All of the big ISPs hate the FCCs new net neutrality rule. They’ve been protesting the agency’s decision since before it was even made. And yet the top executives at the cable ISPs have all by now explained why net neutrality is not actually a threat to their businesses, and this week was AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson’s turn. [More]
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AT&T CEO: We Can Invest In Our Company Despite Net Neutrality Because It’ll Lose In Court Anyway
By 5.19.15
Why Cord-Cutters Aren’t Getting The Holy Grail TV Of Streaming Services Just Yet
By 5.14.15
As a growing number of consumers drop — or never sign up for — traditional pay-TV services, it’s easy to point to Netflix as a big reason. And yet, Netflix and similar services don’t actually replace the TV experience, especially when it comes to sports. Newer offerings, like Sling TV and PlayStation Vue, replicate the live TV watching experience, but falter compared to traditional pay-TV when it comes to things like DVR functionality. What’s stopping the big players from offering an all-in-one online service now? [More]
AT&T Makes Deal With Hulu To Integrate Video Content
By 5.13.15
Hulu, which recently announced a deal that would let Cablevision sell the streaming service directly to its broadband subscribers, is continuing to make a big push to increase its reach. Today, the company unveiled a deal with AT&T that will integrate Hulu video and AT&T’s live and video-on-demand offerings on new mobile and web-based apps. [More]
Netflix To FCC: You Should Block The AT&T/DirecTV Merger Unless Conditions Are Added
By 5.5.15
AT&T and DirecTV announced their big corporate betrothal the better part of a year ago. The planned merger between the two companies has, comparatively speaking, flown under the radar as so much time and attention fell to the now-collapsed Comcast/TWC plans. But now that the 30-million ton elephant has left the merger room, all eyes are swiveling back to the other looming giant. [More]
Hey, AT&T Customers: If You Plan To Grab A Slice Of The Cramming Settlement, Do It Right Now
By 4.30.15
A friendly reminder to AT&T wireless customers: as a result of their $105m settlement with the FTC, the company has to pay refunds for cramming. The application deadline for refunds is May 1 — that’s tomorrow. You can visit the settlement website to see if you’re eligible or to submit a claim. [More]
83-Year-Old Racks Up $24,289 In AT&T Charges By Still Using AOL Dial-Up
By 4.28.15
Believe it or not, AOL still has more than 2 million paying customers who dial into the service to get Internet access. And for people whose online use is minimal, this may be the cheaper option — unless some glitch causes your modem to start dialing an international line, leaving you to rack up thousands of dollars in charges while your phone company pleads ignorance. [More]
AT&T Becomes Latest ISP To Promise New Homeowner Broadband Connection At Address They Won’t Actually Serve
By 4.28.15
You’ve heard it all before: a man buying a new home needs to make sure it has acceptable broadband connectivity, not just for entertainment but also because he works in IT. He calls the provider in the area three times before moving, and every time is assured that they service his house. Until he moves in and finds out that in actual reality, they don’t, and aren’t sure why they said they did. The last time we shared such a tale of woe, it was Comcast in Washington state. This time, it’s a homeowner in Michigan, and the ISP that doesn’t know what they actually do is AT&T. [More]
AT&T Claims That DirecTV Merger Will Allow It To Expand GigaPower Fiber Network
By 4.23.15
While we’ve been critical of the Comcast/Time Warner Cable merger, the motivation behind that deal is clear: It would instantly add 10 million customers to Comcast’s bottom line and give the company control over cable/broadband access for the two largest markets in the country. The reasoning behind the less-scrutinized marriage of AT&T and DirecTV isn’t as cut-and-dry. [More]
Chicago Suburbs To Get AT&T’s Gigabit Broadband; Comcast High-Speed Coming To Florida
By 4.21.15
Both Comcast and AT&T have announced the newest markets for their highest-speed residential broadband services, with people in the Chicago, Miami, and Jacksonville areas being the ones to benefit. [More]
AT&T, Verizon Responses To Campaign To End Robocalls Unsurprisingly Empty And Noncommittal
By 4.21.15
If there’s one thing consumers can agree on… well, it’s probably that they don’t like Comcast. But if there are two things that consumers can agree on, it’s that and also that robocalls suck. The tech to block robocalls is out there, but phone companies don’t use it. And their excuses for not doing so aren’t getting any better. [More]
Comcast Bringing Super-Fast Fiber Network To Silicon Valley & Other California Markets
By 4.17.15
Two weeks after Comcast announced that Atlanta would be the first market to get its new Gigabit Pro fiber service — which promises speeds of up to twice that of Google Fiber — the company is now saying it will bring the high-speed broadband to several markets in California where it already offers service. [More]
AT&T To Pay $25M To Settle FCC Investigation Into Call Center ID Theft
By 4.8.15
FCC investigators have found that AT&T call center employees in Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines illegally accessed and sold personal data — including names and (mostly partial) Social Security numbers — for around 280,000 customers. Thus, the telecom giant has agreed to settle with the Federal Communications Commission for $25 million, the Commission’s largest privacy and data security enforcement ever (at least until the next mammoth, inevitable cock-up). [More]
It’s Almost Lawsuit Season: Broadband Trade Groups Prepping Their Legal Arguments Against Net Neutrality
By 4.3.15
The FCC voted on the Open Internet Order — net neutrality — about six weeks ago. But nobody ever accused the wheels of bureaucracy of turning quickly and so it is only this week that the rule has been sent off to the fine folks at the Federal Register. That means we’re finally in the home stretch handoff; the rule will become the law of the land 60 days after the Federal Register publishes it. And that means we’re finally in the window for the big wave of down-and-dirty lawsuits and legal challenges we’ve been awaiting since basically forever. [More]
AT&T Fails At Getting FTC’s Throttling Lawsuit Dismissed
By 4.1.15
Back in October, the Federal Trade Commission sued AT&T’s wireless division for allegedly misleading customers by charging for “unlimited” plans but then reducing data speeds after users passed certain monthly thresholds. AT&T subsequently asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the FTC lacks the authority to bring this type of lawsuit. Yesterday, a federal judge disagreed and sided against AT&T. [More]
AT&T Charges $40/Month More For Fiber Internet If Google Isn’t In Your Town Yet
By 3.30.15
Only weeks ago, AT&T announced gigabit fiber broadband service in Kansas City for $70/month. Granted, customers have to give up their right to privacy to get that rate, but at least it’s the same price being charged by Google Fiber, which also happens to operate in KC. But when it comes to AT&T’s impending gigabit offering in Cupertino — the land of Apple — that $70/month rate is nowhere to be found; probably because Google Fiber is not around. [More]
AT&T Asked RadioShack To Destroy Customer And Proprietary Information
By 3.23.15
The auction for the smoldering remains of RadioShack is happening right now at the offices of the company’s attorneys in New York City, and something caught our attention while we wait for news about the winning bidders and future of the Shack and its stores and employees. AT&T has filed an objection to the proceedings in court, asking RadioShack to destroy any sensitive information about customers and AT&T itself. [More]
AT&T Might Hate Title II For Broadband, But Is Happy To Use It For Millions In Refunds
By 3.20.15
AT&T just won an FCC proceeding against two smaller companies that were illegally charging them fees they should not have been. And while the telecom giant is poised to pick up a few million in refunds, that’s not the interesting part. This is: the section of law that worked out in AT&T’s big giant favor? That’d be exact same Title II that they claim will ruin internet business for everyone. [More]
AT&T On The Hook For $40M Because It Didn’t Read Legal Documents Closely
By 3.19.15
One might think that a company making upwards of $134 billion in a year would pay its lawyers to read everything that comes their way very closely. And yet somehow, AT&T’s legal counsel missed information in legal documents that could put the company on the hook for $40 million in a patent-infringement case. [More]
