with authority to propose or impose data caps or usage-based pricing are aware that FCC approval of it buying Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks includes a prohibition on such mechanisms for its broadband service, the operator said in latest semi-annual data caps and usage-based pricing report, required as part of the FCC conditions. That report, posted Friday in docket 16-197, said such mechanisms remain "inconsistent" with its business model of uniform pricing and driving broadband demand.

The Internet Association “continues to support a ban on paid prioritization because it hurts consumers and lets ISPs pick winners and losers online,” a spokesman responded to a Tuesday House Communications Subcommittee hearing on the practice (see 1804170037). “Strong net neutrality protections that ban blocking, throttling, and paid prioritization ensure that people get what they pay for -- access to the entire internet. Paid prioritization incentivizes ISPs to reduce investment and maintain congested networks.”

Commissioner Brendan Carr will visit southern Nevada Monday to assess the “impact that high-speed broadband can have on small businesses, healthcare, education, and economic development in these rural communities,” the FCC said in a Friday news release. Carr plans to visit Beatty, Amargosa Valley, Pahrump and Mountain Springs in rural parts of Nye and Clark counties. Chairman Ajit Pai last year assigned Carr the task of leading work on wireless infrastructure rules. Carr will be in Las Vegas next week for the NAB Show.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) thumped Charter Communications for allegedly missing broadband expansion deadlines (see 1803190046). “Approval of the Charter Communications acquisition was conditioned on timely performance,” Cuomo said in a Friday statement to New York Public Service Commission Chairman John Rhodes. “Such a breach cannot be tolerated as it places New Yorkers at a competitive disadvantage.” Charter referred us to its earlier statement that it's fully complying with New York requirements and will fight its case.