Cricket wants to convince you that paying AT&T or Verizon $90-120 a month for a cell plan with unlimited calling, texting and a 1-3GB data plan is too much, because it can sell you an “all-unlimited plan” for $45.

Cricket this week launched its “Half Is More” marketing campaign online, as well as in print and television advertisements.

“When we go out and talk to a lot of consumers, we hear a lot of angst from post-paid subscribers,” Cricket senior vice president Tyler Wallis told CNET. “They’re not happy with the service they’re getting and they’re feeling like they’re getting gouged.”

They also might not like finding out their “unlimited use” data plan actually comes with a barely disclosed speed throttle that kicks in after only 1GB of usage, reducing speeds to near dial-up for the rest of the billing cycle.

Cricket defends the claim they offer “unlimited” data service by stating they do not completely sever a customer’s data connection when they reach the limit, or charge them overlimit fees. They just slow the service down… a lot. Cricket customers tell Stop the Cap! Cricket’s wireless Internet becomes almost unusable once they are placed in the usage penalty box.

Cricket also depends heavily on Sprint for roaming coverage outside of the small number of home markets where Cricket owns and operates its own network. For many customers, that means frequent roaming on Sprint’s 3G network, which is not rated well for its speed and performance.

Once throttled, customers are stuck in the slow lane until their next billing cycle begins.

Customers with light data needs might find Cricket’s plan an option, assuming they have good coverage either from Cricket itself or roaming on Sprint’s network.

Cricket’s campaign noticeably avoids comparing their plan against T-Mobile, which offers a $70 monthly truly unlimited plan or for ten dollars less, a 2GB plan with unlimited calling and texting.

How easy can you read the white fine print disclaimer on the white background in Cricket’s ad? Cricket advertises unlimited data but keeps its speed throttle mostly to itself. (1 minute)

Other stories of interest:

1. Cricket Raising Wireless Broadband Prices Again; Announces Data Roaming On Sprint’s 3G Network
2. Cricket Launches Nationwide Voice Service Through Roaming Agreement With Sprint, Others – $30/Month Unlimited
3. AT&T’s Old ‘Unlimited’ Plan Has 2GB Throttle Threshold; For the Same $30, Get 3GB ‘Limited’ Plan
4. Largely Pointless ‘Radio Shack Mobile’ Simply Resells Cricket Service, Where Available
5. Welcome to Virgin Mobile’s Higher Calling: The 2.5GB/256kbps Usage Throttle Starts Friday

Time Warner Cable customers in Central New York will be the first to test the cable company’s newest plan for a nationwide channel realignment that will move almost every cable channel into a new “theme-based” lineup.

Starting June 18, customers in Syracuse and suburbs, Auburn, Cortland, Fulton, Oswego and the Rome/Oneida/Camden/Sylvan Beach area will have to hunt for their favorite networks in a new lineup numbered from channels 1 to 1999. Two days later, customers in Jefferson and Lewis Counties, plus Boonville, Champlain, Malone, Massena, Ogdensburg and Potsdam will see their lineup changed. On June 25, the same will happen in Candor, Hamilton, Ilion, Old Forge, Ithaca, Utica and the Tri-Lakes area.

Channels 1-99, mostly received by analog television customers, will be unaffected for now.

Time Warner Cable has used a theme/genre-based channel lineup for several years, but new or renamed networks have occasionally turned up in unexpected places. The increasing prevalence of HD networks has also made a mess of things, with some markets featuring HD basic cable networks nestled between premium movie channels. The channel realignment is designed to “simplify” things.

Among the welcome changes: HD viewers will automatically receive the HD version of those networks and channels, if available. DVRs will automatically map scheduled recordings to their new channel numbers.

If the channel changes prove successful, which we assume means subscriber backlash is not judged too great, Time Warner Cable customers across the country will begin to see the same channel lineup changes in their areas beginning this August.

Here is a guide to the new lineup. Note the block dedicated to HD networks is gone:

• 1-99: Remain unchanged and are watched mostly by analog viewers with or without a set-top box
• 100s: Entertainment, Life and Style channels
• 200-249: News and Information
• 250-270: Children/Family
• 285-299: Music TV
• 300s: Sports
• 460-479: Religion
• 480-499: Shopping
• 500-649: Premium movie channels
• 650-654: Pay per view
• 670-699: 3D television networks
• 700-799: Premium sports packages
• 800-999: Latino/Spanish programming
• 1000-1199: On-demand channels
• 1200-1399: Local channels
• 1400-1799: International/Ethnic language channels
• 1800-1899: Adult Entertainment
• 1900-1999: Music Choice

Time Warner Cable produced this video to introduce Central New York customers to the new channel lineup that will likely soon be in place across all Time Warner Cable service areas.  (2 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. Fox News Channel – Time Warner Cable Deal Will Increase Cable Rates for Millions
2. Time Warner Cable Introduces SignatureHome Premium View: Pay More, Get Premium Channels
3. Time Warner Cable’s Backdoor Rate Hike in Kansas City
4. Time Warner Cable’s Channel Shuffle Loses a Few Along the Way
5. Time Warner Cable Expands Sports Lineup On Online Streaming App

Verizon Wireless: You are being watched.

Would it bother you if the advertiser on that big billboard you just drove past could find out if you later visited that business in response? Should a store like Best Buy or Sears be able to know if you are only using their showrooms to see a product you will eventually buy online? Should your phone company be able to store your complete travel history for years and then create new products and services to pitch aggregated travel observations to anyone willing to pay?

Verizon Wireless does not think you will have a problem with any of this, because it has quietly begun selling this information through its Precision Market Insights (PMI) service.

AT&T is likely not too far behind with a similar service of its own, potentially earning millions from a comprehensive data trove tracking customer locations, travel history, and web browsing habits for an undetermined length of time.

The Wall Street Journal reports shareholder demand for higher profits is pushing cell phone companies to find new revenue streams, even at the potential risk of alienating customers and privacy advocates.

PMI clients may find out more about you than you realize, even though phone companies promise they will not sell personally identifiable information about their customers.

The Phoenix Suns are PMI clients, and by tracking game attendees, Verizon Wireless was able to tell the sports team:

• 22% of game attendees are from out-of-town;
• Most spectators had children at home, ranged in age from 25-54 and earned more than $50,000 a year;
• 13% of baseball spring training attendees in the Phoenix area also went to Suns games;
• Area fast food restaurants running Suns promotions saw an 8.4% uptick in business from Verizon Wireless customers.

Such information can let the sports team target advertisers and offer evidence-based statistics that any campaign will increase sales, and by how much. Malls can use PMI to find certain types of customers that have a history of lingering in mall stores. Billboard owners can see if their ad messages resulted in higher in-store visits.

Customers using a phone under a commercial or government account are exempt from the tracking program. All residential customers are automatically opted in to take part, unless they specifically opt out.

Privacy advocates are concerned carriers are storing personal customer usage data for an undetermined amount of time, and in a form that could be personally identifiable, even if the provider decides not to sell data with that granularity to third parties. That could make cell phone companies prime targets for government/law enforcement subpoenas.

Last year, Verizon sent a notice to customers opting them in to the program unless they specifically opted out. Stop the Cap! covered the story back then, helping customers wishing to opt out.

The Wall Street Journal reports wireless carriers were at first slow to sell data on their customers’ usage habits, but not anymore. Shareholders want new sources of revenue, and wireless companies are packaging and selling customer information to get it.  (2 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. Privacy Alert: Verizon Wireless is Selling Your Browsing Habits and Online Behavior to Advertisers
2. Why You Don’t Want the Verizon Guy Transferring Your Risqué Photos to a New Phone
3. Wall Street & Verizon Wireless CEO Love Company’s New, Higher-Priced Plans
4. AT&T Admits It Tracks Cell Phone Customers in Quest for Additional Profits
5. Verizon Wireless Customers: 48 Hours Left to Secure Unlimited Data/Unlimited 4G Tethering Plans

Triplett

A jury has found Comcast contractor Anthony Triplett guilty of first degree murder, aggravated sexual assault and robbery in the death of Comcast Cable customer Urszula Sakowska, 23, killed by Triplett in December 2006 when Comcast sent him to her home to work on her Internet service.

It was not the first time police investigated Triplett, who was also under scrutiny for possible involvement in an earlier homicide of Comcast customer Janice Ordidge, who was found strangled in her bathtub after Triplett was sent to install her cable television service.

Assistant district attorney Brian Sexton said Triplett got his thrills watching his victims suffer and die.

“As he strangles them, he looks them right in the eye and sees the light go out,” Sexton said.

Comcast had come under fire in the case because the cable operator permitted the contractor, Premiere Cable Communications, to continue to send Triplett on service calls even while he was under investigation by local police.

“I don’t understand how he was allowed to keep doing cable jobs after he was questioned regarding my sister,” said Loretta Shamley, the sister of Janice Ordidge.

Neighbors say the incident made them more wary of cable repairmen, some not directly employed by the cable company.

“I don’t even feel safe enough to take out the garbage anymore,” said Latia Warren, who lives two floors above Ordidge. “If I’m alone I won’t let a serviceman into my apartment unless he works for the building and I know him.”

A second trial on the death of Ordidge has not yet been scheduled.

Triplett faces up to life imprisonment.

WLS in Chicago reports a Comcast cable technician working for a third-party contracting firm was found guilty of murdering one customer and has alleged involvement in another homicide committed while doing service calls. (2 minutes)

Helderle

A Charter Cable technician from St. Charles, Mo. was convicted of tying up and sexually assaulting an O’Fallon customer after she reported him for asking her out in an unwanted text message.

Jurors deliberated for only about an hour before convicting 22-year old Michael Helderle on four felony counts, recommending a 75 year prison sentence.

Helderle was employed by Communications Unlimited, a contractor performing work on behalf of Charter Communications.

When the victim requested a service call from Charter on Dec. 4, Helderle showed up. He obtained her cell phone number and asked her out on a date later that evening. The victim reported the text message to Charter and Helderle was fired.

The next day, Helderle broke into her apartment while she was on a video chat with her boyfriend, who was 1,700 miles away on an Air Force base. He called authorities after witnessing Helderle in the apartment.

Helderle handcuffed and tied up the victim, gagged and sexually assaulted her, covering her with a pillow. He then stole her cell phone and cash. When police arrived, Helderle placed a knife to the victim’s throat and threatened her if she called out.

Helderle eventually escaped the apartment while police untied the victim. He was arrested hours later.

Charter defended its actions after the incident:

“Charter recognizes that it is a privilege to be allowed into customers’ homes to install our services. Our customer’s safety is of utmost importance and precautions are taken seriously. We require criminal background checks on all in-home contractors prior to performing any work for Charter.”

It was not enough to avoid offering Helderle employment.

Cable operators use third-party contractors to cut costs and sometimes limit liability. Critics contend third-party contractors often use lower standards of employment and compensate their workers at a considerably lower rate of pay with fewer benefits.

KSDK in St. Louis covered the break-in and sexual assault back in December in this video report.  (2 minutes)

KSDK followed up on the story last week, noting the Charter Cable subcontractor was convicted of burglary and sodomy.  (2 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. Charter Cable Raids Cablevision for Executive Talent; Company Opens Office in N.Y.C.
2. Charter Cable Tells Family Tough Luck: Pay Us $1,600 for Cable Equipment, Batteries Lost in Fire
3. Taxpayers Fund Charter Cable’s Corporate Welfare Move to Connecticut, Where New CEO Already Lives
4. Charter Cable Leaves Greenville Customer Hanging: Low Dangling Cable Lines in South Carolina
5. Charter Customers Revolt: $25 for Broadcast Basic Cable That Costs Cable $1 in Programming Fees

KFOR-TV in Oklahoma City captured this image of the destructive tornado that flattened parts of Moore, Okla.

Widespread cell phone outages and overcongested wireless networks are hampering efforts to find missing loved ones or call for help in areas hard-hit by this afternoon’s devastating tornado affecting Moore, Okla., a suburb of Oklahoma City. But in many areas escaping the worst of the storm, landline service is performing normally.

“We have no coverage and no signal from any cell phone provider in this part of Moore, despite the fact we escaped the tornado with no damage,” reports Susan Ramos, who was staying in Moore to deal with a family emergency. “We have borrowed a nearby neighbor’s home phone which is still working fine. My relatives back home in Texas have been worried sick not hearing from us that we are okay.”

One of the first victims of the tornado touchdown were communications towers, some damaged by the wind, others now missing a wired connection back to the network provider. Many of those still in service are overloaded with callers. Some cell towers are performing double or triple duty, handling calls from neighborhoods that would have been ordinarily served by other towers no longer functioning. The result is a cell network clogged with calls, making it next to impossible to reach storm-affected areas.

Some residents are traveling by foot or vehicle on debris-cluttered roadways looking for a cell tower that can still handle calls.

Oklahoma City media reports AT&T is asking residents to refrain from making or receiving wireless voice calls. Instead, the company is asking cell customers to only use text messaging until further notice.

Although landline infrastructure was also destroyed in and around the direct path of the tornado, adjacent areas still have service, including areas where cell phone service has failed.

“Finding pay phones in this area is not easy, and I don’t know Moore too well and many businesses closed down early after the storm, so we are grateful to a nearby neighbor we don’t even know who kept their phone service and let us use it.” Ramos added. “Now we know canceling our own wired home phone was probably a mistake after seeing what happens in emergencies.”

Cell phone providers are coordinating to transport portable cell towers into Moore and other affected areas within the next day or so if normal cell service cannot be quickly restored. But for residents desperate to communicate, the failure of the local cell phone network, either because of storm damage or insufficient capacity, has proved frustrating.

NBC News talks with storm survivors frustrated by the lack of cell phone service in Moore, Okla.  (2 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. AT&T Cell Towers in Connecticut Damaged by Winter Storm: 152; Verizon Wireless: 0
2. Rogers Relents: Company Starts to Give on Controversial Backyard Cell Towers in PQ
3. Cable Cut Ruins AT&T Cell Phone Service for Northern & Central Florida
4. Sandy Exposes the Soft Underbelly of Wireless; Inadequate Storm Preparation Faulted
5. Updated: Charter Cable Tells Tornado Victims to ‘Look Around the Neighborhood’ for Cable Boxes or Else

Phillip “I don’t have $1 million in AT&T and Verizon stock” Dampier

Before Tom Wheeler, President Obama’s pick to head the Federal Communications Commission, can find his seat at the federal agency overseeing the nation’s telecommunications industry, he will need time to sever the extensive ties he maintains as an ex-lobbyist and investor in the companies he will soon oversee.

To avoid an even bigger appearance of a conflict of interest, Wheeler has agreed to dump at least $1 million in personal stock in AT&T and Verizon, as well as divest himself of holdings in 76 other media and tech companies including Time Warner, Comcast, Google, Sprint, Deutsche Telekom and News Corp.

Wheeler is also submitting his resignation from the board of Earthlink, an Internet Service Provider, and will also sell off his shares in that company. He will also have to step down from Core Capital, a venture capitalist investor firm with extensive holdings in the telecom industry.

In our view, Wheeler has shown he couldn’t be more of a telecom industry insider unless he also served on the board of AT&T. Wheeler’s extensive holdings depict someone who has maintained a direct financial interest in the industry for years, even after ending his leadership at the National Cable Television Association and leading the nation’s biggest wireless industry lobbying group, the CTIA.

These kinds of deep industry ties are a serious concern for the average consumer. As we’ve reported before, Tom Wheeler has said almost nothing on his blog about consumer interests, writing views from the perspective of an industry lobbyist and investor. Watching him disgorge well over a million dollars in direct investments in AT&T and Verizon — companies he’d oversee in his new role — does not ease our concern he remains a consummate insider. He is well-positioned to move back through the D.C. revolving door at the end of the Obama Administration to reinvest in the companies his tenure at the FCC could potentially make or break.

Wheeler’s appointment represents another broken promise from the Obama Administration:

“No political appointees in an Obama-Biden administration will be permitted to work on regulations or contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. And no political appointee will be able to lobby the executive branch after leaving government service during the remainder of the administration.”

Not allowing Wheeler to oversee regulations or contracts with the companies who helped pay his salary and earn him a fortune from his investments would leave the new FCC chairman little to do beyond opening the mail. But of course, that campaign promise from the Obama-Biden campaign has long since been broken and forgotten by most.

Despite the clear conflicts of interest, President Obama remains fully behind his new FCC chairman pick.

“Tom knows this stuff inside and out,” Obama said.

No doubt.

Former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson blasts the nomination of Tom Wheeler, an ex-industry lobbyist and insider, for the role of new chairman of the FCC. (From: TheRealNews) (16 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. Change We Can Believe In? Cable/Wireless Industry Lobbyist Will Now Head FCC
2. Reviews Are In: Big Telecom Gushes Love for New FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler
3. Our Response to Public Knowledge’s Harold Feld Regarding Tom Wheeler
4. Incoming House Chairman Asks Telecoms for Their Deregulation Wishlists: ‘Help Us Help You’
5. “Future FCC Chairman” Tom Wheeler’s Fruit Doesn’t Fall Far from Big Telecom’s Tree

When Industry Canada announced it was planning to boost competition by setting aside certain spectrum for new competitors entering the wireless marketplace, the Conservative government promised Canadians they would see a new era of robust competition and lower prices as a result.

Today, it turns out the only competition around is watching which of the three largest wireless carriers snap up their newest competitors first.

Telus, Canada’s third largest wireless carrier, today announced it was acquiring Mobilicity for $380 million — almost exactly the amount of outstanding debt owed by the Data & Audio Visual Enterprises Holdings’ venture. That means Telus will pick up its competitor just by agreeing to pay its bills.

Mobilicity said it was burning through cash at an alarming rate and simply could not attract enough customers in its home service cities Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, to become profitable. It also reportedly lacked financial resources to take part in a forthcoming spectrum auction that would have been critical to the company’s long-term survival.

Informal merger talks among the three largest independent carriers — Wind Mobile, Public Mobile, and Mobilicity — reportedly went nowhere.

“Mobilicity has been losing a significant amount of money every month,” Mobilicity’s chief restructuring officer, William Aziz, said today. “The financial strength of Telus will allow the business to be continued in a way that will benefit customers and employees. An acquisition by Telus is the best alternative for Mobilicity.”

But that may not be the best alternative for Canadians. Regulators are expected to scrutinize the merger and current rules do not allow Telus to acquire the spectrum Mobilicity holds until next year. But with few other expected buyers, regulators may have no choice but to allow the deal to go through.

If approved, Telus will pick up Mobilicity’s 250,000 customers and likely switch them to Koodo Mobile, its prepaid division.

Minister Paradis

Mobilicity customers could do worse. Koodo Mobile, given a “C” grade by Canadian consumers, was Canada’s highest rated wireless carrier. That disparity hints at how much Canadians loathe their current wireless options.

Bay Street investors were not surprised by the announced merger, believing competition has its limits in a marketplace dominated by three enormous telecom companies — Bell (BCE), Rogers, and Telus — all collectively holding more than a 90% share of the Canadian wireless market. Many expect the remaining independent providers to also jettison their businesses or combine them in a last stand.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis, the Conservative government’s point man on independent competition in the wireless market, was caught off guard by the apparent faltering of the new carriers.

Paradis said he remains committed to making sure Canadians have a fourth choice for wireless service in every regional market in the country. But his only assured success is in Québec, where Vidéotron — the provincial cable company — competes with the big three providers. That competition has worked in that province to hold pricing down. According to The Globe & Mail, the average monthly bill in Québec dropped to $50.36 a month in 2011 from its peak in 2009 and is on par with where it stood in 2007. In comparison, according to CBC News, the average monthly wireless bill across Canada was $77 in 2013, up from $68 in last year’s survey.

Paradis is now pondering new regulations that would prevent the three largest carriers from buying out the remaining two independent providers just for their spectrum assets.

The merger will need regulatory approval from The Competition Bureau, Industry Canada, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

BNN reported back in April that Telus and Mobilicity were in acquisition talks. The news channel speaks with Maher Yaghi from Desjardins Securities about the implications the merger would have on the Canadian cell phone market and the prices consumers pay. (5 minutes)

http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/BNN Telus Acquiring Mobilicity 5-16-13.flv

BNN this morning reported the ball is back in Ottawa’s hands as the government tries to decide how it can salvage its wireless competition agenda. (6 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. Canada’s Independent Wireless Providers Capitulate With “For Sale” Signs; Telus Interested
2. Industry Minister Holds Closed Door Meetings With Big Telecoms And You’re Not Invited
3. Independent Cell Providers Resign from Canadian Wireless Telecom Association
4. Bell: If You Don’t Sell Us the Frequencies, We’ll See That Rural Canada Gets Nothing
5. Rogers Launches Astroturf Campaign to Recruit Customers to Lobby For Spectrum… for Rogers

Wireless Industry: We’re running out of spectrum!
Wireless Industry: We’ve got plenty to room for unlimited ESPN!

America is on the verge of a wireless traffic data jam so bad, it could bring America to its knees.

Or not.

Stop the Cap! notices with some interest that while wireless carriers continue to sound the alarm about a spectrum crisis so serious it necessitates further compressing the UHF television dial and forces other spectrum users to become closer neighbors, the same giant phone companies warning of impending doom are negotiating with online video producers to offer customers “toll-free,” all-you-cat-eat streaming video of major sports events that won’t count against your usage allowance.

ESPN is in talks with at least one major carrier (AT&T or Verizon Wireless) to subsidize some of the costs of its streamed video content so that customers can watch as much as they want without running into a provider’s usage limit. Both Verizon and AT&T have signaled their interest in allowing content producers to pay for subscribers’ data usage. In fact, they don’t seem to care who pays for the enormous bandwidth consumed by streaming video, so long as someone does.

At a recent investment bank conference Verizon Wireless chief executive Dan Mead explained the next chapter in monetizing data usage will allow the company to rake in more revenue from third parties instead of customers already struggling with high wireless bills.

“We are actively exploring those opportunities and looking at every way to bring value to our customers,” said Mead.

Content producers are increasingly frustrated with the stingy caps on offer at AT&T and Verizon Wireless because customers stop accessing that content once they near their monthly usage limit. One large provider admitted to ESPN that “significant numbers” of customers are already reaching their cap before the end of their billing cycle, after which their online usage plummets to limit the sting of overlimit charges.

Offering “toll-free” data could dramatically increase the use of high bandwidth applications and increase profits at wireless providers based on new fees they could collect from content producers. Customers would still be subject to usage limits for all non-preferred content, a clear violation of Net Neutrality principles.

The buffet is open.

But in case you forgot, wireless carriers won exemption from Net Neutrality, arguing their networks lack the capacity to sustain a Net Neutral Internet experience. These same companies claim without more frequencies to handle the massive, potentially unsustainable amount of wireless traffic, the wireless data apocalypse could be at hand in just a few years. It was also the most-cited reason AT&T and Verizon discontinued their unlimited use data plans.

But unlimiting ESPN video? No problem.

In January 2010, Verizon Wireless was singing a very different tune to the FCC about the need to control and manage high bandwidth applications like the “toll-free” streaming video service ESPN proposes (underlining ours):

Wireless broadband services face technological and operational constraints arising from the need to manage spectrum sharing by a dynamically varying number of mobile users at any time. Thus, unlike, for example, cable broadband networks, where a known and relatively fixed number of subscribers share capacity in a given area, the capacity demand at any given cell site is much more variable as the number and mix of subscribers constantly change in sometimes highly unpredictable ways.

Are wireless carriers now part of the problem?

For example, as a subscriber using a high-bandwidth application such as streaming video moves from range of one cell site to another, the network must immediately provide the needed capacity for that subscriber, while not disrupting other subscribers using that same cell site. Of course, the problem is magnified many times over as multiple subscribers can be moving in and out of range of a cell site at any given moment. Moreover, the available bandwidth can fluctuate due to variations in radio frequency signal strength and quality, which can be affected by changing factors such as weather, traffic, speed, and the nearby presence of interfering devices (e.g., wireless microphones).

These problems compound those resulting from limited spectrum. As the Commission has repeatedly recognized in proclaiming an upcoming spectrum crisis, “as wireless is increasingly used as a platform for broadband communications services, the demand for spectrum bandwidth will likely continue to increase significantly, and spectrum availability may become critical to ensuring further innovation.”

A wireless carrier cannot readily increase capacity once it has exhausted its spectrum capacity. Thus, wireless broadband providers are left to acquire additional spectrum (to the extent available) or take measures that use their existing spectrum as efficiently as possible, which they do through a combination of investing in additional cell sites and network management practices that optimize network usage and address congestion so as to provide consumers with the quality of service they expect.

Regulators need to ask why wireless companies are telling the FCC there is a bandwidth crisis of epic proportions that requires the Commission to exempt them from important Net Neutrality principles while telling investment banks, shareholders and content producers the more traffic the merrier, as long as someone pays. Customers also might ask why their unlimited use data plans were discontinued while carriers seek deals to allow unlimited viewing with their preferred content partners.

What is the real motivation? The Wall Street Journal suggests one:

“Creating a second revenue stream for mobile broadband is the holy grail for wireless operators but collecting fees from content companies would probably make the FCC take a close look into the policy implications,” said Paul Gallant, managing director at Guggenheim Securities. An FCC spokesman declined to comment.

The Wall Street Journal takes a closer look at a plan to manage an end run around Net Neutrality by allowing preferred content partners to offer streaming video services exempt from your usage cap. (4 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. What Spectrum Crisis: Verizon Wireless Tries to Monetize Video Usage With New App
2. Bulldozing Wireless Net Neutrality: Carriers Want “Toll-Free” Data for Their Partners
3. Proof Verizon’s Banishment of ‘Unlimited Data’ is a Money Grab, Not a Capacity Concern
4. AT&T’s Internet Overcharging Merry-go-Round — Billing App Makers for Your ‘Overusage’
5. AT&T’s ‘Data Tsunami’: Upselling Customers for Higher Profits During Spectrum ‘Crisis’

CenturyLink’s massive nationwide broadband service outage on May 7 hurt Florida schools trying to administer online testing, small businesses in Nevada that were forced to close for the day, and frustrated nearly six million customers across both states and in Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Washington, Virginia, Michigan, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, and Illinois.

An unspecified router failure disrupted broadband service for up to eight hours, and it could not have come at a worse time for Lee County and Cape Charter Schools in Florida that had to postpone state-mandated tests that are completed by students online.

Dr. Lee Bush told WZVN when things like this happen it is not good for the students or area schools.

“There’s a window of time for these tests and there’s a short period of time left. It does affect us,” said Dr. Bush.

The Las Vegas Sun also found itself without Internet access for much of the day, which also brought the newspaper’s website down. Several area businesses that depend on the Internet decided to send workers home late in the morning after it became clear CenturyLink had no realistic expectation of when service would be restored.

The Clark County School District, which serves Las Vegas, also reported their broadband service was interrupted.

In Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin outages created a significant problem for farmers cut off from commodity trading markets during the morning hours.

“An early Tuesday morning in May is definitely not a good time to have a long-lasting service outage for agribusiness,” said Sam Haupmann, who advises small and medium-sized farms on telecommunications matters. “Connectivity is very important for the farm economy these days, and farmers can’t just switch to the cable company or a cell phone. There often is no cable company serving farms and cell phone service can be difficult in rural areas.”

Ask CenturyLink to credit your account for the May 7 outage.

Ed Perrine, the chief of operations of Network Tallahassee, a Florida provider, told the Tallahassee Democrat all of his operations went down in the outage, affecting at least 4,000 customers and the 600 to 700 businesses they serve on the Florida Panhandle alone.

Perrine is not too happy with early reports CenturyLink’s massive outage could have come as a result of botched routine maintenance right before the start of business on a weekday:

Perrine said he spoke with CenturyLink at 6 a.m. where they advised him the company was doing scheduled maintenance. At 7:35 a.m. they told him something had gone wrong during the maintenance and it was affecting customers in 13 states.

By 10:30 a.m., the company advised the outage had spread to 22 states.

Perrine said the company has not told him what is causing the outage, but said that just after 11 a.m., the company advised Perrine that they were in the process of restoring service.

The timing of the update is questionable according to Perrine, who said maintenance is normally scheduled on early Sunday morning so if something goes wrong businesses won’t be affected.

CenturyLink had no plans to issue automatic service credits to affected customers, but you can request a refund for a day of lost service by contacting CenturyLink by phone or e-mail.

WBBH in Fort Myers explains how a nationwide CenturyLink Internet outage on May 7 hurt the local economy, affected area schools, and frustrated area businesses and residents. (2 minutes)

Other stories of interest:

1. New Hampshire’s Comcast Phone Service Outage: Like FairPoint Never Existed
2. Cox’s Massive Weekend E-Mail Outage; Reason #1 to Get An Independent E-Mail Account
3. [Update 2] Time Warner Cable: Major Road Runner/Digital Phone Outage in Northeastern U.S.
4. AT&T’s Network Collapses in South Florida: Broward County to the Keys Without Service for Hours
5. Time Warner Cable Suffers Nationwide Outage, But At Least It Didn’t Last Long