Gov. Purdue

If North Carolina Gov. Bev Purdue does not veto H.129, the cable industry-written bill to throw up roadblocks for community broadband, it will automatically become law at midnight tonight.

We need every North Carolinian on the phone this afternoon, even if you called her office before. Let the governor know that you expect her to veto this anti-consumer, anti-jobs, anti-development bill that will keep broadband out of rural areas and competition at bay.  Let them know you cannot be fooled: doing nothing is the same as signing it into law as far as you are concerned.

The Governor’s Phone Number: +1 919 733 2391

The open source community has joined the fight.  Community Broadband Networks shares the open letter sent to the governor, published on Rootstrikers.org, a community dedicated to fighting all the corruption in politics that allows massive companies like Time Warner Cable to buy legislation:

Dear Governor Perdue,

We are strong supporters of your leadership and your campaign, and we would like to be heard on the important issue of community broadband. I know you are not afraid to use your veto pen, and so I ask you to veto H129, a bill that will take the future away from North Carolina and put it into the pockets of cable company monopolists.

On Sunday May 15th you may have read about our latest investment in North Carolina, Manifold Recording. This was the feature story in the Arts & Living section, and the top right-hand text box on the front page. One of the most difficult and expensive line-items in this multi-million dollar project was securing a broadband link to the site in rural Chatham County. I spent more than two years begging Time Warner to sell me a service that costs 50x more than it should, and that’s after I agreed to pay 100% of the installation costs for more than a mile of fiber. As part of a revised Conditional Use Permit (approved last night), I presented to the Commissioners and the Planning Board of Chatham County data on the economic investment I made, and the fact that according to the statistics from the Rural Broadband Coalition, that such an investment was worth about $300,000 to the 100+ neighbors who live along the new fiber link that I paid for.

Such heroics should not be necessary, nor should they be so costly.

I spent 10 years in Silicon Valley, and I know how quick they are to adopt new technologies that help people start and grow businesses. Manifold Recording would have remained a pipe-dream without broadband. But not everybody can afford to pay $1000/month for the slowest class of fiber broadband. Community broadband initiatives reach more people faster, at lower costs, leading to better economic development. Take it from me: had I been able to spend the time and money on community broadband that I spent in my commercial negotiations, there would be more jobs in Chatham County today.

For more information, which I strongly encourage you to have someone on staff research, please review https://www.rootstrikers.org/#!/story/community-broadband/. There, you will see that “as goes North Carolina, so goes the nation.” We cannot afford to ruin either our own prospects for an economic recovery led by new technologies and new business nor the prospects for an America recovery.

Buffalo’s communications labor unions are behind an organized effort to push Verizon Communications to expand its fiber-to-the-home service to the city of Buffalo, despite the fact the telecom company has a moratorium on service expansion beyond its existing commitments.

Buffalo AFL-CIO Central Labor Council President Michael Hoffert and CWA (Communications Workers of America) Local 1122 President James Wagner teamed up with the city’s elected officials and community advocates to pressure the phone company to expand service beyond several suburbs that currently get the service.

A professionally designed website, DontBypassBuffalo.com, is the home of the campaign, collecting signatures from interested residents and sharing late-breaking developments.

Verizon has a moratorium on further expansion of its fiber to the home service.

“Verizon’s FiOS service is a cutting-edge technology that brings ultra-fast internet and superior video programming over fiber optic cables that run directly into customers’ homes,” reads a statement from the coalition. “While Verizon is deploying FiOS throughout many of the suburbs of Buffalo, they are not building FiOS in the City of Buffalo.  The residents of Amherst, Tonawanda, Kenmore, Orchard Park, Hamburg, West Seneca and Lackawanna, where Verizon has built FiOS, are, taken as a whole, more affluent and less diverse than Buffalo residents.  The deployment of broadband technologies is a key to economic redevelopment in the City, especially since health care and higher education, both very dependent on cutting edge technologies, are leading employers in our area.  If Verizon continues to bypass Buffalo, residential consumers, children, and area businesses won’t be able to thrive in the 21st century economy.”

The union shares an interest in bringing the advanced service to more residents across Erie County as it collectively represents some of the Verizon employees who will service the fiber network.  Three western New York chapters of the CWA – Locals 1122, 1115 and 1177 – represent nearly 750 Verizon Workers across Erie, Genesee and Niagara counties, as well as across the Southern Tier, including field technicians, central office technicians and clerical staff.

Curry (WIVB-TV)

Verizon stalled new rollouts of its fiber optic network more than a year ago, and has consistently said it would only expand service in areas where it already has signed agreements with local communities.  In many regions, Verizon has completed agreements with towns and villages before reaching accommodations with larger urban areas.  Buffalo is not alone in protesting for improved broadband service.  Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Boston have also complained about being bypassed.

Last week, Coalition Director Janique Curry stepped up the pressure on the phone company at a press conference in front of Verizon’s Elmwood Avenue headquarters.

“Verizon’s lack of commitment to the minority population in the city of Buffalo is unacceptable,” Curry said.  “This community deserves an equal opportunity as our neighbors in the suburbs experience.”

Verizon’s FiOS network in New York State currently serves parts of metropolitan New York City and suburban areas around Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/DontBypassBuffalo Apr-May 2011.flv[/flv]

Here are three reports on the protests: WIVB-TV and WKBW-TV’s coverage of the protest in April, and WIVB’s most recent story covering last week’s return to Verizon headquarters to apply additional pressure on the company.  (3 minutes)

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KSAZ Phoenix ATT Customer Satisfaction 5-17-11.mp4[/flv]

The morning news team at Fox affiliate KSAZ-TV in Phoenix were slightly in over-their-heads trying to cover the results of a satisfaction survey about cell phone companies.  Poor Kristin Anderson was coping with a personal AT&T crisis all her own — she lost her cell phone.  Her luck didn’t get much better when she tried to explore the survey’s results from the University of Michigan.  Instead of a slide ranking the winners and losers, viewers got a pop quiz question asking which country in the news is run by President Bashar al-Assad.  While you might have wanted to answer the Republic of AT&T, the correct answer is Syria.  AT&T scored rock-bottom in the survey with T-Mobile not far behind.  Among the major carriers, Verizon and Sprint tied for first place.  When asked which carrier scored the highest overall, the morning anchor team guessed Cricket.  Yes, Cricket.  (The correct answer turned out to be Tracphone, which is a prepaid reseller using other carriers’ networks.)  (4 minutes)

Another rate increase

Time Warner Cable is raising prices again, less than five months after their last rate increase which took effect in January in the Rochester area.

This time, the cable company is adding $1-2 dollars for each premium movie channel, already battered by cord-cutting and consumers cutting back on high cable bills:

Effective with your July 2011 billing, the price for premium channels will be adjusted as follows:

• HBO: $13.95$14.95
• Cinemax:  $10.95$12.95
• Showtime:  $10.95$12.95
• Starz:  $10.95$12.95

This rate increase covers the Rochester/Finger Lakes region, but other areas can expect similar pricing in the future.  The response to these price hikes will likely bring another round of cord-cutting as consumers increasingly look for less expensive alternatives.

Rochester

We also note a Brighton customer who signed up for the $29.99 12-month promotion for Road Runner Standard on Time Warner Cable’s website is currently fighting with the cable company over claims the real price of the promotion is $34.95 — the $5 difference reflecting a hidden modem rental fee.  If true, it will be a first for the Rochester area where cable modems have always come with the service at no additional charge.  We are waiting to learn whether this is a mistake or something new for Rochester.

In other news, Time Warner Cable has been teasing some customers on the company’s waiting list for Road Runner Extreme (30/5) and Road Runner Wideband (50/5Mbps) DOCSIS 3 broadband service.  Several people, myself included, received phone calls earlier today notifying us the service was now available in our area.  Don’t you believe it.  After more than 45 minutes (and a call back a few hours later), we were told the service was not actually available in our area… yet.  It’s certainly an annoying situation for both those getting the calls and the confused customer service representatives who then had to disappoint.

Interested customers can call (585) 756-1119 and bypass the usual voice prompts and speak directly with a customer service representative.  They verify service availability based on the phone number/address on the account.  Installation fees of around $68 apply, and although some customers report having them waived or reduced, we’ve heard the $68 fee often ends up on the bill anyway.

Anecdotal reports indicate early adopters are experiencing some technical glitches getting consistently fast speeds, but these are usually remedied after service calls or refreshing the cable modem from the office.

“If your house was destroyed, and you have looked around the neighborhood for our cable box and cannot find it, you owe us $212 and you need to either pay us or make an insurance claim on our behalf.”

Those were the exact words of a Charter Cable representative talking to a storm victim who lost her home, possessions, and yes, Charter Cable’s set top box.  Stop the Cap! reader Jake from Alabama shared the story of his friend Kelly — a single mother with three kids who lived in Jefferson County, until last month’s tornado flattened her home and scattered everything the family owned for miles around.  Kelly is now living with her parents in Georgia and trying to sort through insurance claims, school for her children, her future career, and the cable company.

“She told me everyone was wonderful, offering food, aid, temporary shelter, and even assistance with insurance claims,” Jake writes.  “Everyone but Charter Cable, who immediately demanded payment for equipment that could have blown into the next county.”

Kelly told Jake the other utilities were glad to help suspend service to her now non-existent home.  The phone company is even forwarding phone calls to her Alabama phone number, which now connects to her cell phone.  Nobody asked for a penny, and all expressed sorrow for the loss.  Charter Cable expressed an interest in Kelly’s credit card number to pay for her lost cable box.

“She told me the woman at Charter demanded to know if she was not prepared to pay today, when would she file her insurance claim so the company can get paid,” Jake says.  “Even worse, if she didn’t pay, they would assess late fees and turn her over to a collection agency.”

Cable companies demanding payment for lost or destroyed cable equipment is nothing new.  Stop the Cap! has documented instances where operators demand payment for cable boxes destroyed in fires, even when the customer lacks insurance.

“It’s become a hot topic in Birmingham and storm-damaged areas because relief workers are hearing horror stories from customers, some injured, who are told to start combing through adjacent yards to look for their lost cable equipment,” Jake says.

Bright House Networks, which also provides service in some storm-damaged areas, has been particularly nasty.

Jake notes one local talk show featured a caller who shared the story of a Bright House representative who told the customer she would wait on the phone while she searched the backyard for Bright House’s DVR box.

“It was disgusting, and Bright House told a Birmingham newspaper it was their policy to demand homeowners file insurance claims on the cable company’s behalf so they can get paid full value for their damaged, usually previously used, cable equipment,” Jake says.

In fact, that is Bright House Networks’ policy, notes the Birmingham News:

Bright House Networks, whose service area includes hard-hit Pratt City, also expects its customers to file claims under homeowners’ or renters’ insurance to pay for lost or destroyed cable boxes. “That’s how we normally handle it,” spokesman Robert L. Smith said.

If storm victims don’t have insurance, he said, decisions will have to be made on a case-by-case basis.

“For those who have lost everything, talking to a cable company is probably the last thing on their minds,” Smith said. “We’re not going to pressure someone for a set-top box.”

But in fact cable companies have pressured customers into paying for lost equipment and told they’ll get their money back from the final insurance settlement.

“The problem here isn’t so much that Charter and Bright House want to get paid for destroyed equipment, it’s how zealous they are about getting paid right now, even as people are still wrapping their hands around the cards dealt to them by the massive tornado damage,” Jake says.

The News notes not every cable company is out for customers’ credit card numbers:

Among other television services, AT&T’s U-verse customers who lost their leased equipment in the storm can have it replaced at no charge, company spokeswoman Sue Sperry said.

DirecTV waives replacement costs for equipment damaged in storms if customers continue services, spokeswoman Vanessa Dunham said. If service can’t be restored because of damage to the home, DirecTV offers to cancel the account and waive fees for not returning equipment, she said.

[Update 5/20: Charter Communications sent a statement saying, in part: Charter will not charge customers for missing, destroyed, or damaged equipment as a result of the recent tornadoes. We adjusted our policy shortly after the tornado in response to the large-scale and catastrophic nature of this storm.  We have now confirmed the company is now crediting customers for lost or damaged equipment.]