old_wiz_60
join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA | Rate Hike for sure
The day this rate hike leads to lower consumer prices will be the day pigs fly and water flows uphill. The telcos are in business to make money by any legal or quasi-legal means. The only place to get money is from subscribers. |
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EasyDoesIt
join:2005-04-12
| Is it ever going to end?
AT&T says the plan will reduce consumer prices, protect low income consumers, improve the USF, increase competition, and facilitate innovation.
If this isn't complete and utter nonsense, I don't know what is! The thumb screws keep getting tighter and tighter. Are people ever going to wake up and demand an end to garbage such as this? |
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vpoko
Premium
join:2003-07-03
Jamaica Plain, MA
| Does everything increase competition?
"Increase competition" or "give consumers more choices" are among the most meaningless buzzwords coming out of Washington. If they think the fee is necessary then say it, but don't make it sound like you're doing us a favor.
Kinda reminds me of the part in "1984" (the book, not the year) where they cut the chocolate ration, but immediately celebrated it as an "increase" in the ration. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
|  reply to old_wiz_60
AT&T's analysis of new plan vs current methods
Basically, if you read the below charts and numbers, users that barely use the phone will pay more and everyone else will pay less under the new plan. If you are a poor "lifeline" customer you get a break.
»policycouncil.nationaljournal.co···lan1.pdf
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My BLOG
My Web Page |
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kamm
join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY
·T-Mobile US
| #!: disband this rotten, totally corrupt FCC
Titles says it all. There's nothing to reform when the supposed oversight agency is totally corrupted, its board represents nothing but battling corporate interests and led by a crony, an active agent of certain industry lobby (and his own pocket, of course).
FCC and any relevant regulation is completely broken in this country, for long years now.
Time for a fresh start, dump all these corrupt, arrogant FCC 'officers', keep the engineers and create something new, something that works and has minimal interest in bias (ie take away the chance they could go to work for these regulated indutries after leaving office etc).
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nasadude
join:2001-10-05
Rockville, MD
·Comcast
| reply to vpoko
Re: Does everything increase competition?
does everything the FCC does increase competition?
ABSOLUTELY!
The FCC must use all it's might (smoke and mirrors) to provide a shimmering vision of competition, or else the 1996 Telecom Act requires them to actually do something.
The FCC doesn't want to actually tell Congress to go fvk itself, so they pretend and that's why we get stuff like:
* BPL press releases every couple of months or so, despite absolutely no large successful deployments;
* misleading broadband penetration statistics (the old zip code dodge);
* statements that the ATT/Bellsouth merger will result in more competition (despite clear evidence to the contrary).
If the FCC stops pretending, their whole rationale comes crashing down. Maybe the Democrats will do something about this - the Republicans have sure been easy to fool.
there is a hearing tomorrow on the FCC by the Senate Commerce, Transportation and Science Committee; should be fun. |
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tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
| reply to old_wiz_60
Re: Rate Hike for sure
Sure it will lead to lower prices... from plain old telephone landlines to VOIP... cuts that nasty REGRESSIVE fcc line charge to "ZERO", NOTHING, NADA..
It will speed telcos entry into VOIP like mad, because it will cut a main artery leading to consumer's wallets provided they see the light at the end of the tunnel and switch providers to a cheap VOIP company and say NO MORE to the 3 largest telcos in the country!!
Adding fees to broadband is silly, since they enacted a law banning taxes/surcharges for access. Either way, this will come bite them in the ass later on.. Oh, by the way.. what happened to getting more money from the corporate ELITE in this country... taxing them like paupers B'Yatch! It's time for the pendulum to start swinging back!!
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ansar
Search for HighSpeed
join:2004-12-10
Utica, MS
·Alltel Axess
| Tax Incentives not Tax Increases
Come on. I think Tax Incentives would be more beneficial to getting decent internet connections to the masses better than Tax Increases. All I see Tax Increases doing is pumping more money into the government where you will probably never know where it goes. |
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RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs:
 ·XMission
| reply to nasadude
Re: Does everything increase competition?
said by nasadude  :If the FCC stops pretending, their whole rationale comes crashing down. Maybe the Democrats will do something about this - the Republicans have sure been easy to fool. Did not in 90's under the clintons, will not in the 2000's under Bush, won't when hillary gets back in in 2009.
Unless you have a lot more money than the people paying for what the FCC is doing.
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I am not lost, I find myself every time. |
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TScheisskopf
World News Trust
join:2005-02-13
Belvidere, NJ
·Sprint Broadband D..
| Ahem...
Where are the usual BBR respondents who seem to think that everything done by the telcos, every lack of service delivery, every lack of upgrade of service, every modernization to bring broadband in line with the level of services seen in other countries, just EVERYTHING they do is proof positive of the invisible hand of Adam Smith, produced and directed by Ayn Rand and Her Race of Socio-Economic Ubermenschen?
[crickets]
Of course, while they construct and disseminate arguments against broadband being called a utility(Oh, that would smack of the worst in that great evil, socialism! Gasp! Cue rending of garments and beatings of breasts!), the telcos are constructing new slush fund sugartits from which to suckle.
Constructed of 100% virgin astroturf? I leave it to the gentle reader to decide. |
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dynodb
Premium,VIP
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
| Drafted by the Baby Bells?
Of the many signatories to this, nearly all are rural CLECs. The only Baby Bells that sign onto this are AT&T and SBC; it's a bit misleading to suggest that it was drafted "largely by the Baby Bells" when this appears to be strictly an AT&T proposal. Verizon and Qwest (among others) are on record opposing it. |
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dynodb
Premium,VIP
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
1 edit | reply to TScheisskopf
Re: Ahem...
LOL, nice one.
BBR: Making Out Of Molehills, Served Fresh Daily.
This is simply an AT&T proposal being discussed, and deals mostly with interconnection compensation between carriers. Yawn.
Given that Verizon and Qwest oppose the plan as do the wireless companies (except Cingular of course) and cable providers among many others, it's unlikely it'll be adopted without significant changes.
The rest of you, feel free to continue with the knee-jerk paranoid hyperbole.
EDIT: While I don't agree with TScheisskopf, at least his rant was funny. |
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dynodb
Premium,VIP
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
| reply to tmc8080
Re: Rate Hike for sure
said by tmc8080 :Oh, by the way.. what happened to getting more money from the corporate ELITE in this country... taxing them like paupers B'Yatch! It's time for the pendulum to start swinging back!! At around 39%, corporate tax rates in the US are among the highest in the Industrialized World: »www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1466.html
And know where they get the money to pay those taxes? YOU, B'Yatch! |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL | Time for Tea?
What are they smoking? |
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T1 Rocky
join:2002-11-15
Dallas, TX | reply to dynodb
is netneutrality covered in that epic?
Whoa that document is too big to read. It smelled like there was som e netneutrality in there or was that me misinterpreting it? |
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hoyleysox
join:2003-11-07
Long Beach, CA
·Cox HSI
·Time Warner Cable
| Why would the telco's lobby to raise their taxes (& prices)
I dont' understand Bruce's argument about a telco conspiracy to raise telco taxes. It does not make sense for a business to lobby to raise taxes on the product they sell.
The cigarette companies certainly don't like the government raising taxes on their product and I am surprised that the telco's would want taxes on DSL, especially since they are trying to compete with cable on price.
I am sure that Bruce is leaving some salient details out of his story (as usual)... Yawn. 911 conspiracy theories seem more thought out than Kushnik's. |
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bigjimc
join:2003-04-21
Middleboro, MA
| It's the same reason the ALF CIO lobbies for a minimum wage increase. It raises the floor thus making it seem like you are paying less (be it per hour for union workers or per month for phone service). In the case of the phone companies they get that money on the back side.
Cigarette companies would welcome a $0.25 per pack federal tax on their product if it was going back to them on the back side. Even if they only got $0.19 back. In the case of cigarettes, you have an addicted user base that needs the product no matter what you charge. Sounds like the data/phone user. |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| reply to hoyleysox
quote:
I dont' understand Bruce's argument about a telco conspiracy to raise telco taxes.
The FCC line charge isn't a tax, that money heads back to the phone company. USF technically isn't a tax either, and nobody really knows where that money goes since how it's actually spent isn't tracked well. |
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dynodb
Premium,VIP
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN
| reply to hoyleysox
What I found most amusing was the fact that he described the actual proposal as "impossible to understand, even for experts".
Yes, it's highly technical and full of industry jargon, but why even consider his criticism regarding a proposal he himself apparently doesn't understand?
Given that AT&T's proposal is nowhere near a done deal, faces opposition by other influential companies and that the actual impact to consumers (if any) isn't clear, Kushnik's knee-jerk caterwauling shouldn't be taken too seriously. |
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hottboiinnc
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH
1 edit | reply to dynodb
Re: Drafted by the Baby Bells?
well not 2 baby bells but 1 now. AT&T owners of both Cingular and BellSouth. They should have changed the entire name to Cingular and say The Only One You Need. |
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