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CommSpeed: Yesterday’s Internet, Tomorrow — Another Internet Overcharging Scheme

Stop the Cap! reader Davey in Arizona was displeased to receive notification his Internet Service Provider, CommSpeed, suddenly announced an Internet Overcharging scheme that limits customers to two levels of service: a basic $40 plan with a ridiculously stingy 10GB monthly usage allowance, or a more generous (and double the price) $60 plan that comes with a 200GB usage cap.

Davey is particularly upset the company plans to punish customers who exceed the allowance with a stinging $2/GB overlimit fee.  It will not be difficult for customers to blow past  CommSpeed’s standard 10GB plan limit if they discover file backup, online video, or downloading.  If they do, CommSpeed’s overlimit fee will be coming soon to a bill in their mailbox. For those who use the Internet to watch television and movies, the only real options are to watch less or upgrade to a more expensive plan with a more realistic usage allowance that can accommodate high bandwidth applications.

CommSpeed claims their “advanced 4G network combines the best features of cellular, cable modem & DSL, and Wi-Fi networks, without the inherent limitations associated with these legacy systems.”  The company brands itself as “Tomorrow’s Internet Today.”

What they don’t mention is today’s wireless ISP’s are increasingly challenged by the growing usage demands consumers place on providers.  CommSpeed’s claim that their network “was designed and built, from inception, to deliver a full range of broadband content and applications” flies in the face of their 10GB usage limit. Fiber, cable broadband and even telephone company DSL has a better track record handling increasing usage demands, as long as providers maintain investments in their respective networks.

CommSpeed’s usage cap tells the real story — their network may not be able to handle the growing traffic from customers in their northern Arizona service area.

“The Internet has seen tremendous growth in total usage over the last year. New applications are being developed everyday and these applications are causing an ever increasing demand for bandwidth. Quite simply, the content of the Internet has evolved,” CommSpeed explains on a page dedicated to explaining their new caps.

Unfortunately for wireless, until more spectrum and better technology is available, usage limitations are an increasing reality for customers stuck using these networks. It’s why Stop the Cap! rarely recommends wireless broadband as a primary Internet service except as a last resort, when other choices simply are not available.

Still, we’ve seen much worse from other Wireless ISPs.  CommSpeed’s 200GB limit on their $60 tier is more generous than average.  Plus, the company takes the limits off during the overnight hours of midnight to 6AM.

We also think the company’s usage guestimates are a more honest approximation of real-world usage, not the ridiculous “send 10,000,000 e-mails and download 500,000 songs” reassurances we usually see from Internet Overcharging ISPs:

Average user with a 10GB allowance
Total Gigabytes Used = 9.9GB
Actual internet consumption may vary.
Per Month Total Bandwidth Consumed
General Internet Browsing 100 hours 500MB
Email Communication (total sent/received) 400 emails 20MB
Internet Phone Service 500 minutes 1.1GB
Music Downloads 100 Tracks 600MB
Movie Streaming 3 movies 6GB
Online Gaming 100 hours 1.5GB

CommSpeed’s old plans ranged in price from $34.95 for basic 768kbps-1.5Mbps service to $54.90 for 1.5-6Mbps service, depending on the technology in use in the area. The new plans bring a $5 rate hike and usage caps — just two reasons why customers like Davey are so upset. They’ll be even more upset if their bill also include overlimit fees. Stay tuned.

[flv width=”608″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/CommSpeed 4G – Tomorrow’s Internet Today.flv[/flv]

CommSpeed heavily promotes its newer 4G wireless broadband service, claiming its great for online video, downloading, gaming, and more, as long as you don’t use it too much.  In 2012, CommSpeed throws up limits on their wireless experience.  (3 minutes)

FCC Chairman Calls AT&T CEO Personally to Deliver His Opposition to Merger Deal

Phillip Dampier November 28, 2011 AT&T, Competition, Public Policy & Gov't, T-Mobile, Video, Wireless Broadband Comments Off on FCC Chairman Calls AT&T CEO Personally to Deliver His Opposition to Merger Deal

Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski personally called AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson a few days before Thanksgiving giving him advance notice he was moving to oppose AT&T’s merger with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA.

Genachowski told Stephenson he was handing AT&T’s merger application over to an administrative judge — extremely bad news for the merger’s prospects.  The personal phone call was revealed Friday by AT&T, which disclosed it in an ex-parte communication filed with the FCC.

“During the call, Chairman (Julius) Genachowski indicated that he would be circulating to his fellow Commissioners a draft order approving the Qualcomm transaction and a draft order designating the T-Mobile transaction for an administrative hearing,” according to the filing. “Chairman Genachowski indicated that the draft designation order would likely be voted in the next several days or weeks but the administrative hearing would be deferred until after resolution of the pending litigation with the Department of Justice.”

It was the second piece of bad news received by AT&T last week, the first being notification the Justice Department had suddenly canceled a meeting it had planned to hold with AT&T about the merger and its antitrust implications.

Earlier today, Bloomberg News reported the FCC wasn’t so sure it would allow AT&T to refile its withdrawn merger application, which immediately brought new threats of legal action by the telecommunication company.

Now AT&T is considering a new strategy to save a merger given a 10 percent chance of succeeding, according to some analysts.  It will likely hold a fire sale of T-Mobile’s assets — up to 40 percent of them to be more exact, in order to satisfy regulators concerned about the merger’s anti-competitive implications.

The prospects make Wall Street bankers salivate with dreams of steep fees earned from structuring and marketing the equivalent of a corporate estate sale.

Among potential buyers might be regional players Leap Wireless, which owns Cricket, and MetroPCS.  The New York Times reports Mexico’s multi-billionaire Carlos Slim Helú, who owns Mexico’s América Móvil, might be interested in buying T-Mobile assets himself to boost the company’s American unit, better known as TracFone.

Sanford Bernstein’s Craig Moffett suggests it would be a mistake to ignore America’s largest cable operators, which own spectrum themselves and could integrate T-Mobile into a new mobile operator owned, controlled, and branded under the names of their respective cable owners.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg Davis Says ATT Asset Sale May Be Tricky 11-28-11.flv[/flv]

Michael Nelson, analyst at Mizuho Securities USA Inc., and Jeffrey Davis, chief investment officer at Lee Munder Capital Group, discuss AT&T Inc.’s proposed purchase of T-Mobile USA Inc. AT&T, with its T-Mobile USA takeover facing regulatory opposition, is preparing the biggest remedy proposal yet to the Justice Department to salvage the $39 billion deal, according to a person familiar with the plan: an asset fire sale. From Bloomberg News.  (4 minutes)

Jon Friedman’s Love-Hate Relationship With iPhone on AT&T

Phillip Dampier November 28, 2011 AT&T, Consumer News, Video, Wireless Broadband Comments Off on Jon Friedman’s Love-Hate Relationship With iPhone on AT&T

If your call doesn't get dropped....

Marketwatch columnist Jon Friedman has a l0ve-hate relationship with his Apple iPhone, with plenty of love for the phone, but “undependable” service from AT&T.

Friedman is another New Yorker that copes with daily frustration from his provider, which is notorious for dropping calls and a loss of service, even on the island of Manhattan.

“AT&T is not easy to work with,” Friedman reports:

I happened to be on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on Saturday afternoon, desperately trying to make a call to someone no more than 20 city blocks away. I tried and tried and tried. Out of luck and patience, I schlepped to a Radio Shack store and begged for help.

The salesman at Radio Shack asked me what service I used, and then he cackled when I said it was AT&T. By the time I got across town, 30 minutes later, I was able to complete my call.

Friedman is considering taking his business to another wireless carrier, if only to stop the hair-tearing experience of making and receiving calls on AT&T’s wireless network in the metropolitan New York region.

[flv width=”512″ height=”308″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSJ Jon Friedman’s Love-Hate Relationship 11-23-11.flv[/flv]

Jon Friedman talks with the Wall Street Journal’s Mean Street feature about his experience with an Apple iPhone on AT&T’s network.  (4 minutes)

Special Video Coverage: AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Falling Apart; Where Does It Go From Here?

Here is a collection of news clips about the AT&T T-Mobile merger deal as news broke over Thanksgiving that AT&T had withdrawn its application with the Federal Communications Commission to proceed with the merger.

[flv width=”640″ height=”500″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WSJ ATT T-Mobile Collapsing Deal Impacts Deutsche Telekom 11-25-11.flv[/flv]

The Wall Street Journal offers two reports today about the surprise news that AT&T was pulling its merger application from the FCC.  The newspaper wonders how the deal collapse will impact Deutsche Telekom, the German parent of T-Mobile USA, which has shown every indication it wants out of the U.S. market to focus on its telecommunications interests in Europe.  (7 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg ATT to Record 4B Costs on T-Mobile USA Deal Risks 11-25-11.flv[/flv]

AT&T Inc., whose $39 billion bid for T-Mobile USA is challenged by the U.S. Justice Department, will record one-time costs of $4 billion this quarter to reflect the risks of a collapse of the deal. AT&T and T-Mobile owner Deutsche Telekom AG withdrew their applications to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission yesterday after FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski on Nov. 22 asked fellow commissioners to send the proposed purchase to a hearing, signaling an attempt to block the deal. Lizzie O’Leary reports on Bloomberg Television’s “InsideTrack.”  (2 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg ATT Decision to Withdraw T-Mobile FCC Application 11-25-11.flv[/flv]

Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst at Wells Fargo Securities LLC, talks about AT&T Inc.’s decision to withdraw its Federal Communications Commission application to acquire T-Mobile USA Inc. from Deutsche Telekom AG. She’s still slightly optimistic the deal can still succeed, especially if the 2012 elections result in a Republican administration.  She speaks with Betty Liu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.”  (2 minutes)

[flv width=”640″ height=”380″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/Bloomberg ATTs T-Mobile Takeover FCC Application 11-25-11.flv[/flv]

Paul Gallant, an analyst with Guggenheim Securities LLC, was surprised to see the FCC chairman suddenly take a more aggressive stance against the merger.  Most on Wall Street expected Chairman Genachowski to follow the Justice Dept. lead.  That changed last week when the chairman signaled the FCC would also take a tough look at the deal.  Also, will the news of the withdrawn application benefit Sprint?  Bloomberg News reports.  (3 minutes)

AT&T Ignores 80-Year Old 7+ Weeks After August Storm Leaves Cables Strewn in Her Yard

Phillip Dampier November 22, 2011 AT&T, Consumer News, Video Comments Off on AT&T Ignores 80-Year Old 7+ Weeks After August Storm Leaves Cables Strewn in Her Yard

[flv width=”360″ height=”290″]http://www.phillipdampier.com/video/WEWS Cleveland ATT service issues 11-11-11.mp4[/flv]

A late August thunderstorm brought down AT&T’s phone lines in the backyard of 80-year-old Isabelle Hendricks of Cleveland, Ohio.  More than two months later, the cables were still strewn across Hendricks’ yard, her phone line was only sporadically in service, and AT&T was still ignoring calls pleading the company to do something about it.

Nephew Anthony Mauldin took his AT&T Horror Story to YouTube, and the phone company still refused to get the lines off the ground.

“It’s been very frustrating, because we’ve been trying to get somebody out here since the first of September,” Mauldin told WEWS News. “They gave us a date, but they didn’t show.”

Mauldin says his aunt has been hospitalized over the past week, and lives alone.  He’s concerned AT&T’s landline is so intermittent, she may not be able to contact anyone in the event of an emergency.

AT&T claims it could not complete the repairs because when the lines fell, tree debris came with it — too much debris for AT&T crews to be comfortable working around.

More than two months later, Mauldin called WEWS-TV in hopes a little media exposure might do the trick.  It did.  Within two hours of the newsroom calling AT&T, crews were in Ms. Hendrick’s backyard cleaning up the mess, along with their telephone cables.  (2 minutes)

 

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