Posts tagged broadband

Verizon's Deal with Big Cable Spells the Demise of the Telecom Act
Joel Kelsey
January 5, 2012

We all remember the 1980's and its awesome fashion and music. While some may want to revisit those aspects of the past, I don't think anyone wants to return to the era of the cable and Ma Bell monopolies.

Opening up communications markets was the purpose of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The Act was designed to help phone companies get into the pay-TV business, and cable companies get into the phone business. Yet after a series of regulatory blunders, this promise of increased competition and lower prices has become a distant memory, like 7-Up Gold. And the situation is only getting worse.

Rip-Off or Reform? [UPDATE]
Josh Levy
October 25, 2011

Today the FCC announced its plan for revamping the Universal Service Fund. While the agency didn't rubber-stamp the plan written by AT&T and Verizon, it missed a chance to bring real pro-consumer reform to a wasteful system. 

In our statement, Free Press Political Adviser Joel Kelsey said that the rules would still allow carriers to impose new charges on local subscribers:

"The Commission did take steps to narrow the scope of these rate increases, but asking consumers to pay more into a broken system and letting the industry divvy up the pot will not increase broadband adoption. If the goal is to increase broadband adoption, prices should be going down, not up.”

Rural Groups Call for Better Broadband Service
Anonymous
October 13, 2011

In its relentless effort to take over competitor T-Mobile, AT&T has been dangling the promise of better service and greater access to broadband Internet to rural Americans as an incentive for policymakers to support and approve the $39 billion deal. But in eastern Kentucky, activists for rural broadband aren’t holding their breath and waiting for AT&T to make good on this promise.   

Jobs Plan Creates Opportunity, Risk in Wireless Tech
Chris Riley
September 27, 2011

A lot of attention is being paid to President Obama’s American Jobs Act, both inside and outside the Beltway, and what it could mean for the economy and the millions of unemployed Americans.

Comcast Should Bring Low-Cost Broadband to Everyone
Jenn Ettinger
September 20, 2011

On Tuesday Comcast Executive Vice-President David Cohen and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski, along with D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson and D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, announced a plan to provide low-cost broadband to families eligible for the National School Lunch Program.

AT&T Accidentally Tells Truth, Shoots Self in Foot
Amy Kroin
August 16, 2011

Free Press and other opponents of the AT&T–T-Mobile merger had reason to cheer last week when a damning document AT&T filed with the FCC was accidentally posted on a public site.

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