Luke Wilson's blizzard of postcards

Luke Wilson is back for three more AT&T ads hitting back Verizon Wireless for its 3G map ads, and Apple has come running to AT&T’s defense with two new ads of its own.

The theme?  AT&T’s GSM network lets subscribers talk and browse the web at the same time.  Verizon Wireless’ CDMA network does not.  For that matter, neither does Sprint, which also uses CDMA, but as a non-combatant gets a pass for this round.

Mobile phone networks in the United States primarily use GSM (AT&T, T-Mobile) or CDMA (Verizon Wireless, Sprint, MetroPCS, U.S. Cellular, Cricket) technology.  Because of the way the two standards developed, GSM can permit a customer to talk while also concurrently using mobile data services.  CDMA users must choose one or the other.

The new round of ads exploit that difference.  How important that distinction is depends on how you use your phone.  If you frequently use your AT&T phone to web browse while also speaking to someone on that phone, you would likely find Verizon Wireless’ limitation irritating.  If you don’t, you won’t care.

More importantly, it’s a moot point if you find yourself in one of AT&T’s older EDGE network areas, which predominate outside of major cities.  The EDGE standard doesn’t let you talk and browse at the same time either.

Broadband Reports notes “it seems like AT&T might just be better served by not talking anymore, and just focusing on getting tower sites and backhaul links upgraded. How many upgraded cell sites would Luke Wilson’s salary have paid for? How many backhaul links could have been upgraded with the money spent suing Verizon? Fixing the capacity and coverage issues that have been plaguing AT&T would do more than any ad campaign.”

Apple’s “me too” ads promote the same concurrent use of phone and data applications on the iPhone, but also ignore the pesky fact that those stuck in AT&T’s vast EDGE network will discover it’s a distinction without a difference.

Watch all five ads below.

… Continue Reading

The Novatel USB760, branded for Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless today announced the introduction of a prepaid wireless broadband option for customers who don’t want to pay $60 for 5 gigabytes of usage, with a two year contract.  Prepaid Mobile Broadband will be available starting November 15th in Verizon Wireless stores, sold as a “starter pack,” for $129.99, which includes a Novatel USB760 modem and a brochure showing different pricing options for the service.

Both Verizon and Virgin Mobile’s prepaid broadband services use the same USB760 modem, but that’s where the comparison ends.

Verizon Wireless expects prepaid customers to pay premium pricing for the convenience of having wireless broadband access without a contract on Verizon’s expansive 3G network.  Customers have three options:

• Daily Access: $15/day for 75MB
• Weekly Access: $30/week for 250MB
• Monthly Access: $50/month for 500MB

Unused allowances expire at the end of each term.  Verizon includes a “usage chart” with low ball estimates of what customers can do on each respective prepaid plan:

Data Type             Daily         Weekly       Monthly

E-mail (1 text page)  25,600        85,300       170,000
Typical Web page         500         1,700         3,400
Low-resolution photos    150           500         1,000

Don’t even think about streaming video at these prices. Virgin Mobile’s prepaid wireless broadband service was expensive until Verizon Wireless came around. Virgin Mobile charges $10 for 100 MB for 10 days, $20 for 250 MB per month, $40 for 600 MB and $60 for 1 GB.  Cricket also sells a prepaid wireless broadband plan for $40 a month for up to 5GB of usage, but has dramatically less coverage.

These plans are typically designed for occasional use only.  Those with regular on-the-go wireless broadband needs will do better under a contract plan.

Ralph de la Vega, CEO of AT&T Mobility

AT&T Mobility has news for its customers: “You’ll be hearing something from us in the near future,” says AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega.  He was speaking about an end to “unlimited” usage of its wireless network.  Stop the Cap! reader Jeremy learned about it and sent word our way.

Of course, AT&T has always reserved the right to impose overlimit fees or terminate accounts that exceed 5 gigabytes per month, but most of the horror stories about enormous bills come from consumers using AT&T’s wireless broadband service on a computer.  For iPhone users, who are force-fed a mandatory $30 monthly “unlimited” data plan, their wireless usage has not been subjected to an AT&T crackdown for whatever they consider “excessive” that month.

But that is likely to change, and soon.  De la Vega warned listeners on a conference call held this week that AT&T’s considerations of ways to deal with extreme bandwidth users are “all in flux, but we will come up with ways that mitigate the [network] impact we’ve seen by a small number of customers who are driving inordinate usage.”

The company has been holding focus groups about Internet Overcharging schemes, trying to conjure up a public relations message that consumers will be duped into believing is fair.  They’ve tested everything from meal scenarios to toll roadways, comparing “heavy users” with 18 wheelers and ordinary light users with Mini Coopers, asking participants if they felt it was fair “for the truckers to pay more?”  One of our readers clandestinely participated in one of these, and managed to debunk their nonsense over a free lunch, with consumers incensed to discover the tolls they are charging are ludicrously profitable even at current rates.

When facts about Internet Overcharging are revealed, it’s not a question of who should pay more — it’s a demand to know why everyone isn’t paying less -and- why companies like AT&T aren’t investing a greater percentage of their fat profits in expanding their network.

As I’ve written on several previous occasions, it comes as no surprise to me that some companies in the broadband industry have been looking for an excuse to throw all of our “favorite” Internet Overcharging schemes on customers — usage allowances, overlimit fees and penalties, or just throttling your connection to dial-up speeds.  As I predicted, some will try an “either/or” scam on consumers, telling them they are “forced” to impose these kinds of profit grabs because the government is demanding Net Neutrality.  One has absolutely nothing to do with the other of course, but it’s a convenient excuse to help rally consumers against Net Neutrality now, and impose higher pricing on consumers anyway.  It is crucial that consumers do not fall for this ploy.  There is no fairness in being overcharged for Internet access, such plans never truly provide “only paying for what you use” pricing, and no one should be willing to give up one for the other.  In Canada, they ended up with no Net Neutrality -and- Internet Overcharging schemes, precisely what would happen here.

As has always been the case, AT&T blames a “small percentage” of their users for consuming massive amounts of bandwidth.  Earlier this summer it was “three percent of Smartphone users use 40% of AT&T’s wireless network.”  The us vs. them mentality is designed to divide consumers into finger pointing camps blaming their neighbors for “the problem” instead of asking pointed questions of the carrier making the claim.  Some questions are:

1. Exactly how much data do those “heavy Smartphone users” consume?
2. What is AT&T’s cost per megabyte/gigabyte to deliver that data to consumers?
3. Why does AT&T mandate iPhone customers purchase an “unlimited” data plan and then complain when customers utilize what they are paying for?
4. Will AT&T significantly reduce pricing for mandatory data plan customers, or simply throw a usage allowance on existing accounts and expect consumers to pay the same?
5. What percentage of AT&T’s profits are spent on their network and its expansion, and has that amount as a percentage increased or decreased in the last five years?
6. If AT&T is suffering from smartphone congestion, why continue an exclusive deal for the iPhone, which AT&T claims contributes to a significant amount of that congestion?
7. Why does AT&T marketing claim their wireless broadband plans are “unlimited” when, in fact, they are limited to 5 gigabytes of usage per month?

Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates, told Computerworld carriers have a legitimate issue in considering an “overage charge,” for users who surpass a certain number of gigabytes of data per month.

“People will complain about an overage charge,” Gold said. “I guarantee complaints, but there’s no other way to deal with it short of building out more networks to give people the bandwidth they crave. There really are bandwidth hogs. You have 5% of the users taking up 90% of the bandwidth sometimes.”

Gold said he agrees with net neutrality rules that allow users to reach any Web site on the Internet, but argued that carriers can’t provide unlimited bandwidth to all users. Doing so “means everybody else is limited … The AT&Ts and Verizons have a legitimate point.”

Of course, Gold is in the business of representing business interests, not consumers.  Does Gold have direct evidence of his numbers, or does he simply repeat what he has heard carriers tell him?  Since consumers cannot easily find truly unlimited mobile broadband accounts in the American wireless industry today, de la Vega’s urgent statements about imposing limits on customers must target iPhone and other smartphone users specifically, because those are the only accounts AT&T hasn’t held hard to their 5GB usage cap.

Carol Hevey, executive vice president of operations for TWC’s Carolinas region.

Stop the Cap!‘s strong readership in the Triad region of North Carolina comes from their experience with Time Warner Cable’s Internet Overcharging experiment this past April.  For residents in greater Greensboro and surrounding communities, now you get a chance to be pioneers of a different sort.

Time Warner Cable today announced Greensboro, Raleigh, and Charlotte, all in North Carolina, among the first in the nation able to purchase Road Runner Mobile, a new 4G wireless mobile broadband service designed to accompany your existing Road Runner subscription.

On December 1st, Time Warner Cable customers can sign up for the service, providing speeds up to 6Mbps, starting at $34.95 per month, if you are on a Price Lock Guarantee (a service commitment requiring you to remain with Time Warner Cable in return for service discounts) and subscribe to a bundle of services.  That low priced option has a usage allowance of 2 gigabytes per month.

Time Warner Cable's Carolinas region service area

“With Time Warner Cable’s 4G Mobile Network, we now offer the fastest mobile service available and extend our reach outside the home.” said Carol Hevey, Executive Vice President of the Carolina Region for Time Warner Cable.  “Giving our customers the convenience of mobility and the speed of 4G, Road Runner Mobile lets customers take their favorite Internet service wherever they go.  This is an important part of our strategy to give our customers any content, on any device, anytime, anywhere.”

Time Warner Cable is using the Clearwire WiMax network to provide the service, a benefit it gained along with Comcast when they became part-owners of the Sprint-Clearwire venture.

Pricing will vary depending on the level of service customers need:

• Road Runner Mobile 4G National Elite gives unlimited access to both Time Warner Cable’s 4G Mobile Network and a national 3G network (Sprint, presumably), for use when traveling.
  o $79.95 per month for Road Runner Standard or Turbo customers.
  o Further discounts for Double and Triple play customers and those on a Price Lock Guarantee.
• Road Runner Mobile 4G Elite gives customers unlimited access to the Time Warner Cable 4G Mobile Network.
  o $49.95 per month for Road Runner Standard or Turbo customers.
  o Further discounts for Double and Triple play customers and those on a Price Lock Guarantee.
• Road Runner Mobile 4G Choice gives light users 2GB of service on the Time Warner Cable 4G network each month.
  o Available for $39.95 per month to customers of at least one other Time Warner Cable service.  Additional $5 off if you have a Price Lock Guarantee and bundled service package.

Time Warner Cable plans to launch additional mobile services to customers in the future such as the ability to program a DVR from a mobile device and the ability to take their video content with them on the go.  Time Warner Cable will be expanding its 4G Mobile network to additional service areas over the next few months including Dallas, TX and Honolulu and Maui, HI.

Customer experiences with the Clearwire network have been decidedly mixed.  In Portland, uneven signal coverage has plagued service and fueled customer returns.  In Greensboro, some who have tested the Clearwire-branded version of the service report earlier speeds close to 5Mbps that have since slowed to below 2Mbps.

As with any wireless mobile service, inquire about trial options and cancellation policies before signing any contract.  Consumers should always verify service is available to them at tolerable speeds before committing to any contract.

Suvi Lindén, Finland's Minister of Communications

Yleisradio Oy, the public broadcasting service in Finland, today reported starting next July, every person in Finland will have the right to a one-megabit broadband connection.

The announcement from the Ministry of Transport and Communications makes Finland the second European nation to consider broadband service more than just a modern day convenience.

Minister of Communications Suvi Lindén said broadband service must be universal, and at equitable speeds throughout Finland.  Private providers have been unable or unwilling to bring universal service to the country, so the Finnish government is compelled to do the job they won’t.

“No-one can be left outside the day-to-day functioning of the information society. As the telecommunications network needed cannot be provided on market terms in all respects, its construction must be supported by public funds,” she said.

Permanent Secretary Harri Pursiainen confirmed Lindén’s views about universal access in a study concluding it is impossible to expect commercial providers to provide regionally equal service throughout the country.

Finland intends to construct an advanced broadband network, starting with the guarantee of 1Mbps minimum speeds for virtually every citizen.  The plan recognizes that reaching the most remote parts of the country will require a mobile broadband network, and have made provisions to tolerate lower speeds on those networks, for now.

But the Finnish government does not consider 1Mbps anywhere near adequate to provide 21st century connectivity.  It has declared that anything less than 100Mbps service is simply unacceptable in the new “information economy.”

The 100Mbps minimum service standard would be mandatory, and targeted to be achieved no later than 2015, if the recommendations are approved by the Finnish Parliament.

“Citizens and businesses need increasingly effective data transfer. This is necessary, among other things, for teleworking, business, e-commerce, and access to social and health services,” Lindén states.

Harri Pursiainen

Television broadcasting also faces a turning point in the next few years, as channels become more diverse and high-definition transmission enters the picture. Here, high-speed broadband is an essential factor,” Lindén stresses.

The report proposes that the state, regions and municipalities share in the costs of improving the telecommunications network in those areas where the target level for 2015 cannot be reached by commercial means. The purpose is for the Regional Councils to organize competitive bidding among the telecommunications operators.

Where public funds are needed to construct networks, money will be raised by auctioning off certain radio frequencies for commercial use, as well as a telecommunications tax levied on providers in the country, somewhat equivalent to the United States’ Universal Service Fund, which helps subsidize rural telephone service.

Finnish consumers can still elect not to purchase broadband service, and can still select among several providers, choosing the speed and technology they want for the connection.  The Finnish government will offer a “domestic help credit,” akin to a tax credit or subsidy, to help disadvantaged Finns purchase computers and other equipment to use broadband service.

Finland joins Switzerland in providing universal access to broadband.  The Swiss government was the first in Europe to mandate broadband service availability throughout the country as of January 1, 2008.  But the Swiss definition of broadband is much more limited, setting minimum acceptable speeds at just 600kbps downstream and 100kbps upstream.

Both the United States and the United Kingdom have universal service goals as well.  The UK government targets 2Mbps speed to “virtually all” homes by 2012, funded by a telephone line tax.

Thanks to Stop the Cap! reader Greg for the news tip.