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.”
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
As of yesterday, AT&T reports 98 percent of their cell sites are up and running across the region impacted by Hurricane Sandy, with 94 percent in operation in metropolitan New York City.
The Star-Ledgerreports 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.
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)
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)
Landline customers in swing states have been under assault since last weekend from waves of robocalls, some containing false and misleading voting information, that have come in at rates of 20, 30, or even more every hour.
“Robocalls” are the annoying recorded messages mass-blasted to landline customers from candidates, their wives, political allies, and astroturf groups encouraging support for particular candidates or demonizing their opponents. While most landline customers receive a handful of “get out the vote” reminders during Election Day, voters in hotly-contested swing states are under siege with dozens upon dozens of recorded political messages. Now some are unplugging their phones until the polls close.
In Wisconsin, one woman said she received “calls” from President Obama, Governor Romney, and 63 others before she finally pulled the plug on her phone.
[flv width=”576″ height=”344″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WXMI Grand Rapids Assault of the Robocall 11-5-12.flv[/flv]
Norma Escribano-Smith in Grandville got 65 robocalls on her phone before she finally became so exasperated, she unplugged it. WXMI in Grand Rapids reports on life in a swing state. (3 minutes)
Some groups blast out calls opposing specific ballot measures — marriage equality and tax measures are two hot issues this season. Others are more clandestine about their true identity, launched by dirty tricks firms that are masters in the dark art of the misleading robocall.
In Florida, registered voters in heavily Democratic areas report getting calls identified by Caller ID as the local Obama campaign office. The recorded messages that follow inaccurately tell voters the election has “been extended” and they can “vote for Obama tomorrow” by dropping off their ballots at a local polling place. The local Obama office is not the source of the calls, however. Someone is faking (better known as “spoofing”) the Caller ID information.
In Tucson, Ariz., local Republicans are getting calls suggesting their party supports a state proposition on the ballot the GOP actually opposes. Over in Phoenix, the campaign of Republican candidate Jeff Flake was caught making misleading and inaccurate robocalls misdirecting Democratic supporters of Richard Carmona to the wrong polling locations, often miles away. Those calls are now being looked at by the Department of Justice in Washington.
Democrat Mary Crecco of Scottsdale said she “just freaked out” when she got the Flake robocall. “It was totally wrong, totally wrong, and I feel like it was done purposely,” she told a Phoenix TV station.
[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/KPNX Phoenix Democrats fuming over Flake robocalls 11-5-12.flv[/flv]
KPNX’s ‘Watch Dogs’ launched a special investigation into misleading robocalls from the campaign of Jeff Flake misdirecting Phoenix-area Democrats to the wrong polling locations. (3 minutes)
So who avoids robocalls? Cell phone customers. Under FCC rules, robocalls to cell phones are not permitted without permission from the person being called. In Pennsylvania, one Verizon Wireless store manager reported brisk sales from customers in the last few weeks driven away from their landline by the avalanche of political messages and other telemarketers.
Some states have successfully controlled the onslaught with laws that do not allow recorded robocalls unless first introduced by a live operator asking for permission to play them. That dramatically raises the cost of robocalling, leading many groups back to traditional mailers or broadcast advertising, both only slightly less annoying.
“Four out of five calls this morning were political calls,” John Fox, Pottsville, told a Pennsylania newspaper Monday at Fairlane Village mall. “I told my wife not to answer the phone anymore.”
[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSAW Wausau Voters Annoyed by Political Robocalls 11-5-12.mp4[/flv]
WSAW in Wausau has started giving out tips to call-weary Wisconsin voters who are fed up with a constant assault of robocalls on their home phones. (2 minutes)
Phillip DampierNovember 1, 2012IssuesComments Off on Cell Service Deteriorating in NY, NJ; Verizon Regarding Damage: “It’s Worse Than 9/11”
Verizon’s flooded headquarters on West St., lower Manhattan (The Wall Street Journal)
As cleanup efforts continue across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, some of America’s largest telecommunications companies are coming under increased scrutiny for being caught flat-footed after Hurricane Sandy roared across the tri-state region, causing damage Verizon’s chief technology officer now admits is worse than 9/11.
As of this morning, Verizon Wireless’ network is reportedly straining, particularly in Manhattan and Brooklyn, where cell service that worked immediately after the storm is now increasingly failing.
Verizon said 94% of its cell sites were operational after the storm, but some local officials in the area believe 94% of Verizon’s wireless network has now failed them when they need it the most.
Many telecom companies, particularly AT&T, are being criticized for excessive secrecy about the ongoing state of their networks post-Sandy. AT&T, which left its customers in the dark about service restoration as late as last night while asking customers to contribute $10 to the American Red Cross, finally mass e-mailed customers a statement devoid of much detail signed by Steve Hodges, president of AT&T’s northeast region.
“Restoring our wireless network is our top priority,” Hodges writes. “The vast majority of our cell sites in the Northeast are online and working. We are working issues in areas that were especially hard-hit, where flooding, power loss, transportation and debris all pose challenges. Our crews are working around the clock to restore network service to areas that were impacted by the storm. We will not stop until we repair all of the damage to our network and restore service back to its full capacity.”
The Federal Communications Commission correctly predicted the situation with mobile phones could get worse before it gets better, as backup power wears down and flooding persists. At a press conference held yesterday, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski revealed at least a quarter of all cell sites in areas damaged by Sandy were not operational. Those numbers were less optimistic that those provided by carriers.
The FCC this week activated the Disaster Information Reporting System, a central reporting point for telecommunications companies to update the agency regarding outages and other service disruptions. The FCC also alerted providers that in emergency circumstances, they can assist companies getting fuel for generators and help locate portable cell tower equipment for companies caught unaware.
AT&T’s belated letter to customers affected by Hurricane Sandy
Some may need the help.
New York State Assemblyman Alec Brook-Krasny and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz both reported Verizon Wireless’ outages are worsening in Brooklyn and midtown Manhattan.
Brooklyn Borough president Marty Markowitz
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today told Sen. Chuck Schumer the federal agency will reimburse New York for 100 percent of the costs incurred restoring power across the storm areas. But that may not expedite how quickly power returns.
Power restoration is expected to bring most cell towers back online. Worsening service is being attributed to battery backup or generator equipment exhausting on-hand fuel supplies, which usually keeps service up and running for up to three days. That means cell towers without power and unreachable by workers will have begun failing late Wednesday into today.
Damage assessments are further behind in New Jersey, the state that took the worst impact from Hurricane Sandy.
Stop the Cap! obtained some new figures from cell phone companies regarding the state of their networks:
Verizon: Still holding to 94% operational in storm areas;
AT&T: Declined to comment except to say “the vast majority” of their network is operational;
T-Mobile: 80% operational in NYC, 90% operational in Washington, D.C.
Verizon’s critical network takes another hit. “We’ve been here before,” says one Verizon executive, referring to the destruction from the 9/11 terrorist attacks which severely damaged the same facility on West Street now flooded out. (3 minutes)
Our readers report that cell service becomes spotty to non-existent in coastal New Jersey and Connecticut. In Manhattan anywhere south of 29th Street, readers report almost no signals at all.
Verizon’s damaged facilities include those on West and Broad Streets in Manhattan (circled).
Residents are trading tips about “magic spots” where cell service does suddenly pop up, and Gizmodo notes the only place in Alphabet City (the east side in southern Manhattan) to get service is on literally one street corner, where crowds congregate to make and receive calls.
The other salve for telecom withdrawal is the nearest pay phone.
Amusing stories of 20-somethings waiting in long lines only to be confounded by unfamiliar pay phones are appearing in the New York media. One radio station even aired basic instructions for members of the Millennial Generation that have never heard of inserting coins into telephones.
The biggest challenge for the city’s pay phone vendors is clearing them of coin overloads, something unheard of before the storm.
The often maligned pay phone has exposed the limits of the “more advanced” and expensive networks that were supposed to replace them. Despite claims of superiority for wireless service, northeast residents have once again discovered it has its limits:
They don’t work during major weather events that knock out power and limit access to maintain backup generators;
Cell networks are less capable of handling large call volumes, a problem made worse when cell phone refugees in other areas seek out remaining cell signals, further congesting the network;
Wireless is just as susceptible to wireline or fiber failures on the ground. Cell towers typically connect to providers through wired backhaul circuits, which knock out cell service if they fail;
Cell phone users need power to recharge their power-hungry smartphones. Batteries drain even faster searching for a weak or non-existent cell signal;
Hardest hit remains Verizon, which allowed reporters access inside damaged facilities to help New Yorkers better understand the scope of the problem.
The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the state of the wireless communications networks across the northeastern U.S. and when service will be back. (4 minutes)
Eleven years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks that took out Verizon’s West Street office when buildings collapsed at the nearby World Trade Center, Verizon is likely going to have to re-learn some lessons about catastrophe management as flood waters recede.
Verizon has deployed this 53-foot Emergency Mobile Communications Center for use by the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management that provides Internet and phone service.
The Wall Street Journal was able to obtain access inside the damaged facilities, and the reporter covering the event was left somewhat stunned by the scope of the damage.
In the middle of organized, yet chaotic recovery efforts was Verizon’s chief technology officer Tony Melone who had seen enough to declare the damage worse than 9/11.
The pictures of several feet of muddy water from the nearby Hudson River covering the lobby of the company’s headquarters on West Street said it all. The mostly salt water was an unwelcome guest in Verizon’s building, especially considering the five level basement below the lobby contains critical cables and telecommunications equipment. Almost four of those basement floors were completely flooded. After the water was pumped out, dampness and leaves from nearby trees remain littered on the floor.
One lesson learned after 9/11 was not to place critical phone switches below ground level. After reconstruction, the switches were moved to a higher floor and consequently were left undamaged. But while Verizon moved its backup generators upstairs, it left the pumps and fuel tanks that power them in the basement — leaving them inoperable.
This morning, passersby on West Street have to step around Verizon’s network of generators now running outside of the building, right next to large temporary fuel tanks to power them.
Verizon central offices in other parts of Manhattan, particularly further southeast on Broad Street, were never upgraded and are in worse shape, with electrical equipment damaged perhaps beyond repair. The force of the water was strong enough to bend the 86 year-old steel and bronze doors. Workers there are still trying to get water out of the building, shoving a pipe down an elevator shaft to facilitate pumping.
Verizon has some redundancy built into its network to protect its most valuable customers. That kept the landline phones working at the New York Stock Exchange, even though other landline and wireless customers will have to wait longer for service to resume.
AT&T’s generator staging area near Meriden, Connecticut. (Credit: Brian Pernicone)
Some critics of the increasingly concentrated telecommunications landscape think Verizon and other companies have still not learned enough to prevent the kinds of service disruptions that will leave some customers without service for weeks.
It is hard to miss the bustle outside of Verizon’s offices damaged by the storm, watching flood water drain down the street. But things are murkier at cell phone providers who have been less than forthcoming about specific outage information and service restoration assessments.
Some have advocated the federal government step in and require cell phone service, now deemed essential by an increasing number of Americans, be protected with robust backup solutions to keep service up and running after catastrophic weather events.
After Hurricane Katrina, the FCC in 2007 tried to issue new rules that required a minimum of eight hours of backup power for all cell sites. The industry balked, predicting it would lead to “staggering and irreparable harm” for the cell companies. One wireless trade association warned their members might take several cell sites down if they were forced to provide backup power.
The CTIA Wireless Association and Sprint-Nextel sued the agency in federal court and the Bush Administration’s Office of Management and Budget eventually killed the proposed regulations.
T-Mobile and AT&T have cut an emergency deal to share their cellphone networks in areas affected by Superstorm Sandy. They’re trying to make it a little easier for customers to get a signal as carriers restore their networks. Some say companies should be forced to make their networks more resilient. National Public Radio’s Morning Edition has the story. (November 1, 2012) (3 minutes)
You must remain on this page to hear the clip, or you can download the clip and listen later.
Telling Time Warner customers to get rid of the cable company’s phone service.
Best Buy employees in upstate New York are advising Time Warner Cable customers to dump Time Warner phone service and buy their own cable modem to completely avoid any additional monthly fees.
“We don’t have modems that will support Time Warner’s voice services, so basically any customer that has that bundle either has to make the decision to get rid of that service or deal with paying for that service every month,” said Syracuse Best Buy employee Drew Cacciola.
Cacciola told a Syracuse television station Time Warner’s supplied equipment is “old and refurbished” and that if customers purchase their own equipment, they will have the latest technology and won’t have to worry about ending up with another refurbished cable modem if the current modem fails.
“If [a new modem] breaks down you can get a new one you don’t have to send it back to them and you won’t get another refurbished one – you get a new one,” said Cacciola.
In fact, Time Warner phone customers do not have to cancel their phone service to avoid the modem fee, but they will be stuck with two pieces of equipment — a Time Warner-supplied eMTA that manages the phone service (with its Internet ports disabled) and the customer’s own purchased cable modem. For now, Time Warner is not charging customers for eMTA equipment used exclusively for its phone service.
Best Buy does not carry some of the models on Time Warner’s approved modem list, and the cheapest one WSYR reporters could find cost around $60, meaning it will take just over a year to recoup the cost of the modem.
Motorola cable modem
Time Warner Cable’s modem fee continues to create consternation for customers, especially when they learn the same piece of equipment used for both Internet and phone service costs $3.95 a month when used for broadband, but is free when used only for phone service.
Stop the Cap! reader Ben argued with a Time Warner representative trying to understand the reasoning.
“So, let me get this straight about the modem fee: If I have phone there is no fee but if I use the same modem to also get Internet, there is a fee?,” Ben asked.
Yes, came the answer. The explanation:
“About the modem fee: Our costs for Internet equipment keep increasing and unfortunately we could not continue to absorb the costs related to their purchase, maintenance and repair,” wrote a Time Warner employee named ‘Paul-E.’ “Leasing a modem ensures you have the most up to date and capable equipment to take advantage of our services as we offer faster speeds and additional functionality. These events sometimes require that we replace your current equipment to give you the best experience.”
Time Warner’s explanation for the new modem fee sounds plausible, but unfortunately for “Paul-E” (and the company), much of it is demonstrably false.
“I would look at this as a price increase,” Bryan Kraft, an analyst at Evercore Partners, told IBD via email. “There are some questions that need to be answered before the impact on ARPU (average monthly revenue per user) can be reasonably estimated.”
Stop the Cap! took a look at Time Warner Cable’s financial reports and discovered the company’s capital expenses for its high speed Internet service (and cable modem equipment) have droppedfor the third year in a row:
Time Warner Cable’s capital expenditures on customer premise equipment, including cable modems, has dropped for three years in a row.
Capital spending (as a whole) so far this year has decreased as a percentage of revenue to just 12% for residential customers. Time Warner has spent money primarily on extending service to potential business customers.
The need to charge you more for a cable modem is questionable when residential Internet service rate increases and customers gravitating to more expensive, higher speed services already deliver the company higher average revenue per customer without spiking their costs.
When the station relayed complaints about long hold times and busy signals for customers trying to activate their purchased cable modem, the response from Time Warner — don’t call on Monday or Friday or around morning or dinner time unless you are prepared to wait on hold.
[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSYR Syracuse Time Warner Cable modem charge 10-24-12.mp4[/flv]
WSYR in Syracuse covers the ongoing controversy with Time Warner Cable’s new modem fees, and a Best Buy employee tells Time Warner customers to get rid of the company’s phone service. (3 minutes)
With a declining number of Americans willing to pay AT&T’s prices for smartphones and wireless service plans, AT&T’s future revenue growth will increasingly depend on getting the company’s current customers to pay more for data and adopt new types of wireless communications services.
After a quarterly earnings report found AT&T subscriber growth falling far behind its larger rival Verizon Wireless, AT&T appears ready to concede there is a finite number of new customers to be won from endless battles for market share.
AT&T was expected to add 358,000 new customers in the previous quarter, but only managed to attract 151,000. Demand for the latest Apple iPhone has yet to meet available supply, with most iPhones obtained by AT&T allocated to existing customers. AT&T exclusively launched the iPhone in the United States in 2007 and retains the largest share of iPhone owners, even after the phone became available from other carriers. Verizon Wireless had fewer problems adding new customers because it is not nearly as dependent on Apple.
de la Vega
Despite lackluster subscriber growth, AT&T reported stellar revenue during the quarter, partly from rate increases and the launch of usage-limited, family share plans. AT&T also continued to benefit from tax savings, share buybacks, and refinancing debt at lower interest rates. With fewer customers adding subsidized phones, AT&T also paid fewer subsidies.
AT&T’s profit rose to $3.64 billion, or 63 cents per share, up from $3.62 billion, or 61 cents per share — $.03 ahead of Wall Street expectations.
AT&T can thank its wireless data services for a significant chunk of their earnings, with more to come.
The company reported more than 2/3rd’s of their customers (28+ million) are now on usage-based pricing plans. That is 10 million more than a year ago. The company’s new mobile share plans have attracted almost two million subscribers during the first five weeks they were on offer. More than one-third of those customers are choosing the company’s 10GB data allowance, which costs the customer $150 a month with unlimited talk and texting ($30 a month for each additional smartphone on the account.) Around 15% of new mobile share customers are choosing to abandon their grandfathered unlimited data plans.
AT&T’s forthcoming strategic redirection, to be announced Nov. 7, is likely to center around increasing revenue from the company’s wireless data network.
The average AT&T customer’s wireless broadband data bill is on the increase.
Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets, told investors it is taking “this massive data growth and building products and services on top of that.”
“One of the best examples I can give you is our launch of Digitize that will happen next year,” de la Vega said. “It leverages this huge smartphone database and adds services on top of it and not just data access, but services that differentiate us from the competition. So you’re talking about connecting the home with service automation and security monitoring. We’re talking about connecting your car with all kinds of entertainment services.”
That means AT&T sees its future revenue coming mostly from existing customers paying more.
“Those services are not dependent on adding more customers per se, but connecting more houses, connecting more cars and connecting more things that drive significant revenue streams with good margins for us,” de la Vega said. “In terms of what we see happening with others in the industry, I don’t think anything we have seen changes our plan. We’re going to execute [and] let others react to our plan, instead of us reacting to them.”
AT&T seemed unconcerned by competition in the current marketplace, especially from those offering cheaper plans. de la Vega predicted other carriers will come around to AT&T and Verizon’s way of thinking about mobile plan pricing.
“I think these mobile share plans are very compelling to customers,” de la Vega told investors. “And I think those that don’t put them in, in the industry will probably have to rethink down the road because I think the reception has been exceptional.”
John Stephens, AT&T’s chief financial officer, called AT&T’s data growth important, as long as those customers are on tiered data plans. With three-quarters of their customers buying “higher-priced plans,” AT&T can grow revenue by encouraging data usage that forces customers into ever-higher allowance plans that deliver revenue boosts indefinitely.
“I think some of the things driving our pricing and the price moves we made almost a year ago where we increased our data pricing are driving our revenue growth,” de la Vega admitted. “But we’re also seeing people sign up for more data. And the fact is, as you sell more smartphones or more tablets, people need more data. Usage-based data pricing means as usage goes up, we can see some of that lift also coming from additional average revenue per customer. So not only do we feel good where we are, but I feel really good about where we’re going, because you have to have that base of usage base in order to be able to monetize the data growth that we foresee in the future.”
AT&T continues to depend primarily on its wireless division for most of its revenue, but as growth slows, the demand for ever-increasing average revenue from each customer will have to come from increasing prices or finding new services to sell that customers want.
Applications that wireless carriers seek to monetize
Some other highlights:
AT&T was questioned by Wall Street about its decision to voluntarily contribute a $9.5 billion preferred equity interest in AT&T Mobility into the Pension Plan Trust. Some analysts consider that amount unnecessary and above the amount required by law, despite the company’s assertion this would help protect the long-term health of AT&T’s pension fund. But some retirees note AT&T’s generosity benefits itself — the company’s contribution to the pension plan is invested entirely in AT&T’s wireless business;
AT&T now has 7.4 million U-verse subscribers, driving wireline revenue growth to levels not seen in more than four years. But AT&T still only averages less than a 15% market share in the cities where U-verse is available, suggesting cable operators are maintaining their market dominance;
AT&T’s new upgrade policy, which curtails early upgrades and imposes new upgrade fees, is having a dramatic impact on discouraging customers from upgrading their phones. That has kept AT&T’s upgrade rate at a steady 7%, even with the introduction of the wildly popular new iPhone. AT&T has effectively cut their subsidy costs and took a 28% increase in equipment revenue from new upgrade fees to the bank;
Capital expenditures are on target at $13.8 billion, with more than half of that invested in the wireless business. Landlines and U-verse upgrades took a back seat.
AT&T receives enough iPhones to activate 5,000-10,000 new iPhone customers a day and still that is insufficient to meet demand;
Be Sure to Read Part One: Astroturf Overload — Broadband for America = One Giant Industry Front Group for an important introduction to what this super-sized industry front group is all about. Members of Broadband for America Red: A company or group actively engaging in anti-consumer lobbying, opposes Net Neutrality, supports Internet Overcharging, belongs to […]
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I see it took all of five minutes for George Ou and his friends at Digital Society to be swayed by the tunnel vision myopia of last week’s latest effort to justify Internet Overcharging schemes. Until recently, I’ve always rationalized my distain for smaller usage caps by ignoring the fact that I’m being subsidized by […]
In 2007, we took our first major trip away from western New York in 20 years and spent two weeks an hour away from Calgary, Alberta. After two weeks in Kananaskis Country, Banff, Calgary, and other spots all over southern Alberta, we came away with the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Good Alberta […]
A federal appeals court in Washington has struck down, for a second time, a rulemaking by the Federal Communications Commission to limit the size of the nation’s largest cable operators to 30% of the nation’s pay television marketplace, calling the rule “arbitrary and capricious.” The 30% rule, designed to keep no single company from controlling […]
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