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NC governor will let cable-backed bill restricting municipal broadband become law
We've repeatedly hammered Time Warner Cable (and its big-cable cronies) for crying to the North Carolina legislature about municipal broadband. TWC claims it can't compete with taxpayer-backed ISPs such as Wilson, NC's Greenlight -- and that it shouldn't have to. In fact, Greenlight and four other municipal providers came about specifically because corporate players refused to provide inexpensive, fast broadband. And now that local governments have proven they can provide it, the cable companies have cried foul, pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into select political pockets all the while. That's the drama so far, and now a bill restricting municipal broadband -- mandating that providers pay taxes similar to private companies, for example -- has landed on the desk of Governor Bev Perdue. She won't veto the bill, meaning it will soon become a law; for whatever it's worth (read: not much), she also refuses to sign it. The reason? Here it is from the horse's mouth: I will neither sign nor veto this bill. Instead, I call on the General Assembly to revisit this issue and adopt rules that not only promote fairness but also allow for the greatest number of high quality and affordable broadband options for consumers. The legislation strikes a blow against public ISPs in a country that ranks ninth in the world for broadband adoption and download speeds. And that, apparently, is what "fair competition" looks like in the US. [Image courtesy of IndyWeek]
Time Warner and Embarq can't compete with city-owned ISP, trying to outlaw it
Man, Time Warner Cable -- you are some shady players. Hot on the heels of the ISP's decision to withdraw DOCSIS 3.0 trials from areas that have rejected its tiered billing plan, we're hearing that TWC's teamed up with Embarq to persuade the North Carolina state government into banning community-owned broadband services. Why? Well, turns out the 47,000 residents of Wilson, NC got tired of paying for slow broadband, so the city government launched its own fiber ISP called Greenlight that offers some pretty solid packages ranging from $99 for 81 cable channels, unlimited phone service, and 10Mbps (down and up) internet to $170 for every single channel including premiums and 20Mbps up/down internet. (There's even a "secret" 100Mbps up/down internet plan.) Of course, these prices blow TWC and Embarq out of the water -- the comparable basic Time Warner plan has fewer channels and less bandwidth for an "introductory rate" of $137 -- and rather than compete, the two giants decided to lobby the North Carolina legislature into proposing bills that outlaw community services like Greenlight. The argument is that the big companies can't turn a profit and compete against a community-owned enterprise that essentially sells service for cost, but we're not buying it -- if anything, TWC and Embarq can invest the extra profits they've been earning in other areas into building services that would blow Greenlight out of the water. Yep, it's definitely some dirty pool -- does anyone have any positive feelings left for these behemoths?[Thanks, William; image courtesy of IndyWeek]Read - DailyTech articleRead - IndyWeek articleRead - Greenlight home pageRead - Save NC Broadband blog
Embarq considering offing its wireless customer base next year
While Qwest looks to revamp its wireless offerings in an effort to get 'em in the black, fellow landline specialist Embarq is contemplating killing its cellphones altogether. The Sprint spinoff's CFO mentioned last week that it's going to continue to serve its meager wireless customer base until at least 2009, but after that, it may look to move them to another carrier. How meager are we talking here, exactly? At last count, it had netted just 112,000 customers, well short of the company's goal of one million -- and presumably, well short of being a worthwhile venture. And hey, when the "best" phone in Embarq's range is the Sanyo Katana II, we think we're already noticing part of the problem.[Via Phone Scoop]
Embarq to offer PTT on Sanyo 2400
Sprint-Nextel landline spinoff Embarq is starting to look more and more like its ol' corporate parent; first, it promptly gets right back into the wireless business, and now it's going all Nextel on us by offering push-to-talk. The service, dubbed "Wireless Press & Talk" (how creative), is initially being offered on the Sanyo 2400 clamshell -- a phone that goes out the door on the cheap at $30 with a two-year agreement. With the meager one megabyte of internal memory, we think we're understanding the value pricing, but (for the time being) it's the only game in town for PTT on the MVNO. The Sanyo 2400 and Wireless Press & Talk are both available immediately.
EMBARQ launches One Voicemail
Reaching out to all those who maintain both a land line telephone and a mobile number, EMBARQ has launched the EMBARQ Together Phone PaQ which introduces at least one rather handy feature: "One Voicemail" allows users to have just a single voicemail inbox for both their home and mobile phones. If only having to check one mailbox doesn't sway you, voicemail alerts are sent to both phones where you can retrieve them at home or on the go. The biggest "feature" here, however, is the usual double-play integration between home and mobile phones; billing for both are handily included on one bill, calls to and from the two phones are always free, and there's only one customer service number to remember for both services -- a dream come true for many who can't seem to completely reside at home or in the office, or who just want less maintenance from their voice providers.
Embarq to embark on UMA?
When Sprint-Nextel became Sprint-Nextel, Sprint's landline service had to go somewhere, so it became Embarq. But now that Embarq's already hit the streets with its 20,000 strong workforce, it's time to introduce some products. We don't know the full rap sheet on their new Smart Connect service, but it sounds like the Plus version of system will allow wireless call roaming onto WiFi networks -- what sounds a lot like UMA, or BT's Fusion service. According to RCR they are also expected to offer user-customizable service packages, but really we just want to be able to move our Sprint-Nextel (or Embarq MVNO) calls off our daytime minutes, and onto our Embarq landlines, thanks.
Sprint Nextel spins off Embarq landline unit
Sprint Nextel is set to officially spin-off its landline unit tonight -- at one minute before midnight, specifically. The new company, dubbed Embarq, will then begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday morning, and will also join the S&P 500. As we reported earlier, Embarq plans to offer dual-mode handsets that can transfer seamlessly between WiFi and cellular networks, pitting it against T-Mobile and Lucent in that area. Embarq also offers high-speed Internet service in addition to local and long distance phone service and will rank as the 5th largest local communications company in the United States, the company says.[Via CNET Broadband Blog]
