Consumers Unprepared for the Analog Switch; Which Switch? Both of Them!
As the nation prepares to ditch analog signals for digital nirvana, a lot of consumers are being left in the lurch. Most of you readers know about the upcoming switch to digital TV signals, but does your dear Aunt Sally? According to a recent survey, probably not. Less than half of those asked knew about the switchover and a scant 17% identified the correct cutover. (In case you forgot, it's February of 2009.)
The FCC and cable industry are starting up an expensive ad campaign to warn folks, but it's looking like the switch to digital is probably going to be a fiasco. At least one cable system is preying on the ignorance about the switch to hawk more cable services and the FCC is taking a "let the market sort it out" approach. (Because, you know, everyone buys a new TV every couple of years anyway, right?) If you're still sporting an analog set (like yours truly), grab your $40 coupon from Uncle Sam and get ready to buy the converter boxes starting on January 1. Also don't forget to read the handy guide from Consumer Reports to get informed about the switch and make sure your friends and neighbors are aware of the switch.
There's also a lesser-known analog cut-off: cellular service. While the impact will be "minimal" in the words of the wireless industry, there's still a potential for several million phones to be cut off from 911 service. These include handsets donated to programs for abused women. What else is affected? How about OnStar systems and many wireless burglar alarms? GM has been trying to get people to buy a $15 digital upgrade to keep the systems running, but they continued to sell analog after the cut-off date was announced.
AT&T has a different kind of cut-off in mind. The company plans to phase out all of its pay phones. With a scant 65,000 pay phones in service (compared to 66,000,000 mobile phones), they've decided to wholesale the service and let other companies give it a go of the old coin-operated machines.
Delays in RUS Money Stall UTOPIA in Centerville
Thanks to some foot-dragging by Uncle Sam, UTOPIA construction in Centerville has been put on hold until the Phase II funding comes through. This isn't the first time either; Phase I cities experienced some months-long delays while the loan application was being processed. The delays now are related to releasing the funds, currently six weeks overdue.
I can only imagine the frustration in Centerville right now. UTOPIA just finished putting in conduit and boxes for months only to be held up on the actual running of fiber optic cable. I'm sure that residents of Perry, however, are glad to see construction start up in the meantime.
It's Comcastic! Cable Operator In Dire Straits
It's a bad time to be Comcast. They dropped 7% in the American Consumer Satisfaction Index. They banished public access channels to expensive and less visible digital tiers. Rumors are flying that the Comcast Hammer Lady got dropped off the air while she was on Good Morning America. Then they get caught trying to stuff a poll on Comsumerist. (FYI, they still lost.) Add on the abysmal customer service record and some are wondering how much longer Comcast will be alive to kick around.
It's not going to help when they're continuing to kick their customers while they're down. Customers in Washington got a notice in the mail that prices were being hiked yet again. Users who want TiVo service will have to cough up an extra $2.95 a month (on top of the DVR rental) for the feature. Then there's incidents like this where customers are getting overcharged or billed for services they never got.
It's no wonder the company is set to lose customers in 2008, though Comcast is in full-on denial. They lay the blame on the housing slump and competition from FIOS. (Speaking of FIOS, those markets are the most likely to see DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts next year; don't expect any love for Utah.) Ars Technica seems to think this battering will ultimately be good for Comcast customers, but I'm not so sure. They're still terminating accounts for using "too much" of their unlimited Internet, the price hikes seem to have no end in sight and the amount of online hate for the cable giant seems to grow every day.
FCC War on Cable: Martin Moves to Cap Comcast, Congress and Comcast Fight Back
Undaunted in his previous attempts at curbing the growth of cable operators (arguably to the benefit of incumbent telcos), FCC Chairman Kevin Martin managed to get the commission to pass a rule to prevent cable operators from growing past 30% of the available national subscribers. The 70/70 rule used to restrict them comes from major telecommunications legislation from 1934 and 1984 that aims to prevent providers from totally dominating markets.
Predictably, Congress is threatening to change up the way the FCC can assert itself and cable operators have become emboldened to sue for the right to exclusive contracts in MDUs. There's also a Congressional probe in the works to poke around the various leaks, disregard for proper procedure and abuse of power. Given the strong-arming he's used on Big Cable and the light touch on Ma Bell, it seems like more oversight is overdue.
Open Network Mania: Verizon Does a 180, AT&T Rides the Coattails
Remember Verizon's lawsuit just a few months ago trying to get rid of the open access requirements in the 700MHz auction? Neither does Verizon, apparently. The company decided to allow anyone to bring any compatible device of their choosing to the network. The timeline? It'll be done by the end of 2008, about the time the 700MHz band opens up. Not to be outdone, AT&T decided to use the buzz over open networks to say they had open networks too. Of course, this is the way it's always been, yet a few reporters got sucked into the blatant PR move.
Steven Titch's Latest Hackjob
As predictable as the sun rising in the east and continued strife in the Middle East, Steven Titch is at it again. As usual, he's spouting out about iProvo without a clue as to what he's talking about. Not only was he not present at the meeting referenced in the newspaper articles he linked, but he failed to go beyond the half-story presented by the Deseret Morning News (and their accompanying editorial) to get the whole picture.
For instance, he managed to skip the benefits to city departments (faster turnaround to restore power, decreased disconnect/reconnect costs, enhanced telecommuting) while condemning the idea that city departments should, you know, actually pay for their usage. The way he framed it, however, was masterfully deceptive:
And while Mayor Lewis Billings is loath to raise taxes to support iProvo, he and interim project director Kevin Garlick have said they might raise the rates city departments pay for iProvo services. Any resulting tax increase then, while not funding iProvo directly, will fund the ability of the city to do business with iProvo.
No joke they're talking about raising the rates that the city pays. After all, when you go from nothing to something, that's an increase.
I guess you can't count on objectivity or accuracy from a guy whose paycheck was cut by Qwest for several years.
iProvo: Does Councilman George Stewart Have a Conflict of Interest?
It's no secret that Provo City Councilman George Stewart has been a rather outspoken opponent of iProvo. The former mayor has given Mayor Lewis Billings one heck of a fight over the system and it's financing by the city. However, an anonymous commenter on a recent story at the Deseret Morning News gives his tenacity a new dimension.
MStarInsider | 10:47 a.m. Dec. 5, 2007
It’s too bad that the Associated Press and Deseret Morning News continue to fail to report that Councilman George Stewart’s namesake and firstborn son – George Stewart Jr. is Eschelon/Integra’s Senior Account Manager for the Wasatch Front here in Utah, and Junior would have every reason to hope for the failure of both iProvo and UTOPIA.I wonder if there is a small conflict of interest in Councilman Stewart’s continued pointed pessimistic attacks on iProvo – though he should represent the interest of the City of Provo without bias.
(source, scroll down near the bottom)
A quick search of LinkedIn, the popular business social networking site, does show a George Stewart working as a Senior Communications Specialist for Eschelon (link to public profile, login to view the full profile with company name). If the George Stewart I see on LinkedIn is the same as the Councilman's son, it would seem that some explanations are in order. At the very least, Councilman Stewart needs to fully disclose this relationship to the telecommunications industry before uttering another peep about iProvo.
UTOPIA in the Bloghive: UTA Calls Foul on Financials, Rep. Frank Draws Parallels to iProvo, Pleas to Come to Orem Condos
Here's some more recent blog posts about UTOPIA. Some of these have aged a bit, but they're still worth reading and responding to.
- The Utah Taxpayer's Association brings up UTOPIA's financial data and proceeds to trump up a bunch of half-truths. It's no secret that the UTA hates on municipal broadband, but excluding important parts of the story to prop up your premise? Lame. Specifically, they conveniently left out the legal actions from Qwest that kept UTOPIA from building anything for two years, then criticize them for revising their projections after the lawsuit was settled. C'mon, guys. You can do better.
- Rep. Craig Frank (a co-chair of the Government Competition and Privatization Subcommittee, mind you) drew some parallels between iProvo and UTOPIA in regards to the Dec 3 meeting and the disclosed financial data. Like the UTA, he leaves out important parts of the story to suit his premise such as the lack of compensation to iProvo by city departments for their use of the network. He then goes on to more or less claim that the telecommunications services from Qwest and Comcast are the best the free market can offer. Except, of course, that free markets in Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Latvia, Belgium, Verizon's service area, etc. seem to have done a much better job than we have. And FYI? Our highly regulated Bell/Cable duopoly is hardly a free market.
- Luke Marrott of Orem laments that Garden Park Condominiums can't get UTOPIA installed. The complex is surrounded by fiber rings on all sides, the money has already been freed up for UTOPIA's use and there's sufficient interest from residents to move on it. So what's the hold-up? The post doesn't name names, but it does allude to a troublesome HOA that could be holding up the show. Maybe it's time to let the FCC know about the problem? After all, they seem to take a dim view lately of obstructing construction of a competing network in an MDU since they banned those exclusive contracts not too long ago.
Report: iProvo Strategic Summit, December 3 2007
The event on Monday turned out to be a public meeting to discuss where iProvo is going and what it plans to do to shore up operations. The scuttlebutt (that every single paper missed) is that Mayor Billings setup the meeting to try and sway the city council in general and Councilman George Stewart in particular to give more iProvo money, either as subsidies or loans. Given the intent, the goal was to show what iProvo has learned and what it's currently doing to try and turn this one around financially.
Telecom Summit in Provo on Monday December 3
Details are sketchy, but I've been made aware that there's some kind of telecom summit this Monday where iProvo will be one of the items discussed. It's going to be from 3PM to 6PM at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo. I understand that Provo City Councilman George Stewart will be in attendance. Thought I'd pass this along just in case it turns out to be something interesting.
As a side note (and totally unrelated), there's an election underway for the new Bloghive Advisory Board and I got nominated. If you know some of the other bloggers on the list and want to cast a ballot, I'd encourage you to do so (and, hey, vote for me while you're at it).