One of AT&T’s cell towers in Denison, Tex. went missing last Thursday in the 1900 block of West Crawford St. after vandals cut the tower’s supporting guy wires, causing it to collapse.

Nearby residents woke up to find the remains of the tower crumpled on the ground, with dramatically poorer cell service the result for AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile customers in the immediate vicinity. All three mobile providers maintained antennas on the affected tower.

Denison Police say the incident was a clear case of vandalism. After the guy wires were intentionally cut, the tower lacked sufficient support to stay standing on its own.

Nobody was injured during the collapse, but AT&T says the vandals caused $1 million in damages. A temporary cell tower is now in place. It will take three months to permanently replace the cell tower.

AT&T is offering at least a $7,500 reward for information that leads to an arrest.

[flv]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KXII Sherman ATT cell tower felled in Denison 11-22-2015.mp4[/flv]

KXII in Sherman, Tex. reports Denison authorities are looking to arrest the vandal(s) that destroyed an AT&T cell tower. (1:30)

Here’s a problem most North Americans wish they had: confusing rate cuts that are coming as a result of fierce competition for your telecom dollar.

In Ireland, the problem is real and some consumers are finding themselves perplexed watching the cost of broadband, telephone, and television service dropping by as much as $159 a year from the four different providers competing across much of the country. Telco Eircom has a 35% market share (39% in 2013), UPC/Virgin Media Cable – 28% (25% in 2013), Vodafone – 21% (17% in 2013), and Sky – 12% (1% in 2013).

“Neighbors are talking to one another and comparing bills only to find some are paying less than others even though they have the same types of services,” says Richard Donahue, a Dublin resident turned compulsive comparison shopper. “Because competition is getting stronger, local providers are pushing to get customers into bundles of services to keep them from switching.”

The result is lower pricing to help convince consumers to take all of their business to one provider. The ongoing drop in the price of telephone, television and broadband service has now been measured by Comreg, Ireland’s telecoms regulator. It released a report this month stating prices have “fallen significantly for the average Irish household.”

Consumers willing to make providers fight for their business are saving over $100 a year on bundled service packages. Comreg reported that even without asking, the average consumer subscribing to a package of television and broadband service has seen prices fall by nearly $75 a year across the board. Those also subscribing to telephone service are paying around $50 less a year. Only the cost of standalone broadband has remained the same, but that price has stayed close to what the Irish consider an acceptable range for Internet access — between $15 and $40 a month.

Irish cable competitor UPC (now Virgin Media) sells a package of 240Mbps broadband with an unlimited calling landline for around $50 a month.

“Standalone broadband pricing may not be falling, but it isn’t rising either,” reports Donahue. “Service has improved with faster speeds and better reliability so you receive better value for money.”

Even mobile service prices are down by almost $90 a year, but there are some caveats.

“Ireland has one significant mobile problem yet to be sorted — the penalty for breaching allowances, which can be substantial,” Donahue said. “Comreg found almost a third of Ireland has received a warning text from a provider about nearing a limit provided by our allowances for voice minutes, texts, or data.”

Donahue adds the Irish are reticent about changing mobile providers, even if it would save them money.

“We love to complain about poor providers in this country that drop calls and leave us without coverage but 73 percent of us have not changed our provider in at least three years,” he reports. “Most don’t believe there are any savings doing so.”

Ireland appears to be a few years behind North American trends dealing with telecom services. The Comreg report found:

• Only 9 percent of Irish households subscribe to Netflix
• 76% of Irish mobile users still text back and forth but are gradually shifting towards app-based messaging services like Hangouts, Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp
• 43% of those watching online video report watching less traditional live/linear TV
• Only about 58% of mobile users browse the web with their phones
• 60% of broadband users couldn’t tell you what broadband speeds they receive/are supposed to receive
• 88% of those 65+ still have landline phone service, while 46% of those 18-24 still use landlines to make and receive calls.

ARRIS, one of the country’s largest suppliers of cable modems, is under scrutiny after a security researcher discovered not one, but two secret “backdoors” potentially affecting more than 600,000 of the company’s installed cable modems/home gateways that could allow hackers access to a customer’s equipment and home network.

Bernardo Rodrigues published a report of the exploits on his blog, which affect ARRIS cable modem models including TG862A, TG862G, and DG860A. Rodrigues reports only ARRIS and your local cable company can fix the security problems, and neither seem to be in much of a hurry.

The ARRIS Touchstone 860, which can be identified by its model number depicted on the front lower right of the modem.

“Securing cable modems is more difficult than other embedded devices because, on most cases, you can’t choose your own device/firmware and software updates are almost entirely controlled by your ISP,” Rodrigues writes. Indeed, very few cable modems allow users to self-update their equipment with the latest firmware. To guarantee uniformity, that privilege is given exclusively to the cable company providing service, even if a customer owns their own modem outright.

“ARRIS SOHO-grade cable modems contain an undocumented library (libarris_password.so) that acts as a backdoor, allowing privileged logins using a custom password,” Rodrigues writes. “The backdoor account can be used to enable Telnet and SSH remotely via the hidden HTTP Administrative interface “http://192.168.100.1/cgi-bin/tech_support_cgi” or via custom SNMP MIBs.”

While exploring the potential security damage that backdoor could permit, Rodrigues stumbled on a second, open to additional exploitation by hackers.

“The undocumented backdoor password is based on the last five digits from the modem’s serial number,” Rodrigues wrote. “You get a full busybox shell when you log on the Telnet/SSH session using these passwords.”

ARRIS TG862

In plainer language, one or both backdoors will allow a hacker to bypass the modem’s usual security protections and provide the intruder with full remote access to the affected cable modem. Hackers have likely already identified the security lapse and have exploited it, with some suspecting access key generators are already available allowing the user to automate attempts to reach affected modems on a significant scale.

Unfortunately for consumers, neither ARRIS or cable operators appear to be rushing to update the affected firmware to eliminate the backdoors, having waited more than two months just to acknowledge Rodrigues’ report.

For now, customers using these devices exclusively as cable modems are least likely to suffer a serious security lapse. More at risk are consumers relying on these three models as both a cable modem and home gateway providing Wi-Fi access around the home. Theoretically, hackers could use one or both exploits to gain access to your home network. Consumers using one of the affected models should contact their local cable company and ask them to replace the device with an alternative, preferably from a different manufacturer.

At least one cable company reported they are working with ARRIS to correct the flawed firmware, but early efforts have not been successful. It may be prudent for some security-conscious customers not to wait.

Comcast is inviting controversy launching a new live streaming TV service targeting cord-cutters while exempting it from its own data caps.

Comcast’s Stream TV is comparable to Comcast’s Limited Basic lineup, only instead of using a set-top box, Stream TV delivers online video over the Internet to Comcast’s broadband customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and the Greater Chicago area. For $15 a month, Stream TV offers a large package of local over the air stations, broadcast networks, and HBO, along with thousands of on-demand titles and cloud DVR storage. In Boston, the lineup includes:

WGBH (PBS), HSN. WBZ (CBS), NECN, WHDH (NBC), Community Programming, BNN-Public Access, WWDP-Evine Live, WLVI (CW), WSBK (MyTV), WGBX (PBS), WBIN (Ind.), WBPX (Ion), WMFP (Ind.), The Municipal Channel, Government Access, WFXT (FOX), WCEA (MasTV), WUNI (Univision), EWTN, C-SPAN, CatholicTV, POP, QVC, WYDN (Daystar), WUTF (UniMas), WNEU (Telemundo), Jewelry TV, XFINITY Latino, WGBH World, WGBH Kids, Trinity Broadcasting Network, WGBH Create, Leased Access, WBIN-Antenna TV, WBIN-GRIT TV, WNEU-Exitos, WLVI-BUZZR, WCVB (Me-TV), WFXT-MOVIES!, WHDH-This TV, WFXZ-CA, WUNI-LATV, WFXZ (Mundo Fox), WBZ-Decades, and WFXT-Laff TV + HBO. The package also qualifies the customer as an authenticated cable TV subscriber, making them eligible to view TV Everywhere services from many cable networks.

Comcast is offering the first month of Stream TV for free with no commitment to its broadband customers subscribed to at least XFINITY Performance Internet (or above). Up to two simultaneous streams are allowed per account and some channels may not be available for viewing outside of the home. Comcast claims it will expand Stream TV to Comcast customers nationwide in 2016. Comcast will not be selling the service to customers of other cable or phone companies, limiting its potential competitive impact.

Competitors like Sling TV offer their own alternatives to bloated cable TV subscriptions at a similar lower price, and they will sell to anyone with a broadband connection. Sling alone is partly responsible for Comcast’s loss of hundreds of thousands of cable TV customers who don’t want to pay for hundreds of channels many never watch. That Comcast might want to launch its own alternative online video package to retain customers is not a surprise. But Comcast’s decision to exempt Stream TV from the company’s data caps while leaving them in place for competitors is sure to spark a firestorm of controversy.

Comcast claims it is reasonable to exempt Stream TV from its 300GB data cap being tested in a growing number of markets.

“Stream TV is a cable streaming service delivered over Comcast’s cable system, not over the Internet,” wrote Comcast in its FAQ. “Therefore, Stream TV data usage will not be counted towards your Xfinity Internet monthly data usage.”

More precisely, Comcast claims it relies on its own internal IP network to distribute Stream TV, not the external Internet competitors use to reach ex-Comcast cable TV subscribers. Comcast’s premise is it is less costly to deliver content over its own network while Internet traffic comes at a premium. Critics will argue Comcast has found an end run around Net Neutrality by relying on usage caps to influence customer behavior.

For the moment, Netflix is reserving comment after being contacted by Ars Technica. But Sling TV and other services that depend on Comcast’s broadband to reach customers will likely not remain silent for long.

Comcast could effectively deter consumers from using competing online video services with the threat of overlimit fees if customers exceed their usage allowance. The cable company could even use the fact its services don’t count against that allowance as a marketing strategy.

Stop the Cap! has warned our members about that prospect for years. Preferential treatment of certain content over others by playing games with usage caps and overlimit fees could have a major impact on emerging online video competition. Since Comcast owns both the broadband lines and the online video service, it can engage in anti-competitive price discrimination. Competitors will also argue that Comcast’s internal IP network is off-limits to them, making it impossible to deliver content on equal terms over a level playing field.

The next move will likely come from the FCC in response to complaints from Comcast’s competitors. As Ars Technica notes, the Federal Communications Commission’s Net Neutrality rules allow for complaints against so-called zero-rating schemes, with the commission judging on a case-by-case basis whether a practice “unreasonably interferes” with the ability of consumers to reach content or the ability of content providers to reach consumers.

With Comcast’s usage caps and overlimit fees, the only reaching will be for your wallet. Consumers need not wait for Sling TV and others to complain to the FCC. You can also share your own views about Comcast’s usage caps by filing a complaint with the FCC here.

Since Verizon Wireless stopped selling unlimited data plans and turned data into a precious commodity usually worth about $10 per gigabyte, the company can afford to give some of it away to their loyal customers.

This holiday season, Verizon Wireless is handing out up to 3GB of wireless data a month, but only to those who ask. As part of Verizon’s Thanksgiving promotion targeting holiday travelers, customers can get a free gigabyte for use immediately and another gigabyte to use next month just by clicking on a link. The offer can only be redeemed once per account on qualifying plans and is shared by all lines on an account.

Users who want even more free data can snag an extra 2GB a month for three months by downloading Verizon’s Go90 online video app (for iOS and Android) and registering for an account. Your confirmed registration will trigger an immediate gift of 2GB of wireless data for your current month’s data plan and an extra 2GB for the next three billing cycles as well. If Go90 proves uninteresting, you can uninstall it and still get free data during the length of the promotion.

This promotion is only good if you have a More Everything or Verizon Plan. It is not available if you use prepaid service, a different grandfathered plan, or do not keep your account in good standing. National and government accounts also do not qualify. Go90 videos are disabled for jailbroken or rooted devices, although you may still register and participate in the promotion if you use such a device.

Among Verizon’s other Thanksgiving promotions customers can grab on Wednesday, Nov. 25:

• A free $5 iTunes Gift card while supplies last;
• An unspecified number of free eBooks, music, movies, TV an app downloads from Amazon.com;
• A free 30-day trial of Pandora One;
• Up to $20 off a Lyft ride, where available;
• Free airport Wi-Fi from Boingo;
• Free 30-minute Gogo Wi-Fi session on select airlines.

Verizon’s website offers an option to send yourself a reminder to participate when the promotions become active next week.