January 31, 2006

$200 Billion Broadband Scandal

New investigative ebook offers micro-history of Verizon, SBC, Qwest, and BellSouth's (the Bell companies) fiber optic broadband promises and the consequence harms to America's economic growth because they never delivered and kept most of the money, about $200 billion.

For details about the book, chapters, highlights, etc.
Posted by wbia at 17:36:36 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

January 27, 2006

On Franchise Players

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is meeting in Washington this week. The big issue is about how to handle local television franchises. The Baby Bells, who aren't such babies any more, are rolling out video services to compete with cable TV. The telecoms don't want to pursue franchise agreements with each city they serve, as cable companies have done for years. Rather, they'd like to see franchising on a statewide basis (as Texas passed last year) or wrap a national-level franchise agreement into a re-write of the federal Telecommunications Act. Governing.com

Posted by wbia at 13:08:05 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

January 07, 2006

IL Class Action Settlement reaches $25M Pay Out Deal from AOL

$25M deal AOL - $25M deal settles consumer class-action suit via Crains

(AP) — America Online Inc. has agreed to pay up to $25 million to settle a consumer class-action regarding the Internet service company's billing practices, the case's court-appointed settlement administrator said Friday.
 
Under the deal, AOL agreed to settle the matter "simply to avoid the burden and expense of litigation,'' according to the administrator's statement. An AOL spokesperson couldn't immediately be reached, but according to the administrator, the company "strenuously denies the plaintiffs' allegations.''
Posted by wbia at 14:31:02 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |