Time Warner Cable has a usage meter up for some customers.

New York City area residents browsing through the My Services section of the Time Warner Cable website had an unwelcome introduction to the company’s new Usage Meter, located under the My Internet tab.

Time Warner has been gradually rolling out the “activity tracker” to all of its service areas, ostensibly for its Internet discount plan Internet Essentials, which offers a $5 discount to customers who keep their monthly usage under 5GB per month.

Although the company insists customers will not lose access to unlimited service (but does not indicate what customers could eventually end up paying for it), the usage meter is not well-received, particularly by customers who found it completely inaccurate.

One customer reported their Time Warner meter showed 161MB of usage… in July, with no usage since.

A Fairview, N.J. Broadband Reports reader was even more concerned to discover the cable company counted 4GB of usage between Oct. 28 and Oct. 31. That was a remarkable feat, according to the customer, because his service was knocked out during that time by Hurricane Sandy. Perhaps the hurricane wanted to stream some old episodes of Jersey Shore to contemplate its “before and after” strategy.

Time Warner’s meter, like that of every other cable or phone company provider, is not subject to independent review or audit by a neutral third party or government oversight. Some companies claim to have third-party verification through outside companies, but critics contend those outside entities have a direct financial interest reporting results that are positive to the company that paid for the review.

AT&T’s mobile charging van

AT&T’s effort to aid powerless areas of Brooklyn with mobile charging stations to help customers recharge dead cell phones fell flat when the company sent the trucks without the equipment needed to charge phones.

Timothy Stenovec reported from the Red Hook neighborhood:

In Coffey Park, just steps from where the National Guard was helping distribute food and water to residents, a large AT&T truck sat, two orange generators resting silently on the sidewalk next to it.

Despite the company’s intention for the vehicle to serve as a mobile power station, the truck was waiting on equipment necessary to charge phones, and had been turning people away all day.

Marie Reveron, who is 57 and has been without power since the storm, said she waited at the truck for more than two hours on Friday morning, expecting the equipment to arrive so she could charge her phone.

“Phone service is the most important thing, and now my phone is on its last, dying bar,” she told The Huffington Post. “Sometimes you have all the bars, and the phone won’t even work.”

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/ATT Charging Stations.flv[/flv]

AT&T is allowing the general public into area AT&T stores and portable charging centers to recharge their wireless equipment, at least when the equipment needed to do that shows up. (2 minutes)

As of Monday, Nov. 5, charging stations are available at the following locations. The stations are open to the general public.

Brooklyn:

• Red Hook East and West – Coffey Park at Richards Street
• Corner of Brighton Beach Avenue and Coney Island Avenue
• Surf Avenue Playground – West 25th Street and Surf Avenue

Manhattan:

• Fulton Street Houses – 419 West 17th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues
• Hamilton Fish – Pitt Street and East Houston Street

Queens:

• Hammel Playground – Beach 84th Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard
• Conch Playground – Beach 44th Street and Rockaway Beach Boulevard
• Mott Avenue at Beach Channel Drive
• St. Francis de Sales Parish – 126-16 Rockaway Beach Boulevard at Beach 129th Boulevard

Staten Island:

• Midland Beach – Hunter Avenue and Father Capadanno Boulevard
• Parking Lot – Mill Road and New Dorp Lane

Other New York Locations:

• Floral Park (store) – 181 Jericho Turnpike

New Jersey Locations:

• Edgewater Square (store) – 75 River Road
• Watchung (store) – 1592 Route 22 East
• Point Pleasant Beach (The Wireless Experience – Authorized Retailer) – 3122 Route 88 and Highland Drive

The Star-Ledger reports things in New Jersey may be worse.

AT&T brought in hundreds of generators to power cell towers, according to company spokeswoman Ellen Webner, but she said keeping them topped off with fuel has been a challenge. Webner told the newspaper the company will talk to customers who want their bill adjusted for outage time.

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/ATT Generators.flv[/flv]

AT&T carefully tracks its generators now being deployed to cell sites still without power. But some critics wonder why generators are not on site before disaster strikes. (2 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/ATT Portable Microwave Cell Tower.flv[/flv]

AT&T cannot easily bring back cell sites that lack backhaul connections to Verizon’s central offices, some still non-operational due to severe flood damage. AT&T shows off emergency equipment that can establish a temporary microwave backhaul link and restore cell service. (2 minutes)

Time Warner Cable will increase the broadband speed for its most popular Standard service to 15/1Mbps across the country over the next 60 days.

With increased competition from Verizon’s FiOS fiber to the home network and AT&T U-verse, Time Warner is boosting Internet speeds to stay competitive with aggressive promotions on offer from phone companies throughout its service area.

Rob Marcus, chief operating officer for Time Warner, today told investors U-verse was available in about a quarter of the company’s footprint, with Verizon FiOS offering service in 12% of the areas where the cable company provides service.

“Last quarter, U-verse featured fairly aggressive double play promotions, especially in Texas and the midwest, while FiOS continued to aggressively enter new buildings in New York City,” Marcus said.

Marcus

Time Warner Cable failed to meet investor expectations for broadband growth during the third quarter, and some are questioning the company’s wisdom narrowly-targeting promotions to specific segments of its customer base. Bloomerg Industries analyst Paul Sweeney suggested the company was struggling to market the correct bundles of services to its customers.

Marcus reported Time Warner has seen the largest growth in DOCSIS 3.0 enhanced broadband so far, with 73,000 new customers signing up for the company’s 30/5Mbps Extreme tier or 50/5Mbps Ultimate tier during the last quarter. Combined with Turbo customers, this represents over 22% of all Time Warner’s residential broadband customers.

But while the company celebrated its new revenue from cable modem rental fees, the new charge has alienated a number of customers, some now shopping around for a better deal from competitors.

“In essence, this is a rate increase on [broadband] service, but the key is our customers have a choice,” Marcus said. “If customers prefer to buy their own modem from a qualified list of options, we’re all for it. After all, if the modem is on the customer’s balance sheet, that is less capital expense for us and fewer truck rolls.”

Marcus’ statement conflicts with one made earlier by Joli Plucknette-Farmen, communications manager for Time Warner Cable in western New York. She told WGRZ-TV last month the new fee was not  a “rate hike dressed up as a fee”, as some critics have suggested.

The company made no announcements about increasing the speeds of its higher-speed tiers to maintain their value in light of the forthcoming speed increase for Standard service.

T-Mobile and AT&T customers in the impact zone of Hurricane Sandy will share cellular networks through a mutual aid pact announced today by both companies.

The temporary roaming agreement will allow customers of AT&T and T-Mobile to use cell sites providing the strongest reception and the highest call completion rate in areas of New York and New Jersey where cell service has degraded.

T-Mobile said the temporary arrangement will provide a seamless roaming experience because both companies share GSM technology. There will be no additional charges for this service. We have no information as to whether this agreement will also cover texting and data services.

Earlier today, T-Mobile provided this update to customers about restoration progress:

T-Mobile network engineers are working as quickly as possible to restore service to areas affected by Hurricane Sandy. In Washington, D.C. the network is more than 90% operational. In New York City, the network is more than 80% operational. Restoration work continues in the harder hit areas of lower Manhattan, Staten Island, Long Island, coastal and Northern New Jersey, Connecticut and portions of Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia.

T-Mobile rapid response engineering teams have staged equipment throughout the areas most severely impacted and continue to make assessments regarding how quickly we may be able to begin restoration, and where it is needed most.

Extensive flooding caused by Hurricane Sandy swamped the ground floor of Verizon’s headquarters at 140 West St. in lower Manhattan.

Verizon Communications, the largest telecommunications company in the northeast, has been trying to assess the widespread damage to its wireline, fiber, and wireless networks but remains hampered by major damage to its own operations centers and leftover flooding in coastal areas.

Verizon’s headquarters in lower Manhattan on West Street had several feet of water on the ground floor Monday night. At noon today, Verizon called conditions below 39th Street in lower Manhattan “bleak” because of flooding. Verizon’s network technical facilities received extensive damage in the area, and some facilities had water high enough in basements to damage backup power equipment. The company spent the last day just pumping flood water out of their facilities in the area and is now bringing in new generators to power buildings and restore service.

The venerable landline, now considered a relic by a growing number of Americans, may prove to be the hardy survivor of Hurricane Sandy, holding up well in areas upstate and in parts of New York City where spotty cell service has left residents doing the unthinkable – lining up in front of working pay phones.

With cell phone batteries all but dead and power restoration likely to take days if not weeks, Verizon’s self-powered landlines that survived the storm are holding up, even if customers’ memories are not.

“The good news is the payphones that are still left are working, the bad news is who can remember anyone’s phone number anymore?” says Stop the Cap! reader Richard, who has been without power since Monday night. “Cell phone contact lists don’t help much until you can recharge your phone.”

Several New Yorkers are joining Richard looking for community centers and public libraries with working electrical outlets to recharge cell phones while catching up with e-mail on computer terminals that still have Internet access. Some boroughs remain virtually cut off from the rest of New York with roads, tunnels, bridges and public transport only gradually reopening on a limited basis.

Verizon called conditions south of the Garment District in lower Manhattan “bleak.”

Verizon’s Satellite Solutions Group is sending several emergency mobile communications vehicles to New Jersey and New York this evening to provide communications services to the impacted region. The disaster recovery fleet is completely self-contained and does not require any commercial power to operate. The mobile vehicles offer voice, data and Internet connectivity as well as charging capabilities for mobile devices.

“Sandy has left a trail of destruction throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with historic flooding in New York and New Jersey and a hurricane-fueled snowstorm in southwest Virginia and western Maryland,” said Bob Mudge, president of Verizon’s consumer and mass business division.  “We are asking the public to remain focused on staying safe as there may be dangerous conditions such as fallen trees or power lines.  Our dedicated employees – from technicians to customer service consultants – run to a crisis and will continue to do what it takes to put customers back in touch.”

For that to happen, Verizon is waiting for electric utilities to get service back up and running. The company suspects most of its problems are related to electric service interruptions that will resolve once power is restored. But in lower Manhattan and along the coastline, more significant damage is likely to take longer to repair.

Verizon facilities in lower Manhattan, Queens and Long Island have received major damage from severe flooding, interrupting commercial power and rendering backup power systems inoperable.  In some cases, Verizon teams have not been able to access the sites, due to flooding and safety concerns.

As battery backup and generated power fails, additional central offices could lose service until Verizon crews can reach those facilities. Where flood waters have wreaked havoc with Verizon’s equipment, it could take a week or more to restore service. In such cases, it’s crucial to consider hiring a water damage restoration service to expedite the recovery process. For detailed information on water damage restoration, please see page.

Verizon Wireless service is reportedly in better shape, with 94% of cell sites still working, according to the company.

But with heavy call volumes and interruptions to Verizon’s backhaul connections which connect cell towers to Verizon’s network, having good reception is no guarantee customers will be able to complete calls or receive them.

Many New Yorkers report outgoing calls go nowhere and incoming calls go straight to voicemail, even with phones powered on.

Other Verizon notifications affecting customers across the northeast:

“All circuits are busy” or “Your call cannot be completed at this time”

Some Verizon customers in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region of the U.S. may receive a message of “All circuits are busy” or “Your call cannot be completed at this time” when trying to make a call. This is due to an unusually large volume of calls in the network as a result of Hurricane Sandy. Our engineers are working to accommodate this additional call volume. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Shipment Delays

As storm related transportation disruptions clear, Verizon customers will begin to receive shipments of routers, set top boxes and cabling. However, there may continue to be delays in completing deliveries due to road conditions. We will continue to process orders and ship equipment to our customers as quickly as possible.

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