TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: More Problems for Comcast Service in MA

More Problems for Comcast Service in MA

Bob Wallace, Reuters (reuters@telecom-digest.org)
Wed, 11 Apr 2007 16:20:32 -0500

By Bob Wallace

Comcast Corp. technicians began working on an unspecified emergency
server problem that knocked out its VoD service to as many as 40 towns
Wednesday, the latest technical difficulties in Massachusetts in the
last two months.

A customer service representative added that the outage began at
roughly midnight with service not expected to be restored until later
Wednesday. The agent could not quantify the number of subscribers
affected, but said the Foxboro, Mass., server farm provides service in
about 40 communities.

Customers were unable to access free or pay-per-view content during
the outage and received error messages after being welcomed to On
Demand and again when attempting to view VoD content.

The cableco's first error message instructed consumers to call
customer service. Comcast's cable service experienced technical
problems in late February in parts of Massachusetts.

Customers attempting to access VoD as late as 11 a.m. EDT were still
receiving error messages saying the system could not process their
request. But customers were able to view free VoD content and free
movie previews at that point.

A Comcast spokesman stressed that despite the error messages, service
had been restored. Some customers may have received error messages, he
said, adding that as of late Wednesday morning "technicians are
working to resolve the issue."

The spokesman said the VoD problems were not the result of a server
outage, but would not specify the cause of the problem.

Comcast has made several major advances in VoD programming in the past
six months, having cut a deal with CBS Corp. to show its 'CSI'
franchise of series, 'NCIS,' 'Numbers' and 'Jericho' as part of its
free VoD content.

It also signed a far-reaching content agreement in November with Walt
Disney Co., aimed, in part, to provide Comcast customers a broad array
of VoD programming.

Comcast Corp. http://www.comcast.com

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