FCC Mandates That Cable Companies Support Analog TV Sets Through 2012

Have you been sweating the phase-out of analog TV signals that starts in just 17 little months? If you're a cable subscriber, you can breathe easier for a few extra years. The FCC has mandated that cable companies continue to support analog TV sets for at least three years after the transition from analog signals to digital signals. For cable companies, this means either piping an extra analog channel on their already crowded coax or hooking up users of older TVs with converter boxes. In either case, cable companies will probably protest much louder as the DTV deadline approaches.

AT&T Reserves the Right to Cancel Your Service… For Criticizing the Company

AT&T wants to turn off your broadband if you say something too mean about them. Just check out the draconian legalese in their ToS:

AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes (a) violates the Acceptable Use Policy; (b) constitutes a violation of any law, regulation or tariff (including, without limitation, copyright and intellectual property laws) or a violation of these TOS, or any applicable policies or guidelines, or (c) tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries. (emphasis added)

Wow. So what qualifies? Blogging about an inept customer service agent? A nasty letter to the Better Business Bureau? Perhaps calling their CEO a doody-head? AT&T promised that they wouldn't actually enforce the clause, but that wasn't nearly enough. After heaps of extra criticism for remaining so vague, AT&T said they're in the process of revising the language to remove that threat. We'll see on that one.

Vonage Takes a Lickin', Barely Manages to Stay Tickin'

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 to settle for a cool $80M that settles past infringement and buys them a license. That's gonna hurt, especially since Vonage lost their appeal against Verizon and will have to cough up another $40M in that action. All of this "we patent teh internets" craziness highlights the pressing need for patent reform to restore competition to the technology sector.

iProvo Has Strong Growth Potential For Corporate Clients

Every now and again the local papers will drop a few pieces of useful information amidst the negativity concerning iProvo. In between sound bites from Councilmen George Stewart and Steve Turley, we get some real information about take rates. Apartment dwellers are the strongest adopters at a 51.5% take rate, probably because they're forced to shop for new service providers when they move into town. Residential trails at a 22.3% take rate, likely due to inertia with incumbent providers. Businesses are the slowest adopters at a scant 13.4% take rate though they are also the most profitable accounts to have.

iProvo hopes to shake this up by adding up to three new service providers Real Soon Now™ and it can't come a moment too soon. I firmly believe that the low take rates for businesses has a lot to do with the primarily residential providers currently on the network. By adding in Xmission, Fibernet and Emery Telecom, all companies with established reputations as high-grade ISPs, I'm confident that more businesses will want to join the network to save a ton of money and pump up their speeds. Despite constant negativity from local media, iProvo is getting back on track.

(See Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News articles for more information.) 

Washington City Becomes Latest UTOPIA Member

The city council in Washington City has voted to become a non-pledging member of UTOPIA, the first city to do so since the moratorium on new members expired in July. The council was split on the decision and Qwest was, as usual, present to protest membership. City manager Roger Carter said the city could consider becoming a pledging member at a future date should the city want to accelerate construction. As a non-pledging member, Washington City would not see network construction until at least 2012 when UTOPIA goes revenue-positive though there are several other non-pledging cities ahead of them.

American Fork Moves Closer to Selling It's Fiber Optic System

The American Fork city council voted to extend the amount of time that Surpha, an Orem-based company, will have to enter into a contract to purchase the ailing AFCNet fiber optic network from the city. They now have until the end of October to buy the system or back out. There's no word on the purchase price, though I'm betting it'll be unlikely that the city will get back the entire $6M they bonded for to buy the network in the first place. The sale includes 60 miles of fiber including strands running from Spanish Fork to Salt Lake City. Surpha has a history doing business-to-business products and wants to buy out AFCNet to expand into residential services. Really, I think almost anything can be an improvement over the way that the city has handled it.

iProvo Hits 10,000 Subscribers, Could Add Up To Three New Providers

iProvo finally surpassed the 10,000 subscriber mark amid some big plans for the network. According to the Daily Herald, the city is currently negotiating to bring in up to three more service providers and possibly hire DynamicCity (now PacketFront) to help manage the network and improve its financials. The new service providers petitioning to join include Emery Telcom, FiberNet and Utah's own Xmission.

We also learn from the article that the county attorney is looking at filing criminal charges against HomeNet principals for their forged letter of credit. The city only found out it was a fake when they tried to redeem it in 2005 to cover money owed to the city. The FBI was approached but declined to take the case citing the relatively small size of the scam. Provo City Councilman George Stewart took the opportunity to grandstand on the matter claiming that the issue should have been discussed privately with the Council. Call me crazy, but I don't recall Mr. Stewart being a detective by trade.

Ban on Internet Access Taxes Expiring in November

Remember that ban on taxing Internet access? On November 1, it goes bye bye. The Senate has been making slow progress on trying to hammer out an extension of the ban. It's widely believed that they'll do what they did last time: do a temporary extension and leave a future Congress to figure out if the ban should be permanent or not. This is despite some senators and even the White House getting behind a permanent ban.

I'm conflicted on this. My inner fiscal conservative hates taxes and like keeping them off of my bill. Witness how some companies have abused federal taxes and fees to overcharge consumers. On the other hand, we're getting to a point where a USF on broadband access might not be a bad thing. Rural communities are increasingly falling behind their urban counterparts when it comes to availability of affordable services. That said, I'm willing to give wireless a chance after the 700MHz auction to see what happens.

Industry Groups Could Be Astroturfing A La Carte Cable

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, allowing you to buy and pay for just the channels you want. Congress has been sitting on a bill authorizing the FCC to enforce a la carte pricing since June.

A lawyer in LA got tired of waiting. Maxwell Belcher decided to file a class-action anti-trust suit against cable giants alleging unlawful restraint of trade by forcing us to buy bundles we didn't actually want. The goal is to force the end of the bundle of 85 channels (of which only 16 on average get watched) to drop pricing for all cable TV users. Go get 'em, tiger.

Provo Trying to Find Unhappy Customers Before Unhappy Customers Find Them

In what should be an interesting model of proactive customer service, Provo has started a new program called iCare to pay bounties for referrals to unhappy current and former iProvo customers. My gut reaction is that while the concept is a good idea, it seems a little over-the-top to actually pay someone for these referrals when the project still hasn't figured out how to turn a profit. Besides, isn't this something better suited to the retailers like MSTAR and Nuvont?