Time Warner Cable is letting victims of recent devastating storms spend their time and energy worrying about rebuilding their lives and not ponder the loss of company-owned cable boxes, modems, and other equipment.

Unlike several smaller cable companies that have hounded customers for cable equipment destroyed in storms, fires, and other natural disasters, Time Warner is signaling they are waiving any lost/damaged equipment fees when tragedy strikes.

Many cable operators expect to recoup lost or damaged equipment from proceeds of insurance claims, and relentlessly bill clients for the full value of equipment that may have melted in a fire or blown blocks away in a tornado.  While homeowner and rental policies traditionally cover this equipment, few customers are in a state of mind to worry about a DVR box or cable modem, and some may have to wait weeks or months for restitution from the insurance company.

Stop the Cap! reader Kathleen is now an extended guest at a Kentucky “extended stay” motel after her house was damaged by a tornado several days ago.

“I’m an organized person and I had my emergency planning kit ready to go, calling the insurance company, the utilities, and the cable company, among others, to make sure everything was documented,” Kathleen writes. “Our DVR box and cable modem are probably sitting in a field in southern Ohio right now, as the storm completely took away our family room.”

Kathleen originally was planning to write complaining Time Warner wanted several hundred dollars for the lost equipment because that is what the first representative told her.

“But 20 minutes after that call, a supervisor called us back and profusely apologized, telling us the representative was not supposed to charge for the lost equipment because of the storm,” Kathleen says. “They got themselves a lot more loyalty from me than that equipment ever cost them because they did the right thing by me and my family.”

Kathleen tells us Time Warner has stopped all charges on her account, offered her their good wishes for a recovery, and will waive any installation costs to get her service back up and running when repairs are complete.

“Following the horrific storms of last week, Time Warner Cable immediately suspended all credit and collections work in the area,” a spokesperson tells Stop the Cap! “Time Warner Cable has not and will not charge customers for lost or damaged equipment as a result of these storms.”

“It is why I will call Time Warner back when this is all over and will stick with them because they stuck with us,” says Kathleen. “Sorry AT&T.”

[Consumer Tip from Stop the Cap!: Every renter should always have renter’s insurance, which typically will cover damaged cable equipment. It’s very affordable and protects renters from losses. Many consumers believe landlords carry insurance which will protect them in the event of a natural disaster or fire, but those insurance policies protect the landlord’s property, not renters’ possessions.]

Consumers and community leaders across Georgia can now rest a little easier knowing AT&T’s plans to throw up roadblocks against community broadband have gone awry.  SB313, a custom-written corporate welfare bill designed to protect cable and phone companies from competition, has reportedly been turned into a “study bill” — a graceful way to kill bad legislation without hurting too many feelings.

It wasn’t just the fact incumbent phone and cable companies wanted to stop community broadband projects from wiring communities they’ve ignored for years.  It wasn’t even the absurdity of the bill defining Georgia’s “broadband” speeds at just 200kbps (later ‘generously’ amended and increased to 758kbps).  This bill died because of consumer and community outrage — local officials working hand in hand with woefully under-served Georgians asking their elected officials why they seemed to care more about AT&T’s interests than those of the people who elected them to office.

Specious political arguments about “government/taxpayer involvement in broadband” and a sudden blitz of campaign contributions for the bill’s backers simply couldn’t overcome the reality of broadband-challenged rural Georgia.

According to the National Broadband Map, Georgia ranks 20th in the nation for broadband access. According to the forward of a report by Rich Calhoun, Program Director of the Georgia Technology Initiative, “As I traveled through the state to talk with leaders in municipalities, counties and community anchor institutions, I found that many places throughout Georgia indicated that they did not have access to affordable or sufficient broadband services. Telecommunications firms who have made significant investments in Georgia indicated that in some areas of the state the return on investment would not qualify for further investment at the present time.”

As Stop the Cap! exposed to our readers, AT&T isn’t interested in serving the broadband needs of rural Georgia and doesn’t want anyone else serving them either.

We exposed the well-financed propaganda campaign that maligned some of Georgia’s past experiences with municipal broadband, many projects derailed not by government ‘failure’ but through political interference and the private sector.  We showed readers how to follow the money to see the connection between campaign contributions and the sudden interest in effectively banning community broadband.  We exposed the fact this is a coordinated, nationwide effort by a corporate backed lobbying group (ALEC) that pays to wine and dine lawmakers and then sell them on a catalog of bills ghost-written by some of the nation’s largest telecommunications companies.  Legislation that hamstrings competition and protects monopoly profits, while always conveniently exempting incumbent providers from the terms of the bills they effectively wrote.

But the real victory goes to readers who picked up the phone or sent e-mail letting Georgia legislators know you were watching them and paying attention to this obvious corporate welfare bill.  You made it more expensive for lawmakers to vote with AT&T, despite their campaign contributions, than to vote for -your- interests.  The next election is never too far away.

Why We Fight: These are the minimum speeds needed by some of Georgia's most important institutions. While state lawmakers have 100Mbps access in Atlanta, some are content to define 758kbps "broadband" as just fine for the rest of the state.

We also applaud the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.  Their Community Broadband Networks project was able to educate, coordinate, and rally local governments who may not have been aware their broadband future was about to be indefinitely held ransom by AT&T and Comcast.

We never underestimate AT&T’s power and money.  But they continue to underestimate us and the communities they are supposed to be serving.

Common sense prevailed in Georgia.  South Carolina may be a different story.  Their own anti-broadband measure is still alive and kicking.  We’ll be holding additional “calls to action” on this bad bill shortly.

Stay involved in the fight.  The better broadband you protect may be your own.

California AT&T customer Matt Spaccarelli can’t understand why his wireless phone company is selling him an “unlimited data plan” for his iPhone that is subject to being throttled to dial-up speeds after as little as 13 minutes of Netflix viewing per day over the course of a month.

Spaccarelli argued his case with several AT&T representatives, who recommended he “upgrade” his account to a tiered plan that would guarantee him at least 3GB of an unthrottled experience for the same price he was paying for an ostensibly “unlimited use” plan.

“That to me says ‘if you pay more, then you get what we promised you in the first place,’ and that is not cool,” Spaccarelli told the Associated Press.

[flv width=”480″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/AP ATT Backpedals on Throttling 3-1-12.mp4[/flv]

The Associated Press talks with Matt Spaccarelli, who successfully sued AT&T over his throttled Internet connection.  (3 minutes)

The Simi Valley man did what few AT&T customers have dared — he took the company to small claims court, and won a judgment of $850.

A Ventura County judge took a dim view of AT&T’s claim that customers can enjoy an “unlimited usage” experience, as long as they understand AT&T never promised what speeds customers would receive along the way.

AT&T lost, according to the judge, because of the legal concept of “justifiable reliance,” which means because AT&T advertises itself as the “fastest wireless network,” a normal consumer with an average understanding of mobile broadband should not expect to have their speeds on an advertised “unlimited use” plan reduced to something akin to an AOL dial-up account.

After AT&T’s representative read the company’s carefully-constructed legalese in its contract and terms of usage in court, even the judge was confused, relates Spaccarelli.

“What does this mean?” Spaccarelli remembers the judge asking.

AT&T's Control Measure for "Heavy Users"

Spaccarelli said he tried it AT&T’s way — switching to a 3GB tiered usage plan to stop the throttling on his “unlimited” plan.

“For one month they switched me to a tiered plan and that month I used the smallest amount of data ever and got the highest bill,” he told KTTV in Los Angeles. “AT&T has not and cannot show that my usage has ever caused damage to their network or caused other people to slow down.”

The AT&T Usage Limbo Dance — Lowering the Bar on Customers With Continuously-Decreasing Usage Allowances

Spaccarelli explained in court his throttling experiences with AT&T have gotten worse over the last several months as part of what he calls AT&T’s “Upside Down Pyramid Scheme.”

“The problem with using the top 5% of data users [as a basis for throttling] is because [customers] are not able to use the services that we would normally use, data usage becomes less and less,” he says. That in turn makes AT&T’s “top 5% usage throttle” engage at perpetually lower and lower usage rates.  Heavy users that used to make the top 5% of data users last fall were consuming a dozen or more gigabytes per month.  Today, AT&T’s “top 5%” consume only 2GB of data.

“When this all started I was getting slowed down after around 10GB of usage, then 8GB and then 5GB,” he says. “[Now] AT&T will admit that 2GB is the average when most people get slowed down.”

“They don’t want my usage to affect other users, which I totally understand,” Spaccarelli says. “But it seems like as long as I pay more they don’t care that my usage might affect other people.”

Spaccarelli pays AT&T around $140 a month for a plan he says AT&T sold him as “unlimited everything.”

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KTTV Los Angeles ATT Lawsuit Interview 3-1-12.flv[/flv]

KTTV talked with Spaccarelli about why he decided to sue AT&T, what the experience was like, and why consumers should be concerned about usage-limiting Internet plans.  (5 minutes)

A judge was persuaded by Spaccarelli’s argument and awarded him $850 for the value of his effectively-lost “unlimited use” plan.  But Spaccarelli isn’t waiting by his mailbox — AT&T has indicated it intends to appeal the judge’s ruling and has not sent a check.  (Perhaps he could follow in the footsteps of George Kontos, an AT&T customer in Winston-Salem, N.C. who walked into a local AT&T retail store with a Forsyth County Sheriff’s deputy, to seize the store’s merchandise to satisfy Kontos’ $2,000 judgment.)

Lowering the bar on "unlimited use" customers.

That a customer successfully sued AT&T in small claims court is a potential nightmare for the company, which has worked for years to eliminate consumer protection clauses from its contracts.  AT&T already prohibits customers from pursuing class action lawsuits and typically mandates corporate-friendly arbitration in customer-company disputes.  But AT&T has not yet prohibited customers from suing them in small claims court, where damages are limited.

“I’m not a lawyer and I’ve never done something like this before,” Spaccarelli writes on his website. “I did my own research and took my own time to put together this case against AT&T.”

A case that he has begun documenting in an effort to help consumers pursue their own actions against AT&T.  He says filing a small claims case is simple.

“You give the clerk $85 and the court will give you a court date, that’s it,” Spaccarelli told AP.

Now AT&T has backpedaled on its original plan to throttle unlimited customers who use more than 2GB per month.  Instead, they have announced the throttle will kick in after 3GB of usage, the same amount offered by AT&T’s most popular $30 tiered plan.  That gives customers two choices: a speed throttle or overlimit fees for customers who exceed AT&T’s allowance.

AT&T has at least 17 million customers grandfathered on its now-discontinued “unlimited use” plan.  Any of them face the potential of throttling by AT&T, which could lead others to small claims court, with Spaccarelli’s help.  He told the New York Times he’s willing to travel anywhere in the country to appear as an “expert witness” in future court cases, as long as someone covers his travel expenses.

Spaccarelli says he’s not really interested in the $850, he just wants his unlimited use plan to really mean “unlimited use” again.

“I’d give back the money if they stopped slowing my speed down,” he says.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Spaccarelli Calls ATT 3-12.flv[/flv]

Spaccarelli calls AT&T customer service looking for his $850.  (2 minutes)

AT&T to Rural America

While Verizon leverages its 4G LTE wireless network as a rural broadband solution, AT&T shows no signs of sharing Big Red’s enthusiasm (and investment).

In fact, while AT&T celebrates the end of its U-verse fiber-to-the-neighborhood expansion and admits it has no answer to America’s rural broadband problem, the always excellent DSL Prime by Dave Burstein reports AT&T is mulling a sale of its rural DSL operations to a third party provider, essentially letting the new owner(s) deal with the rural broadband problem:

[AT&T] is “doing a rapid tech evaluation” of whether they can upgrade their DSL + wireless to “a competitive broadband product.” But Randall “doesn’t see a solution.” If that’s confirmed, “we’re looking for others who might want the properties.” […] It’s unclear if any of the “rural carriers” – Century, Frontier, Windstream – have the financial ability to make an attractive offer. If operators can’t raise the money, [AT&T] would need to make a financial transaction.

Verizon has sold off its entire “wireline” (landline infrastructure and business) operation in smaller, rural states — often properties it acquired years earlier from GTE — to focus on more lucrative urban markets.  AT&T could either spinoff its broadband operation to a third party to run or follow Verizon and sell off entire rural service areas not already upgraded for AT&T’s more modern U-verse.

Likely buyers include FairPoint Communications, Frontier Communications, CenturyLink, and Windstream — all independent traditional landline operators trying to focus on less-competitive rural markets pitching DSL broadband service.

AT&T has shown little interest investing in rural service areas located primarily in the southern and central United States.  As Karl Bode writes on Broadband Reports, AT&T is on record stating that they can’t find an “economically viable” way to upgrade these users, despite a looming increase in faster and less expensive last mile DSL technologies.

As AT&T has sought to redefine itself as a wireless company, the buildout of its wireless network could bring AT&T to also eventually pitch 4G wireless Internet service to its former DSL customers.  But like Verizon, those plans would likely include severely usage-capped service, while leaving its traditional DSL product starved for investment.

Verizon Wireless today introduced HomeFusion Broadband: a new service that provides high-speed in-home Internet access using the company’s 4G LTE wireless network.

Designed primarily to reach households with limited broadband options, HomeFusion will deliver download speeds of 5-12Mbps and upload speeds of 2-5Mbps. While installation will come free of charge, a one-time equipment charge of $199.99 applies.  Pricing is nearly identical to Verizon’s mobile broadband service:

• Up to 10GB — $60/month
• Up to 20GB — $90/ month
• Up to 30GB — $120/month
• Overlimit fee: $10/GB

Verizon's 4G LTE antenna must be mounted on an outside wall of your home to assure good reception. (Picture: The Verge)

Verizon says HomeFusion is their broadband answer for rural America.

“HomeFusion Broadband is just one of the new products and services that is made possible with our 4G LTE network,” said Tami Erwin, vice president and chief marketing officer, Verizon Wireless. “Customers want to connect more and more devices in their homes to the Internet, and HomeFusion Broadband gives them a simple, fast and effective way to bring the most advanced wireless connection from Verizon into their homes.”

A third party company, Asurion, will handle installation of Verizon’s cylinder-shaped antenna, installed on the side of a customer’s home.  The antenna is designed to pick up the best possible signal from Verizon’s growing 4G network.  The antenna transmits the signal to a company supplied router capable of connecting up to four wired and 20 wireless devices.

HomeFusion Broadband will be available beginning later this month in Birmingham, Ala., Dallas and Nashville, Tenn., with additional markets to follow.

Verizon’s product is unlikely to attract substantial interest in more populated areas where a 10GB monthly usage cap would prove unacceptable in many homes where multimedia content is a growing part of the Internet experience.  But is could compete with satellite broadband, which also has low monthly usage caps.  Verizon may also win back customers in service areas it sold to independent providers like FairPoint and Frontier Communications, which have since saddled most of their rural customers with 1-3Mbps DSL service.  But Verizon’s pricing puts rural America at a usage disadvantage because of the low monthly limits and higher price tag.

The development of HomeFusion could reduce Verizon’s investment and interest in further expanding its traditional rural broadband product — DSL.  But Verizon will have to expand its still-urban focused LTE 4G network further into the countryside for HomeFusion to serve its intended market.