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Comments on news posted 2014-08-25 14:38:49: AT&T and DirecTV have told the FCC that Public Knowledge and the Community Broadband Networks Initiative should not be given extra time to file comments and petitions on the proposed merger because the FCC has an obligation to review the deal "as ex.. ..

elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

The bigger they get

The more they behave like a monopoly.

Maybe most don't remember, but I remember the baby bells when I was a kid, and it's going back to that. I even remember when Nynex owned the phones in the house (sound familiar DVR people) and had to lease the $20 device for $5 a month. Or upcharge for digital dial tone, call waiting, 3 way, etc. Phone bills were skyhigh. And that whole interLATA scam was beyond reproach.

Now VOIP or cell voice is pretty much no cost, with all those features for free.

If AT&T corners the NFL, watch out. Really this is what we are talking about. Sports again and how to raise your bill.

n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY

n2jtx

Member

Re: The bigger they get

said by elefante72:

Maybe most don't remember, but I remember the baby bells when I was a kid, and it's going back to that. I even remember when Nynex owned the phones in the house (sound familiar DVR people) and had to lease the $20 device for $5 a month. Or upcharge for digital dial tone, call waiting, 3 way, etc. Phone bills were skyhigh. And that whole interLATA scam was beyond reproach.

Baby Bells?!?! How about before 1984 when it was just The Bell System and its operating companies such as New York Telephone were I lived? I remember when doing your own wiring or having an extra phone on the line that you were not renting could get your service terminated (1960's & 1970's). We had a third telephone that my grandfather had found in the trash in New York City and anytime we needed repair service to come to the house, my parents would unplug it and hide it. Eventually, sometime around 1978, New York Telephone created the COPW program (Customer Owned Premises Wiring) where they would install a demarc and allow you to have your own wiring but you pretty much had to beg. Later on in the early 1980's they started allowing you to buy your own equipment but you had to notify them of its FCC number and the Ringer Equivalence Number. Then, after the breakup, it became "What? You want us to install the wire in your house?". These days they attach a NID to your house and you are on your own (assuming you still have POTS service).
elefante72
join:2010-12-03
East Amherst, NY

elefante72

Member

Re: The bigger they get

Ha I remember those days too. Although I was upstate and it was Bell Atlantic, but it was the same crap. Verizon kept my NID on the house when they installed FiOS I guess as something to put in the museum. If I recall the "wireline maintenance" was the racket for inside the house wiring...

josephf
join:2009-04-26

josephf

Member

Re: The bigger they get

Most of New York State was operated by New York Telephone. From the early 1900s until 1984 New York Telephone was owned by AT&T. After the breakup it was owned by NYNEX. In the '90s NYNEX merged into Bell Atlantic. But the subsidiary serving New York was still New York Telephone. They finally only changed the name of the subsidiary to Verizon New York a number of years after Bell Atlantic became Verizon. But they stopped advertising the New York Telephone brand name when they replaced it with the NYNEX brand in the late '90s.
josephf

josephf to n2jtx

Member

to n2jtx
Oh, they never stopped installing inside wiring. They still do. And charge an arm and a leg for it.
devolved
join:2012-07-11
Rapid City, SD

devolved

Member

Re: The bigger they get

They'll try and get money anywhere they can.

Red Hazard
Premium Member
join:2012-07-21
O Fallon, IL

Red Hazard to elefante72

Premium Member

to elefante72
"And that whole interLATA scam was beyond reproach." At least there was/is competition on interLATA services from MCI, Sprint, et.al. The real scam was intraLATA interState prices on telecom services/circuits. The prices to call the St Louis area from the metro-East (Illinois & LATA 520) were/are outrageous for POTS customers. It's MUCH cheaper to call Hawaii- -an interLATA call. The LATA 236 in the D.C. area had/has the same issues.
devolved
join:2012-07-11
Rapid City, SD

devolved

Member

Re: The bigger they get

I loathed the interLATA/intraLATA nonsense from the word "go".
malletto
join:2009-01-03
Purcellville, VA

malletto

Member

merger grounds to let people out of directv contracts?

So if they merge would that be grounds to negate my contract earlier?

TreeTopFlyer
join:2001-12-14
Houston, TX

TreeTopFlyer

Member

Re: merger grounds to let people out of directv contracts?

said by malletto:

So if they merge would that be grounds to negate my contract earlier?

Apparently not. I just updated to the DirecTV Genie system with the mandatory 2 year extension. Asked them the same question and they told me I was still on the hook. The buyout wasn't too bad after the first year. I figure it will take AT$T at least a year to screw things up at DirecTV and then I'll only have Comcast.

morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000

morbo to malletto

Member

to malletto
If they add a fee or change the contract you can escape a contract. However, be prepared to fight.

davidc502
join:2002-03-06
Mount Juliet, TN

davidc502

Member

Sitting on piles of cash

Most of these large corporations are sitting on large sums of cash, and have a one track mind of buying up the competition.

This deal should be rejected just like the Comcast/TimeWarner deal.

Let's stop with the "take over the world" mentality, and take care of your customers as well as employees.

trparky
Premium Member
join:2000-05-24
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T U-Verse

trparky

Premium Member

Re: Sitting on piles of cash

Honestly, I'd take the AT&T + DirecTV merger over the merger of Comcast + TWC any day of the week.

If you asked anyone on the street who they would name as the worst company in the America most would say Comcast. Yes, AT&T is bad as well but nowhere near as bad Comcast.
devolved
join:2012-07-11
Rapid City, SD

devolved

Member

Re: Sitting on piles of cash

Unless they're a customer of Comcast, most people wouldn't care unless you explained to them why Comcast -- as a media giant and internet provider -- is bad.

Flyonthewall
@206.248.154.x

Flyonthewall

Anon

That seems to be the general behavior.

When the monopoly is outlawed and a forced restructuring (or sharing of infrastructure) takes place, they eventually try to reintegrate hoping the current oversight committee is too blind to notice. It's happening in Canada right now with providers attempting to create monopolies again using technology and legal language as an excuse.

The price of democracy is eternal vigilance. The cost of it is apparently too high for most citizens to pay, who are quite comfortable buying the bread and circuses designed to keep them from paying attention.

fiosultimate
join:2014-06-09
San Antonio, TX

fiosultimate

Member

Re: That seems to be the general behavior.

That's why the Roman Empire was so successful, give the people what they want , not what they need

josephf
join:2009-04-26

josephf

Member

Block the merger

As it removes one of the small number of remaining competitors in AT&T U-Verse areas. This merger is far worse than a Comcast/TWC merger - which does not reduce the number of competitors.

gower2352
join:2012-11-26
Laurel, MD

gower2352

Member

Bring Back Bell Atlantic

Oh yea !
sparks
join:2001-07-08
Little Rock, AR

sparks

Member

more of the same

well this would mean they will have to bribe 2 or 3 more senators to get this shut up.
Will it be reflected in my rates?