It's a really bad time to be Vonage. As if being smacked around in court by Verizon wasn't enough, the legal woes were compounded when a similar patent infringement suit from Sprint came down in favor of the large wireless carrier. Vonage tried to move quickly past it by agreeing… Continue reading
FCC Chairman Kevin Martin thinks something is rotten in the state of cable television. In fact, he suspects industry groups are trying to astroturf opposition to a la carte pricing as a way to try and sway public opinion. Martin is a vocal supporter of a la carte cable television,… Continue reading
News is breaking that HomeNet, the first iProvo provider that later went belly-up, may have forged a letter of credit to secure the exclusive contract. These charges are in addition to others that allege the company cheated investors out of about $1M during its lifetime. Even more disturbing is that… Continue reading
There isn't too much cohesive about these stories other than showing how badly AT&T and Verizon treat their customers. For starters, why don't we talk about SBC's actions in South Africa? They were part of a consortium granted exclusive rights to build the nation's telecommunications infrastructure after the end of… Continue reading
I guess Comcast figured that no explicit requirement for net neutrality was just an open invitation. The word on the street is that Comcast has now started breaking the ability to share torrent files outside of other Comcast users and seriously throttles your download speed when trying to grab a… Continue reading
Despite Google flashing cash and lobbying prowess and pleas from technologists, the FCC has decided that the upcoming 700MHz auction will not require network neutrality provisions or operate as a wholesale network. Consumer groups are calling it a mixed bag since the winner cannot restrict which devices can be used… Continue reading
Typical of monopolistic incumbencies, Verizon has cut off copper lines in homes with FIOS to prevent customers from "downgrading" and having the option of picking their service provider. Their reading of the Telecommuncations Act of 1996 is that they are not required to lease lines to competitors on the shiny… Continue reading
In a rash of related stories, it appears that a mixture of telco consolidation and lawsuits against VoIP providers is going to lead to fewer choices for broadband and phone service. Earthlink has been bleeding money for some time since dial-up subscribers have been fleeing in droves and it doesn't… Continue reading
Expect your TV bill to jump a few bucks by the end of the year. Citing the "new" CableCARD requirement from the FCC, the cable companies are claiming increased costs from supporting the 11-year-old standard first proposed under the Telecommunications Act of 1996. While most brand new TVs and other… Continue reading
Here's a pair of head-shakers for you. Verizon is starting to test a service where mis-typed domain names will instead present search results, much like Verisign's SiteFinder service that caused angry mobs to all but go to the company's offices with torches and pitchforks. The service works at the DNS… Continue reading