Frontier Communications has launched a new discount program for active duty military and reservists that could save them up to $120 a year.

Military personnel can save $5 a month on double-play packages like telephone and broadband.  Customers also billed for Frontier FiOS TV or a satellite package on their phone bill get $10 a month, as long as they remain signed to a term commitment agreement Frontier calls its “price protection plan.”

“Frontier is instituting this additional discount to show our appreciation to those who serve our nation and protect our freedoms,” senior vice president and general manager for West Virginia Dana Waldo said in the news release. “As a company, Frontier has a proud history of supporting our troops. We entered into a Veteran Employment Partnership Program agreement with the U.S. Army Reserves and National Guard this past spring, and Frontier has a veteran employee base of nearly 10 percent, or 1,500.”

Frontier customers who serve in the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy, Coast Guard or National Guard — both active and reserves are eligible for the program, and the savings can be combined with other plan discounts some customers may already receive.

Frontier this month also embarked on a hiring program that targets those in service to our country in association with the Employer Partnership of the Armed Forces.

Interested applicants can visit Frontier’s Military Careers website to learn more about the company and available positions around the country.

In military operations, an ir illuminator enhances visibility and precision in low-light conditions, ensuring effective mission execution even in complete darkness. By providing crucial illumination that is invisible to the naked eye, an ir illuminator allows personnel to navigate and operate with greater confidence and safety.

“I believe that today Frontier does a solid job of re-employing returning reservists and other military personnel,” said Frontier CEO Maggie Wilderotter. “I want us to do even more, especially during these difficult economic and high-unemployment times. Our military men and women were there for us; it’s our turn to be here for them.”

To learn more about the military discount, call 1-877-462-8188.

Shark-infested waters for AT&T and T-Mobile USA

Months after the U.S. Department of Justice announced its formal opposition to the merger of AT&T and T-Mobile, the Federal Communications Commission yesterday announced it would hold its own unusual “administrative hearing” to review the deal regardless of the outcome of a Justice Department lawsuit.

It has been more than nine years since the FCC last held such a hearing, which derailed the proposed merger of satellite TV providers DISH Network and DirecTV.  It is the clearest indication yet that regulators are deeply uncomfortable with the deal.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski waited for the Justice Department to announce its opposition to the deal before making his own concerns known.  The decision to pursue the special hearing, which won’t begin until 2012 and is likely to take several months, follows the lead of antitrust regulators at the DOJ.

It represents a nightmare scenario for AT&T, which has spent millions lobbying and promoting a merger with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA.

An unnamed FCC official told The Wall Street Journal AT&T’s campaign has been playing fast and loose with the facts, particularly relating to claims the merger will create up to 100,000 new jobs. The official, who has seen confidential document filings from AT&T, says the phone company’s secret papers reveal the exact opposite — “massive job losses” if the deal gets approved.

Most companies confronting an FCC administrative hearing think long and hard about the prospects of the deal. Unlike an antitrust legal case, which must prove that a merger will substantially undercut competition, the FCC need only prove a deal is contrary to the “public interest” to reject it, a much lower hurdle.

When DirecTV and DISH failed to win a nod from the FCC for their merger, it fell apart.

Solomon

AT&T was testy after hearing the news.

“It is yet another example of a government agency acting to prevent billions in new investment and the creation of many thousands of new jobs,” AT&T senior vice president of corporate communications Larry Solomon told the Journal. He added, “We are reviewing all options.”

A growing number of Wall Street analysts believe those options are dwindling by the day, and an all-out war by AT&T against regulators could come at a cost when the giant phone company brings other business before them. Genachowski is still willing to go to bat for AT&T, circulating a draft approval among fellow commissioners that would grant the company’s separate proposal to purchase $1.9 billion in additional wireless spectrum from Qualcomm, Inc.

Observers predict AT&T might offer to divest a larger portion of T-Mobile than it was originally comfortable considering.  That may ultimately prove less expensive than the alternative — paying Deutsche Telekom a breakup fee worth $6 billion dollars should the merger fail to succeed.

[flv width=”512″ height=”308″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSJ FCC Chief to Seek Hearing on ATT Deal 11-22-11.flv[/flv]

The head of the Federal Communications Commission will seek an administrative hearing on AT&T’s proposed $39 billion deal to acquire T-Mobile USA, according to a person close to the matter. Thomas Catan has details on The Wall Street Journal’s ‘News Hub.’  (2 minutes)

Time Warner Cable’s latest series of rate increases and perceived snubs has rubbed some New York residents the wrong way, and one upstate city has retaliated by extending the cable operator’s franchise by just one year.

Cable customers from Lowville to Massena, adjacent to the Canadian border, have been venting about the cable company’s decision to increase cable rates for the second time this year across the region.  The anger is nearly universal, whether one is a conservative tea party member in Norwood or a liberal Democrat in Watertown.

But the strongest message heard by Time Warner officials was delivered by Massena Deputy Supervisor Albert N. Nicola, who helped shoot down the cable company’s request for a 15-year franchise renewal, and approved a one year renewal in its place.  The vote was 5-0.

“They’re asking for a 15-year extension, which is absolutely totally outrageous,” Mr. Nicola told the Watertown Daily Times. “We’ve got to be crazy for even thinking about that.”

That is no Christmas present for Time Warner, whose cable franchise agreement in Massena expires this year on Dec. 25.

Town board members noted the cable company didn’t bother show up for franchise renegotiation discussions and were reportedly not in attendance for this week’s vote.

“It’s tough to ask questions of a group that isn’t here,” Nicola said.

Massena wants some changes in the local cable lineup, more responsiveness to local residents, and more involvement in the community by the cable company.

Residents want lower rates.

Wayne D. Mihalyi of Lowville called Time Warner the poster child of corporate greed.  Tim Donahue of Lowville wondered how much more he and his neighbors would take from the cable operator:

How long are we going to continue having Time Warner Cable increase their rates without hesitation? Isn’t anybody out there looking out for us?

We just had all our rates increase 7.5 percent in January 2011. They cried poverty and increases in dealing with the networks. Yet another small increase occurred (because of taxes) somewhere between June’s bill and October’s.

And now we just received yet another 8 percent increase within the same year? They must have seen how Netflix did it and said, “What the heck, if they can do it so can we.”

This time we’re supposed to believe it is because of their significantly increased cost of programming. Don’t forget, we also got socked a whopping 16.5 percent increase in January of 2010. When is this nonsense going to end? I am beginning to understand the reason for some of the protesting going on. This is outright greed. There is no other explanation or words for it. They have to know that seniors haven’t even had a 1 percent raise in three years.

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WEWS Cleveland ATT service issues 11-11-11.mp4[/flv]

A late August thunderstorm brought down AT&T’s phone lines in the backyard of 80-year-old Isabelle Hendricks of Cleveland, Ohio.  More than two months later, the cables were still strewn across Hendricks’ yard, her phone line was only sporadically in service, and AT&T was still ignoring calls pleading the company to do something about it.

Nephew Anthony Mauldin took his AT&T Horror Story to YouTube, and the phone company still refused to get the lines off the ground.

“It’s been very frustrating, because we’ve been trying to get somebody out here since the first of September,” Mauldin told WEWS News. “They gave us a date, but they didn’t show.”

Mauldin says his aunt has been hospitalized over the past week, and lives alone.  He’s concerned AT&T’s landline is so intermittent, she may not be able to contact anyone in the event of an emergency.

AT&T claims it could not complete the repairs because when the lines fell, tree debris came with it — too much debris for AT&T crews to be comfortable working around.

More than two months later, Mauldin called WEWS-TV in hopes a little media exposure might do the trick.  It did.  Within two hours of the newsroom calling AT&T, crews were in Ms. Hendrick’s backyard cleaning up the mess, along with their telephone cables.  (2 minutes)

Providers establishing Internet Overcharging schemes like usage caps, so-called “consumption billing,” and speed throttles that force subscribers into expensive upgrades are planning for a growth industry in data consumption.

According to new research from a firm that specializes in market strategies, data usage is going up and fast.  Providers that seek to monetize that usage could win enormous new profits just sitting back and waiting for customers to exceed the arbitrary usage caps some companies are now enforcing with their customers and take the proceeds to the bank.

iGR says the demand for connectivity inside the home is at an all-time high, with the biggest growth coming from wireless Wi-Fi connections.  The more devices consumers associate with their home broadband connection, the greater the usage.

That is one of the reasons why providers are increasingly supplying customers with free or inexpensive Wi-Fi routers, to make the connections quick, simple, and potentially profitable down the road.

Comcast's Wireless Gateway: A Future Money Machine?

Comcast announced this week it would supply a free 802.11N “home gateway” free of charge to every new customer signing up for Blast!, Extreme 50 or Extreme 105 broadband service.  In addition to wireless connectivity for every device in the home, the Xfinity Wireless Gateway also includes a built-in cable modem and phone service adapter.  Time Warner Cable strongly encourages new DOCSIS 3 customers use their equipment for Wi-Fi service as well.  AT&T has included its own wireless gateway with U-verse for a few years now.

The offer is hard to refuse.  Nearly 80 percent of homes use wireless access, connecting cell phones, tablets, laptops, personal computers, game consoles, and even set top boxes that let customers stream video entertainment to their television sets.

iGR found average usage in heavily-connected homes at the all time high of 390GB per month.  By 2015, that will rise to more than 440GB per month.  Both numbers are well in excess of average consumption limits by providers like Comcast and AT&T, which top out at just 250GB per month.  Of course, not all Wi-Fi usage is based on traffic from the Internet.  Some users stream content between computers or devices within the home.  But the research is clear — usage is growing, dramatically.

Video is by far the biggest factor, according to iGR.  Their report, U.S. Home Broadband & WiFi Usage Forecast, 2011-2015, says the appetite for downloaded and streamed video is only growing.

Matt Vartabedian, vice president of the wireless and mobile research service at iGR, says home Wi-Fi has become inextricably woven into the personal, social and business fabric of today’s life.

Broadband is increasingly seen by consumers as an essential utility, as important as the home wired telephone, safe drinking water, and reliable electric and natural gas service.

Providers are positioning themselves to take advantage of the growth market in data by establishing what, at first glance, may seem to be generous (often inflexible) usage limits that remain unchanged years after introduction.  While only a handful of consumers may cross those provider-imposed thresholds at first, within a few years, it will be more uncommon to remain within plan limits, especially if you watch online video.