Halloween scare stories are back!

It is amazing the length some incumbent broadband providers will go to stop publicly-owned networks from getting off the ground and competing with the “good enough for you” service on offer from the local phone or cable company.

This morning, Stop the Cap! received word from a Minnesota reader who reports their dinner hour was interrupted by an unsolicited phone call from a group called “Americans for Sensible Broadband,” which as far as we can tell does not exist as a formal group. The caller used ridiculous scare tactics worthy of a bad Halloween movie:

• Did you know that fiber broadband networks are expensive to run and will increase your electric bill to pay for the high powered lasers needed to send the signal to your home?

Fiber broadband projects now expanding in Minnesota have no relation to your electric bill because most are run by independent community-owned co-ops, not electric utilities. Even if they were run by an electric provider, the cost to power a fiber network is far smaller than the network of signal amplifiers and other transmission equipment needed by traditional cable and phone companies. The only electrical expense to the homeowner is powering any set top boxes or other related equipment to make use of the service. These costs are comparable to what one would pay with cable or phone services.

• Most fiber networks are not actually fiber at all. The largest companies in America actually let you keep your current wiring, but that is not fiber, so why spend tax money on a risky fiber network?

While AT&T U-verse has chosen the route of “fiber to the neighborhood,” which still relies on existing copper wiring from nearby poles to your home, many fiber to the home projects take fiber… straight to the home. Some community networks do make use of very short lengths of pre-existing copper wiring inside your home, but this has more to do with your convenience. You don’t need a fiber connection to your landline phone, for instance. Compare the broadband speeds and services on offer from the community provider vs. incumbent cable and phone companies. Choose the one that delivers the best services for the price.

• America’s cable and phone companies are working hard for pro-growth, pro-expansion policies in Washington that will allow your community to get the benefit of billions of private investment, at no risk to you.

An in-home threat to your children or incumbent provider profits?

Incumbent phone and cable companies already enjoy a higher level of deregulation than ever before. If they have not spent money to improve broadband in your area before, there is nothing that will open their wallets to provide the service now, unless someone else subsidizes part of the cost. Guess who “someone” is? That’s right. You the taxpayer or ratepayer. Whether in the form of broadband subsidies paid for by taxpayer dollars or ratepayer subsidies from the Universal Service Fund, only subsidies or competition prod incumbents to deliver better broadband to rural Minnesota (or anywhere else). If you fail a “Return On Investment” test, you will not get broadband no matter how much deregulation gets approved in Washington.

The question for rural consumers is whether AT&T, Frontier, CenturyLink, Comcast, or Charter Cable has your best interests at heart or whether a community co-op you partly own will.

• In socialistic countries, the government runs the broadband service and can monitor your web browsing. Do you want your local community checking up on your online activities?

“Socialistic” is in the eye of the beholder. Most broadband networks are run by private telecommunications companies, some with state subsidies, others entirely on their own. The federal government’s security agencies already have access to monitor Internet traffic under warrantless wiretapping laws, and that extends to every provider in the country, private or public. That said, there is no evidence local government officials would monitor your web browsing habits, much less have the budget or technical expertise to do so.

• Fiber cables create more hazards on utility poles designed for phone, cable and electric service. Is it worth risking those services for an unnecessary and expensive fiber network?

Electric and phone companies used the same scare stories to try and keep cable television lines off utility poles more than 30 years ago. Cable operators fought for and won the right to use utility poles to no ill effect, and at fair prices. It is ironic some cable companies want to use the same argument against municipal fiber that phone and electric companies used against them.

• In these difficult economic times, do you realize your local taxes could triple to pay for unnecessary fiber Internet?

Most public broadband projects are financed by municipal bonds obtained in the private free market. Investors can decide for themselves if they represent a safe investment, and many do. If the networks fail, private investors typically take the hit.

But the most ridiculous claim of all was that “recent news reports warn that lasers could blind your children if they happen to play with the fiber cables in your home.”

The only “news report” we could find on this subject was an Engadget news story from 2011 about an S3 Krypton laser that could blind astronauts without proper safety equipment. But those lasers are not powering broadband networks.

In reality, fiber to the home networks are safer than traditional copper phone wiring, which can send a significant electric shock to anyone playing with the wiring when a telephone rings. Many fiber networks rely on Class 1, low power lasers — the lowest risk level. Even if a customer stared at the lit end of an optical fiber connector, the visible light would be diffused into a cone pattern that would be completely harmless by the time it reached the retina. Many networks also include a secondary safety mechanism that quickly shuts down the laser light once the connection has been broken. Certain higher-powered laser communications networks can have some safety risks, but almost entirely for workers working on primary cables that deliver service to dozens of homes. Those workers are well-trained to avoid those risks.

Minnesota seems to be one of the latest hotbeds of incumbent wrath over expanding community-owned broadband networks. Despite efforts to label them insidious creeping socialism, they are actually no more threatening than a traditional co-op, except perhaps to incumbent cable and phone companies that have been running to the bank cashing checks from customers enduring low broadband speeds at high prices.

Cohen

Comcast’s chief lobbyist stalled plans to unveil cheaper Internet service for the financially disadvantaged to use as bait to win regulator approval of its 2009 merger with NBC-Universal.

The Washington Post today reports David Cohen’s influence at the cable operator as its chief of lobbying has helped the cable company achieve its status as America’s largest cable operator and entertainment conglomerate.

Cohen has friends in high places thanks to his status as a Democratic Party money bundler. A self-styled “consigliere” to the Roberts family that controls the company, Cohen has overseen a transformation of Comcast from one cable operator among many into a high-powered force not to reckoned with in Washington or Silicon Valley.

Comcast’s growth into a mega-corporation with $58 billion in annual revenues came, in part, from dealmaking that won regulator approval in D.C. Maintaining good relations with those regulators is a Cohen specialty. It did not take the Post too long to find former FCC officials giving Cohen high praise:

• “Every meeting with David is incredibly substantive,” Eddie Lazarus, former chief of staff to the FCC told the newspaper. “He always comes with a willingness to find solutions.”
• “David loves politics, he loves government and he has incredible situational awareness — a 360-degree view of business,” said Blair Levin, a former senior adviser to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “He’s just so good at what he does.”

Under Cohen’s leadership, Comcast has spent lavishly on its corporate lobbying and legal team. Today, 20 full time lobbyists work under Cohen’s direction, with dozens of others available on retainer. The company spent $8.3 million of its subscribers’ money solely on lobbying. The Post reports that makes Comcast the ninth biggest K Street spender, above Verizon.

The poor and disadvantaged had to wait for Comcast to seal the deal on their $30 billion acquisition of NBC-Universal before affordable Internet could become reality for them.

In 2009, Comcast insiders were hard at work on a discount program for the disadvantaged who could not afford Comcast’s regular prices for broadband service. But the program was stalled at the direction of Cohen, who wanted it to be a chip with regulators to win approval of its acquisition of NBC-Universal. The program, sure to be popular among advocates of the digitally disadvantaged, was a key part of approving the $30 billion deal.

“I held back because I knew it may be the type of voluntary commitment that would be attractive to the chairman [of the FCC],” Cohen said in a recent interview.

Regulators promoted Comcast’s “concession” to offer the discounted Internet service as a win for consumers as part of the final approval of the deal. In reality, Comcast was planning to offer the service anyway and finally introduced it in 2011 — two years after first being proposed inside the company.

That fact is a slight embarrassment to current FCC chairman Julius Genachowski, who has told audiences the discounted Internet program was partly to his credit.

“This particular program came from our reviewing of the Comcast NBC-U transaction,” Genachowski said in a speech. “Comcast embraced it as good for the country, as well as good for business. And I’m fine with that.”

Cohen defends Comcast’s lobbying expense as part of the company’s effort to combat scrutiny and challenges to its all-or-nothing video business model, denying customers access to a-la-carte programming.

Comcast’s scope has now grown so large, it has become a force few companies are willing to challenge, and those that try are quick to run into a blockade of Comcast lawyers, lobbyists, and carefully constructed contracts that protect the company’s bottom line from would-be competitors.

Deep pockets like Verizon, Apple, Netflix and Google have all tried… and failed to recast the cable television experience with on-demand programming, a-la-carte channels, and cord-cutting technology.

In response, Comcast has kept competitors tied down to the same cable packages that require subscribers to pay for everything, even if they seek only a few channels. Comcast leverages its broadband network with usage limits that effectively curtail cord-cutting among consumers looking to skip the TV package. Anyone seeking a place in today’s entertainment industry ends up dealing with Comcast sooner or later.

“They are hugely important because they can singlehandedly sink or swim multiple businesses that rely on the Internet ecosystem by virtue of controlling the dissemination of information through their pipes and now by supplying so much of the content,” said Joel Kelsey, a policy director at consumer interest group Free Press. “So many companies have come to us and ask we fight their battles for them because they are afraid of retribution.”

Cohen is well-compensated for his effectiveness. His latest three-year contract makes him one of the highest paid corporate lobbyists in Washington, with a $15 million annual compensation package and $3 million in bonuses, not including his ample stock holdings in Comcast.

His influence extends to the highest levels of the Obama Administration. Last summer, the family hosted a $1.2 million campaign fundraiser for President Obama, and the Cohens have separately contributed $877,000 to various campaigns. Comcast itself has spent $3.3 million in campaign contributions so far this year.

In another sign competition between cable and phone companies may not be as robust as they would have you believe, Comcast last week announced a deal to sell local advertising on behalf of AT&T U-verse.

Under the agreement, Comcast’s Spotlight ad sales division will now sell local advertising slots on behalf of AT&T’s U-verse in cities where both companies provide service.

Comcast says the agreement will cover 21 cities, including:

• Atlanta
• Champaign-Springfield-Decatur (Ill.)
• Chicago
• Detroit
• Flint-Saginaw-Bay City (Mich.)
• Fresno-Visalia (Calif.)
• Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo-Battle Creek (Mich.)
• Hartford-New Haven (Conn.)
• Houston
• Indianapolis
• Jackson, Miss.
• Jacksonville (Fla.)
• Lansing (Mich.)
• Little Rock-Pine Bluff (Ark.)
• Memphis
• Miami-Ft. Lauderdale
• Monterey-Salinas (Calif.)
• Nashville
• Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto (Calif.)
• San Francisco
• West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce (Fla.)

This leaves Comcast with a lock on local ad sales for both its own cable and AT&T’s U-verse systems. Most major cable networks offer their affiliates opportunities to insert local commercials during certain advertising breaks. The ad insertions provide a lucrative revenue stream for pay television providers, which can target viewers of specific cable networks or run the same messages across hundreds of cable channels.

The deal will save AT&T from having to hire additional employees to handle local ad sales and will let advertisers cover one or both systems in a single ad buy.

But critics wonder if Comcast cooperating this closely with AT&T is good for competition.

The deal is not unprecedented, however. AT&T has also partnered with Charter Cable to cross market local ad sales in cities where U-verse and Charter compete head to head.

Verizon Communications is on high alert to monitor the potential impact of Hurricane Sandy on the company’s landline, FiOS, and wireless networks — primarily from line damage and extended power outages that could come as a consequence of the slow-moving Category 1 hurricane. Top wind speeds from Sandy have been upgraded this morning to 90mph, making the storm’s impact even more severe for residents along the Atlantic coastline.

Verizon retail outlets are stocking up on car phone chargers and universal charging devices to help customers who endure extended power outages, but some retail stores may close early or stay closed if local weather conditions warrant.

Non-essential construction projects and internal training programs have been suspended so the company can focus on network repairs, as needed.

Verizon wireline and wireless business units have activated national and regional command and control centers, enabling Verizon operations teams to monitor the storm’s progress and company operations, including network performance. Verizon has established communications with power and other service providers to ensure proper coordination in the event of storm damage. The company also has contacted vendors and other outside partners so that critical communications equipment and supplies can be prioritized, stocked and shipped as needed.

Company equipment — including poles, fiber-optic and copper cable, portable cell sites that can replace a damaged cell tower and mobile emergency generators that can be used when local electrical power fails — is being staged in and around the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.

Verizon is the dominant phone company and wireless provider in the northeastern U.S.

In addition, Verizon managers are communicating the company’s storm preparation efforts and coordinating pre-planned response activities with the public-safety community, as well as state, county and municipal agencies along the East Coast and the Midwest.

“Verizon Wireless stands ready to serve our customers, and I urge everyone first and foremost to stay safe,” said Dan Mead, president and CEO of Verizon Wireless. “We live and work in the towns and cities in the storm’s path, and we are dedicated to keeping our friends, families and neighbors connected in times like these. We prepare for situations like this year-round, and pride ourselves in our ability to be there for our customers when they count on us most.”

As Sandy’s track came more into focus, the company began communicating with its customers on Friday, posting consumer tips on various company websites, issuing a news release to media outlets in the threatened region and nationally, engaging customers through social media such as Twitter and Facebook, and sending emails to consumers, with key links for troubleshooting and reporting service problems.

Bob Mudge, president of Verizon’s Consumer and Mass Business division, said: “In addition to communicating with customers and ensuring that we will be working to keep the network operating and responding quickly to issues as they arise, we have reminded our employees of the need to work safely, be alert, and help our customers in any way they can. But our people know this well and are at their best in these critical situations when our customers depend on us the most.”

Mudge noted that even though Verizon technicians may be ready to repair storm-damaged Verizon facilities, they may have to wait for approval from local power companies, first-responders or law enforcement before beginning restoration work.

Customers may contact Verizon online at www.verizon.com/outage to report any wireline service-related issues; or call 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966). Business customers are advised to contact their regular customer service centers or account teams as needed.

Time Warner Cable has mass-emailed their customers in the northeastern U.S. about anticipated service outages expected from Hurricane Sandy, which is expected to move onshore between the Delmarva Peninsula to the south and Long Island to the north. The storm is expected to track west into central Pennsylvania and slowly move north between Rochester and Syracuse, N.Y., and then into Ontario and Quebec. Sandy will likely cause significant wind and rain until Thursday.

Forecasters are concerned about extensive regional utility outages caused by northeasterly winds ranging from 40-70 mph, atypical for a region that usually endures wind events from the west or southwest. Trees as far west as Erie, Pennsylvania are particularly vulnerable to northeastern wind gusts of this magnitude. The result could be extensive damage to overhead wiring and utility poles throughout the northeast, particularly in the highest wind areas along Lakes Ontario and Erie, across higher terrain areas, and in valleys that are oriented north to south.

The storm is expected to equal or exceed damage caused by 2011’s Hurricane Irene in some areas.

Dear Valued Customer,

Time Warner Cable prepares well in advance when severe weather threatens our area. We have deployed a variety of technical resources: generators, fuel, fiber-optic cable and specialized tools to strategic locations near the potential path of the storm, so we can respond immediately to any damage. We have also deployed specialized business recovery vehicles with food, water, supplies and tents for our technicians in strategic locations along the East Coast. The safety of our employees and customers is our primary concern as we prepare for this storm.

If you lose your Time Warner Cable services

If you call Time Warner Cable, our automated phone system will be able to tell you if we are aware of service interruptions in your area. If you call and hear that message, no further action is necessary. If your service is out and you don’t hear a message, you can report it through the system or by speaking with a representative at 1-800-TWC-HELP.

In severe weather situations, the first priority is to restore electric power. Time Warner Cable crews may not be able to access a repair site because of downed electrical wires or other unsafe conditions. As a result, customers’ electricity is often restored before their Time Warner Cable services.

Stay informed on breaking news by listening to your local radio station, watching TV bulletins and visiting our website regularly. You can also access our mobile site at m.timewarnercable.com in the event of a power outage. If you need assistance with your Time Warner Cable account during the storm visit us online at www.twc.com/help.

We encourage you to follow us on Twitter (@TWCable_Neast) where will be tweeting live updates about the storm and related outages.

Thank you,
Time Warner Cable