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from: Telephony Online

More disturbing numbers for telcos

May 13, 2008 11:02 AM, By Carol Wilson

Two separate sources this week are offering up more analysis showing the telcos are falling behind the cable companies in the broadband and video battle.

Information Gatekeepers, an analyst firm that once predicted the telcos would overtake cable in broadband penetration, this week issued its High-Speed Access Report for the first quarter of 2008, showing cable is outperforming its forecast and the telcos are under-performing what IGI had forecast in 2006. The latest report is in keeping with what IGI began saying in 2007, when it warned that both AT&T and Verizon were falling behind in implementing high-speed access plans, and thus their data revenues would not make up for lost wireline access income.

from: Wet Machine

There's Patriotism, But Then There's Cash

Posted By: Harold Feld

Like many, I have been both appalled at the federal domestic spying program and the subsequent the effort to undermine the Rule of Law by granting the telcos retroactive immunity. Which is why I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this USA today story reporting that the telcos shut down wiretaps legally authorized under FISA because the FBI failed to make the requisite billing payments.

from: USA Today

Audit: FBI's lapse in paying phone bill snips wiretaps

By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY Jan. 11, 2008

WASHINGTON — Telecommunications carriers shut down some covert surveillance lines established by the FBI because the bureau failed to make timely bill payments, a Justice Department review found Thursday.

from: Miami Herald

THE LEGISLATURE
BellSouth rings up a $1 million bill for lobbying

The price tag for lobbying in the state Capitol is at least $26 million this year -- and could approach $70 million -- as BellSouth leads the way with a million-dollar effort.

BY MARC CAPUTO AND GARY FINEOUT
mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com

Note: This raises serious concerns for private citizens using telephone company services - phone, data and video. Telco Triple Play is now a triple wiretap opportunity with no legal privacy protections.

from: Ars Technica

Bush administration proposes retroactive immunity for phone companies

By Nate Anderson
| Published: May 04, 2007 - 01:33PM CT

from: Lafayette Pro Fiber

How Video Franchising Works

Friday, April 06, 2007

They've got some experience under their belt with state video franchising in Virgina and, according to an article in the Newport News paper, some of the opponents' worst fears are being realized. Verizon, who is building out a Fiber to the Privileged (FTTP) network (If this is unfamiliar territory drop to the bottom and read up on the background to this story.)

from: TPM Cafe

The Price of Net Neutrality

By Art Brodsky

Kevin Martin, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, was sold out in the merger of AT&T and BellSouth. He wasn't undercut by the other commissioners who disagreed with him, even though Martin took out his anger at them. He was sold out by the company for which he had extended his prestige -- AT&T. On top of that, Martin has made life for himself just that much more difficult dealing with Democrats in Congress, even as he accepted the foundation for a more open Internet.

from: Public Knowledge

The Price of Net Neutrality

Submitted by Art Brodsky on January 5, 2007 - 3:46pm.

As Democratic legislators start the process of running the legislative branches of government, it’s worth a moment to take a last look at the unusual statement on the AT&T/BellSouth merger issued by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and his colleague, Deborah Taylor Tate. The merger conditions, approved Dec. 29, enshrined the concept that companies that offer service like AT&T can’t discriminate in how they provide content. That’s the shorthand for Net Neutrality. AT&T agreed not to sell as service that “privileges, degrades or prioritizes” any data transmitted over its network. Martin and Tate didn’t like that condition, among others, and said so in a statement issued when the deal was approved.

from: Light Reading

2006 Top Ten: Big IPTV Moments

JANUARY 05, 2007

Most people will probably look back at 2006 as (another) "warm-up year" for IPTV. Here at Light Reading we like to think of IPTV as a toddler -- just out of diapers, and about to break a heap load of stuff as part of its "learning process."

Friendly Giants in an age of deregulation?

from: Slate

Bellwether: Ma Bell is back. Should you be afraid?
By Tim Wu

Posted Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007, at 5:47 PM ET

Ma Bell is back. Blown into eight pieces by an antitrust court in 1984, AT&T, like a self-repairing robot, has slowly put itself back together. Last Friday, the Federal Communications Commission, demanding net neutrality and other conditions, approved AT&T's acquisition of BellSouth. That will make AT&T—once again—the world's largest technology company. And don't just think big. Think Goliath, with about $110 billion in annual revenue, more than 300,000 employees, and 90 million paying accounts. Google, by way of comparison, brings in about $9 billion a year. Even Microsoft, at $45 billion, is a mere elephant compared to the AT&T mammoth.