Dear Charter Internet® Customer,
Charter is proud to provide you with the fastest Internet service1. Each day more users, devices, streams and apps are seeking Internet connectivity and Charter is delivering it with faster upload and download speeds, greater reliability and a superior experience.
Our goal is to deliver the best Internet experience for our customers, because we know it's where you go to work, play, interact and be entertained.
To ensure that you and other Charter customers are receiving the fastest possible Internet speeds, we have a number of initiatives in place to manage and monitor our powerful network. One of these includes working with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and SamKnows to measure our broadband performance.
A Standard Test for Measuring Broadband Performance
As part of its National Broadband Plan, the FCC has established a standard test for measuring the broadband performance of various ISPs across the nation. This test covers every aspect of an Internet connection; from the speed of downloading a large file to the quality of video streaming or making a phone call over the Internet (VoIP). The purpose of the test is to provide consumers with significantly more information about actual broadband performance in America. We are working closely with the FCC and our fellow ISPs to ensure that these performance-measurement tests are as comprehensive and accurate as possible. Charter customers participated in this test last year and results indicate Charter consistently delivers the lightning fast Internet speeds we advertise. In fact, Charter ranked among the top performers. Last year's report - "Measuring Broadband America" is available at
http://www.fcc.gov/measuring-broadband-america.
We're Looking for Volunteers to Assist in this Year's Testing
We are reaching out to you because the FCC is looking for volunteers to assist in the 2nd year of testing. If you're interested in learning more about the speed of your Internet connection, please visit the FCC sign-up page at
http://www.testmyisp.com/ . If selected, you will receive a new NETGEAR router, enabled with the SamKnows performance-measurement software.
This specialized software will measure only the performance of your Internet connection, while providing you with access to data that was previously available only with very expensive network monitoring tools. Furthermore, your personal information will be strictly protected, and at no time will any of it be shared or made available without your consent.
Once your new router is up and running, you will be able to view all of your performance data via a secure online reporting system. Participation in the testing is expected to add approximately 20-60 GB to your overall monthly bandwidth usage.
Over the next few months, the FCC plans on releasing reports detailing the overall performance of broadband services throughout the U.S.
We appreciate your consideration in helping the FCC with this important study. For more information, please visit the FCC's website at
http://www.testmyisp.com/.
Best regards,
Carl Leuschner
Vice President, Internet and Phone Product Management
Charter
Would you trust this? Or do you see it as making it super easy for the NSA / FCC / Feds to access everything you do online? (I'm sure the NSA can already do that, with or without warrants, legally or otherwise.)
