Hannah needs some more training, because her knowledge of Comcast’s bandwidth cap is less than Comcastic. We also think calling her an “analyst” is maybe stretching it a bit.
broadband
Time Warner Cable Expands Metered Billing To Four More Cities
By 4.1.09
If you live in Rochester, NY, Austin or San Antonio, TX, or Greensboro, NC, your broadband access from TWC is about to be capped. The company is expanding its trial run from Beaumont, TX to these additional four cities, where TWC broadband customers will have to choose one of the company’s tiers of service—anywhere from 5GB to 40GB per month. DSL Reports notes that all five markets lack Verizon’s FiOS as an option, and TWC faces little to no competition from other providers.
A Glimpse Into The Future Of Broadband With Time Warner Cable
By 3.9.09
Time Warner Cable is running a pilot program in Texas where they’re metering your bandwidth usage and charging extra if you exceed your monthly allotment. This also gives them the opportunity to create a tiered system where you pay more for more bandwidth. Richard is a TWC Texas customer, and his story is a good example of how things work in a tiered, metered system like this. The bottom line: if metered broadband comes to your area, get used to paying extra to take advantage of things like Hulu (which is free) or Netflix video streaming (which you already pay for).
Knowledge Is Power?
By 1.3.09
Self-proclaimed leading contemporary critic of the Internet Andrew Keen says that increased broadband access will lead to a second Holocaust. Seriously.
How To Avoid AT&T's Connection Fee For A New Phone Line
By 8.19.08
An alleged insider for AT&T sent us the following tip on how to avoid a connection fee if you plan on getting both a regular phone line and DSL through AT&T. We don’t know if it works, but you may be able to avoid a $40 charge for what amounts to “flipping a switch” at AT&T HQ.
AT&T Will Roll Out Tiered Internet Access In October
By 7.22.08
“When AT&T provides broadband service by speed, it will do so in discrete, non-overlapping tiers,” Quinn said in written testimony. “We will strive to provide service within the speed tier purchased by the customer and, if we find that we are not providing service within the ordered speed tier, AT&T will take action either to bring the customer’s service within the ordered tier or give the customer an option to move to a different tier.”
Upgrade FiOs Speeds From 5/2 To 10/2
By 7.21.08
Verizon FiOs recently doubled its download speed for consumer and small businesses from 5 to 10mb, but reader Lindsay says she wasn’t automatically upgraded. Luckily, if you’re in the same boat, you can upgrade by calling 800-688-2880, entering the phone number on your account, pressing 3, then 5, then 2. Lindsay writes, “I got to a rep very quickly and she got everything switched. It cost me $3 more due to a rate change since I signed up, but that’s not too much to ask for double the download speed.”
Sprint To Cap"Unlimited" 3G Data Service at 5GB
By 5.20.08
A leaked internal Sprint memo says that the company will be placing limits on the previously unlimited EV-DO mobile broadband data service. If you go over 5GB per month total or 300MB/month while off-network roaming you will be subject to extra fees. Two Sprint employees writing on Sprint user forums vouched for the leak’s authenticity. Now Sprint will no longer be the only carrier to offer actually unlimited 3G service. Somehow I don’t see CEO Dan Hesse bragging about this move while strolling through black and white cobblestone streets.
Qwest Sells Woman "Cheaper" Package That Costs More, Has Unmentioned 2-Year Commitment, And Requires New Modem
By 4.7.08
Matt’s mom, a longtime Qwest customer, called up the company to switch her long distance over from AT&T. The CSR suggested she switch over to a bundled package that would save her $11 a month and offer faster Internet connection speeds. What the CSR didn’t mention was that the new package required a 2-year commitment, that it wouldn’t work with her current DSL modem, and that it actually came out to about $3 more per month.
Time Warner Sends 12 Techs To Home, But "High Speed" Cable Remains A Fantasy
By 4.2.08
Thomas writes in to ask why Time Warner needs to send 12 different technicians to his home to get his Roadrunner speed up to the 10 mbits/sec that they promise in their advertising, as opposed to the 2.5 mbits/sec that he averages.
Congress Asks FCC To Accurately Count U.S. Broadband Homes
By 10.16.07
Congress has added its voice to the growing number of critics who have noted that the FCC is misreporting broadband penetration in the U.S. According to eWeek, last Wednesday a House subcommittee “approved legislation to change the Federal Communications Commission’s methodology for determining deployment.” The FCC currently counts a single home in a zip code as representative of the full zip code—so one home having broadband access is considered the same as every home in that area having broadband access. By doing this, they inflate the number of homes with broadband access and present a picture of increased “natural” competition in the market, which is then used by telecoms and lobbyists to argue against policy decisions that don’t favor existing corporations.
Wal-Mart Will Now Sell Satellite Broadband Internet Access
By 10.9.07
Today, Wal-Mart announced that it will start re-selling HughesNet satellite broadband Internet access, starting at 700Kbps for $59.99 a month, through 2,800 of its stores “including locations throughout most of rural America where terrestrial broadband services, such as cable and DSL, are often not available.” To help spur initial sign-ups, Wal-Mart will give new customers $100 RFID-enabled “ExpressPay” cards to use while shopping at the retailer.
UK Broadband Providers Show US What Real "Competition" Looks Like
By 9.8.07
Even our readers can’t agree on whether net neutrality is a good or a bad thing, so we thought we’d stoke the fire with a nice side-by-side comparison of sample broadband options for consumers in two “free markets,” the US and the UK. Art Brodsky of the Huffington Post (oops, we probably already lost half of you) writes that a British man he met while traveling showed him a spreadsheet he’d put together that compared 59 different broadband providers, so he’d know which one to do business with.
Department of Justice Says No To Net Neutrality
By 9.7.07
The U.S. Department of Justice officially spoke out against net neutrality this week, in a filing with the FCC that says such regulations would “prevent, rather than promote, optimal investment and innovation in the Internet, with significant negative effects for the economy and consumers.” The department says the free market has done just fine so far, and that “precluding broadband providers from charging [content providers] directly for faster or more reliable service” could shift the burden of cost directly onto consumers.
OECD Says US Broadband Network Is Flailing; Telecoms Respond, "You Mean Superior!"
By 7.25.07
According to a new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), in a ranking of broadband penetration among 30 member nations, the US has slipped from 4th place (2001), to 12th place (2006), to 15th place this year. Corporations, lobbyists and politicians have skewered the report, but this follow-up piece from Free Press provides a point-by-point rebuttal and confirms that yes, by pretty much every account, the United States enjoys craptastic Internet access.
Congress Wants Consumers To Have More Information About Their Broadband Connection
By 7.21.07
The government may soon help consumers pick between competing broadband offers, if a Senate bill becomes law. Last week, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation unanimously approved S. 1492, the Broadband Data Improvement Act. The bill focuses primarily on refining the FCC’s analysis of broadband deployment: the Commission would have to reevaluate the definition of broadband as anything over 200 kbps; broadband access would be evaluated by smaller zip+4 codes, rather than full zip codes; and, the Commission would need to create a new metric for services such as high definition video. Most helpful to consumers, however, is a provision calling for the Government Accountability Office to provide consumers with information about their broadband connection’s costs and capabilities:
Verizon "Unlimited Access" Plan Is Extremely Limited
By 4.5.07
(iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose.
More TOS fun inside!
AOL Broadband Goes Free
By 7.6.06
What happens when that booty becomes too shriveled and diseased to shake for cash? Honey, you gotta start giving it away.
