Fracking traffic

The controversial practice of extracting natural gas from so-called “fracking” techniques is generating controversy of a whole new kind as workers are being fingered for interrupting phone and broadband service around the state of West Virginia.

Harrison and Doddridge County residents are irritated they keep losing Frontier phone and Internet service thanks to careless turns by large rig drivers that hook poles and telephone lines and tear them down.

“We’ve lost service three times so far because the trucks keep knocking down phone poles or rip the lines right off,” writes Stop the Cap! reader Jennifer J. “I guess looking for natural gas and keeping phones working at the same time just isn’t possible around here.”

“Since the oil and gas industry has had a boom, we have definitely seen an increase in cut cables and things of that nature in Harrison and especially Doddridge County,” Frontier Communications general manager Chip Van Alsburg told The Exponent Telegram.

Frontier would not reveal exactly how many phone line accidents have been caused by the workers, but Van Alsburg told the newspaper there were a “number of gas-industry-related incidents” recently.

The average owner of a large home that wants an alarm system, the ability to observe everything indoors and out, and remotely control doors, thermostats and electric outlets will pay AT&T $1,740 in installation fees and a recurring monthly charge of $69.95 a month for deluxe peace of mind.

AT&T’s “Digital Life” service, available in U-verse equipped areas, is just the latest revenue-booster for the telephone company. The new service will compete directly against similar offerings from cable operators and traditional home security vendors including ADT.

AT&T can claim some superiority for its offering, because it offers water damage sensors most others don’t. That add-on can detect a basement water heater on the way out or give an early warning of a sewer backup.

AT&T’s deluxe offer — headlined above — includes the water control add-on, three indoor pan-and-scan cameras, one outdoor security camera, sensors for six windows and a variety of home automation features. For the middle class, AT&T offers less tony packages, letting customers customize features most valuable to them.

Home security and automation is a growth industry, particularly since the cable and phone companies have gotten into the act. The Boston Herald reports 90 million homes worldwide will have some form of home automation system in place by 2017.

Although home security systems have been available for years, they require separate contracts, installation, and monitoring from alarm providers most Americans are barely familiar with. The cable and phone companies hope their packages, offered as “add-ons,” will attract more customers that would not normally consider a home security system. Maintaining broadband service is also often a prerequisite for the cable/telephone company systems. As customers are already accustomed to seeing the cable or phone guy and a large, multi-product monthly telecommunications bill, adding another service like home automation and monitoring is not a big stretch.

“Offering security services in the past was basically a separate offering,” said Mitchell Christopher, vice president of technical operations at  Time Warner Cable. “Security wasn’t tied to the existing products or network. With the new products we have now, it is fully integrated into our existing network. It is just an extension of what we are doing versus a departure.”

Unlike traditional intrusion alarms, services like AT&T’s “Digital Life” promote home automation and monitoring features above basic home security.

The Herald:

A few real life-examples: Turn on the lights and unlock your front door when you see your cleaning crew arrive. Lock it behind them when they leave — no need to give them a key. Set programs that make life easier, such as one that triggers your back door to open and your kitchen lights to turn on when your garage door opens each night as you arrive home. View a log of each time your front door has opened or closed to know whether your child has kept his or her word about staying in to do homework. Simply press a button on your smartphone or tablet for “police” or “fire” in the event of an emergency. Be alerted if the service detects a water leak, smoke or carbon monoxide. And if a leak is detected, have the water supply cut automatically.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/ATT Digital Life 8-2013.flv[/flv]

AT&T produced this introductory video for its Digital Life home security and automation suite. The most basic home security packages start at $150 for equipment and $30 a month with a 2-year contract. (1 minute)

TracFone customers signed up for NET10 Wireless prepaid service are getting word in e-mail the 1.5GB monthly data cap on AT&T-based SIM cards introduced in March has been removed and unlimited data has returned.

AT&T resells prepaid access to its 3G GSM network on gradually improving terms as AT&T’s postpaid, on-contract customers continue to abandon 3G in favor of AT&T’s 4G services. As 3G traffic loads diminish, AT&T is seeking to maximize return on its older network. Bringing back unlimited data service is expected to prove an attractive offering in the budget-minded prepaid marketplace.

TracFone acts as a reseller of all four major carriers’ networks under different brands. Geography and the specific phone model chosen usually determines on which network the service will operate. Only customers with AT&T SIM cards in their phones (the first line of the SIM card ID number will end in “SIMC4”) qualify for the unlimited data offer, although tethering is prohibited, according to an e-mail being sent to registered customers.

TracFone enacted a 1.5GB monthly usage cap for NET10 Wireless users back in March. But the cap never applied to TracFone’s Straight Talk customers. Straight Talk still offers unlimited data, but says streaming is not permitted.

Along with the return of unlimited data, TracFone has discontinued its NET10 Wireless usage measurement portal, which informed customers about their monthly data usage.

TracFone operates several prepaid calling plans under the brands TracFone, NET10 Wireless, Safelink Wireless, Straight Talk, Telcel América, and SIMPLE Mobile. TracFone is owned and operated by Mexico-based América Móvil.

Worst

Broadband customers in Lawrence, Kan. have been liberated from Internet Overcharging schemes after years of usage-capped Internet access from Sunflower Broadband and Knology.

WideOpenWest’s (better known as WOW!) acquisition of Knology, which in turn purchased Sunflower Broadband from the local newspaper, means usage limits are a thing of the past.

Consumer Reports has top-rated WOW! for customer friendly service, and banishing usage caps is an example of why the cable company earns such high marks.

The company reminds customers that “all WOW! Internet speeds have no usage caps.”

Sunflower Broadband originally offered four different broadband plans, only one without usage caps. Lawrence customers did get speed upgrades faster than many other cable broadband customers, but most were accompanied with draconian usage limits.

Bad

♦ Bronze: Originally offering 3Mbps/256kbps service, Sunflower’s “lite” usage plan included a 3GB monthly usage limit boosted by Knology in 2012 to $22.95/month offering 3/1Mbps service and a still ridiculously low 5GB usage limit. WOW! has kept the lite plan but removed the usage cap.

♦ Silver: Sunflower’s equivalent of Standard Internet service offered 10/1Mbps broadband with a 50GB usage cap. Knology raised the price to $37.95, left the 50GB cap intact and increased speeds to 18/2Mbps. WOW! dropped the cap.

♦ Gold: Sunflower’s premium 50/1Mbps service offered 250GB of usage for under $60 a month. When Knology took over, speeds were boosted to 50/5Mbps along with the price: $62.95 a month. But the usage cap stayed the same. Today WOW! continues the plan without any caps.

Much Better

♦ Palladium: Sunflower responded to customer complaints about metering Internet usage by offering residents a trade — an unlimited use plan with no speed promises. Palladium could be as slow as 2Mbps during peak usage, 25Mbps when traffic was very low. Knology kept the plan and its 1Mbps upload rate, but raised the price to $47.95 a month. WOW! dumped Palladium altogether, replacing it with a 30/2Mbps unlimited use plan for customers who don’t want to pay $63 a month for the Gold plan.

A number of Lawrence customers annoyed with Sunflower and Knology switched to AT&T U-verse when it was introduced locally. Although U-verse has a 250GB usage cap, Lawrence residents report it remains unenforced.

Stop the Cap! reader Mike, who shared the news WOW! had recently shelved the caps, tells us he switched to AT&T years ago and is happy with their service.

“So far, their cap is not enforced at all here,” Mike writes. “The minute they start enforcing it, I’ll switch to WOW!”

…fiction into “fact.”

Although America’s perennially worst-rated cable company is advertising “always faster Internet,” it is also moving “full speed ahead” to enforce usage limits to make sure customers don’t take too much advantage of those speeds.

Broadband Reports notes Mediacom is preparing notices stating effective Sept. 7 usage limits and overlimit fees that used to only apply to new customers or those changing plans will now be enforced for all customers.

A member of their social media team blamed bandwidth hogs for the caps.

“We have a small subset of customers that are using a very large portion of the available bandwidth, which can have a negative impact on the other Internet users in the surrounding area,” said Mediacom’s Social Media Relations Team. “By curbing this behavior, other customers can benefit with faster speeds.”

Actually, Mediacom will benefit from lower usage and higher revenue it will collect from the $10 overlimit fee for each additional 50GB of usage. Neighborhood congestion issues are largely a thing of the past because of upgrades to DOCSIS 3 technology.

Although the usage caps for higher priced tiers are generous by current standards, the company can adjust the caps up or down at any time. Mediacom traditionally serves rural areas or small cities that lack significant telephone company competition, so customers may have few alternatives. Both CenturyLink and AT&T have their own usage caps, barely enforced. Frontier Communications, another common provider in Mediacom territory, has tested the water with usage caps in the past but does not regularly impose them.

Broadband Reports assembled the pricing and caps for each Mediacom broadband tier: