• Charter laptops with employee info stolen
By Mike Robuck
According to published reports, Charter Communications had 12 laptops containing the personal information of 9,000 current and former employees stolen recently out of its Greenville, S.C., office.
The theft of the laptops – which were valued at $16,800 – occurred the weekend of July 12, according to the Associated Press. Some of the laptops contained Social Security numbers, names, and birth dates of current and past Charter employees, but not information about Charter’s subscribers.
Last week, Charter sent letters to its employees to notify them of the theft and to offer them free credit monitoring for a year. Charter, the nation’s fourth-largest cable operator, has had to notify employees in all 29 states of its footprint.
• Wilmington TV stations schedule transition test
By Brian Santo
TV stations in digital transition testbed Wilmington, Del., have scheduled a one-minute test of a digital switchover next Tuesday (Aug. 19) at 7:30.
The stations in that market have scheduled a permanent switchover on Sept. 8.
If all goes according to plan, anyone who does not yet have a converter box will see a screen message displaying an 800 phone number they can call to get information on the transition.
• Cable cares: Helping a friend in need
By Brian Santo
The cable industry frequently helps take care of its own, and another opportunity to do so has arisen to help a friend, an employee at Mediacom who is also a board member of the Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers’ (SCTE) Five Rivers Chapter.
Mediacom Engineering Coordinator Kelly Burdette is recovering from a rare and debilitating Guillain Barre Syndrome. A description of her circumstances, written by fellow Five Rivers Board Member Mike Hodgerson, and instructions on how to contribute, can be found at the Web site Kelly’s Kause.
• Lindsay Broadband to sell products thru Crossover Distribution.com
By Brian Santo
Lindsay Broadband has signed an agreement to sell its products through Crossover Distribution.com, which Lindsay said will extend its reach into new markets.
Lindsay Broadband manufactures a range of last mile communications products, including Wi-Fi and mesh wireless systems, hard line passives, trunk and distribution amplifiers, free space optic systems, headend and subscriber passives, a range of MDU amplifiers, and mini optical nodes complete with optional 10 hour battery back up, WDM fiber optic equipment, and NEBS/MEF-compliant media converters.
Lindsay markets and sells to the worldwide telecommunications market.
More Broadband Direct:
• Cablevision to fork out quarterly dividend
• Comcast declares quarterly dividend, ups HD channels in Penn.
• Sides in “quiet period” squabble dig in
