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Regulators Balk at Frontier's Acquisition of AT&T's CT Network

Frontier's $2 billion attempt to acquire AT&T’s local wireline, broadband and video operations in Connecticut (originally announced last December) seemed to have been going swimmingly, recently gaining approval by the FCC and even union leaders that had originally opposed the deal. But the deal appears to have hit a snag in the form of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), which has denied a deal settlement the companies reached with state officials.

PURA argues that the deal's conditions don't mean much, and the deal doesn't do enough to benefit Connecticut consumers:
quote:
But the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority said in a filing Thursday that the settlement, as drafted by Connecticut's Attorney General George Jepsen and Consumer Counsel Elin Swanson Katz, does not do enough for state residents. Instead, regulators sent the parties back to the drawing board, saying the settlement's provisions contained "merit for further discussion in an effort to rehabilitate them wherever possible."...Proposed broadband internet investments lack specifics, they said...
The deal is still expected to ultimately move forward; meetings on hammering out updated technical specifics of the deal are expected this month.
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Chris 313
Because It's Geekier
Premium Member
join:2004-07-18
Houma, LA
·AT&T FTTP
·Comcast XFINITY

Chris 313

Premium Member

Of course it will...

Of course the deal will go through. It's more of meet the new boss, same as the old boss thing. AT&T didn't want the system, nor plan on upgrading, so they pawned it off on someone who will do little, if not more of the same nothing AT&T has done with the system.

Cable must be licking their chops. More customers, better speeds, more money made, and higher prices since copper is turning to sludge from disrepair.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Of course it will...

Connecticut was a spite state anyway. At least in my opinion as someone who lived there for 27 years.

What do I mean by spite state? Simple CT was surrounded by Verizon however CT was a lone wolf with its SNET being the state's telephone company(I should note that during its peak SNET did some things ahead of its time). I feel that SBC borged SNET just to keep Verizon from getting Connecticut. They had no real interest at all in the state as a major market, They just did not want Verizon to get it.

I mean it would not be the first time in the history of business where a company bought out one area's monopoly just to prevent another company from getting it.

other fun fact, Connecticut was the location of the first commercial telephone exchange in the US.
Kommie2 (banned)
join:2003-05-13
united state

Kommie2 (banned)

Member

Re: Of course it will...

Snet had a Cable Company. Americast I think it was and wanted to deploy it to the whole state till SBC(Now ATT) killed it
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Of course it will...

Yep Americast, and it was over a coaxial network too.

I get a feeling that they would have done it if they did not get bought out, Possibly would have even experimented with FTTH well before FiOS was an idea.

I still know lots of people from CT who still call the phone company SNET even though it has not been that for over a decade... Even I do it.
98778011 (banned)
join:2014-08-24
Charlotte, NC

98778011 (banned) to Kommie2

Member

to Kommie2
Americast was an Ameritech Product. SNET was part of the Ameritech family. SBC obtained it when they purchased Ameritech. ATT still uses the fiber that Ameritech laid for the system. And it's the only state where Americast operated that did NOT see WOW.

just another
@73.38.184.x

just another

Anon

Re: Of course it will...

Not sure where you're getting your info. But SNET did cable way before sbc came around.

Sean
@166.216.165.x

Sean to 98778011

Anon

to 98778011
Amaericast was an SNET product Ameritech was the the name of the company which operated in the Midwest . SNET was never a part of Ameritech

cybah
join:2000-03-09
MA

cybah to Kearnstd

Member

to Kearnstd
No surprise at CT really. They've fought for years to keep their telephone company as its own identity that actually services customers. There's a reason why SNET was around for so long as an LEC, and its because the PUC in CT pushed for it. Hell for years, AT&T tried to change its name from SNET to AT&T and they wouldn't stand for it.

Good for CT for standing up for customers.

PS - Verizon has no desire for SNET. They already have the terroritory they want, which is SW CT (essentially the 203 area code) which is the $$$$ part of CT. The rest, like Verizon/Fairpoint, could care less about.
DarienRedSox
join:2013-02-10
Darien, CT

DarienRedSox

Member

Re: Of course it will...

Verizon dose not have much of SW CT, only a small part of Greenwich which I think is on there 914 area code.

ieolus
Support The Clecs
join:2001-06-19
Danbury, CT

ieolus

Member

Re: Of course it will...

Correct.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to DarienRedSox

Premium Member

to DarienRedSox
its possibly 914, CT was once all 203 but that got split, FF County got 203 everybody else got 860 I think it was and then further breakdowns happened as cell phones got overlayed.

I grew up in the humble village of Danbury which was 203 though.

cybah
join:2000-03-09
MA

cybah to DarienRedSox

Member

to DarienRedSox
914 is new york state only. Its all 203 down there. (and whatever the overlay is now for 203)

VZ is most of the notch in CT (that little handle near NYC)
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Of course it will...

AFAIK, AT&T is the only landline provider in CT- Verizon built FIOS over AT&T in Greenwich because, you know, it's one of the richest places in the US.

thinkpad
join:2000-07-26
Stamford, CT

thinkpad to cybah

Member

to cybah
Actually VZ is only west of the Mianus River, not ALL of Greenwich
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: Of course it will...

Very interesting. Verizon has almost all of Greenwich, except for a little corner on the east side. Did Verizon build FIOS over the top of AT&T in that corner, or only where they are the incumbent telco?

Subaru
1-3-2-4
Premium Member
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT

Subaru to DarienRedSox

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to DarienRedSox
I've never seen a 914 area code in this part unless you are talking about the new york side of things
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to cybah

Premium Member

to cybah
You could see the SNET loyalty here on the DSLR forums, For a long time the SNET-DSL forum was not just DSL but was a very Connecticut forum. We kinda had our own identity with that. I frequented the forum less once we moved to NJ though.
98778011 (banned)
join:2014-08-24
Charlotte, NC

98778011 (banned) to cybah

Member

to cybah
SNET is a DBA the legal brand is AT&T though.

firephoto
Truth and reality matters
Premium Member
join:2003-03-18
Brewster, WA

firephoto

Premium Member

The new AOL

Frontier will be that company in 10 years where we see news about people who have been paying for their Frontier all along because they thought they needed it for "internet".
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

puzzling

it is very puzzling how a company which has been criticized for going bankrupt, not deploying a REAL broadband network and upgrading existing customers to FTTP or other technology that will enable much faster broadband speeds AND not paying their employees very well can scrape together 2 BILLION dollars.. to BUY ANYTHING!?!?

it goes to show that these companies lie to the public (and regulators/government) each and every day on things from their solvency, cash flow, debt and why they can't upgrade their network or charge fair prices.

if they can't get the fundamentals of running a broadband telecom company they should go out of business so municipalities aren't left wondering when broadband will come, they will have to make those hard choices now, rather than put it off for another decade when it's more expensive to bite the bullet.

battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000

battleop

Member

Re: puzzling

It's because they come up with some magical way to do it without spending real cash. It's always a deal worth $2B but that does not they write a check for $2B.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

Re: puzzling

anyone who would underwrite that debt is a moron, they still are a publically traded company

PlusOne
@50.7.78.x

PlusOne

Anon

Frontier and state dissed the regulators

The structure of the deal left regulators with no ability to alter, add or stipulate. An up or down vote was all that was requested.

That is the key to the impasse. The regulators were dissed by the state Attorney General and Frontier and their moment in the sun was eclipsed. They either want to be kowtowed to and/or get their piece of the payola. As soon as Frontier gives their due respect to the regulators the deal will pass.

Elite
Kiss My Ass
join:2002-10-03
New Haven, CT
Synology RT2600ac
TP-Link TC-7650
ARRIS SB8200

Elite

Member

Fuck Frontier and fuck AT&T and fuck Cablevision!

Seriously, what a load of shit. I live in an area where I have two choices. I can either keep paying Cablevision a fucking fortune, but in return, I get pretty kickass fucking internet, but it comes at a high cost. My other option is AT&T DSL. U-Verse never hit my area and now it absolutely never will. The fastest speed I can get via AT&T DSL, is, I believe..."up to 6Mbit" down. I don't even know about the upstream, but I'm sure it's absolutely abysmal. Also, the routing and pings to NY on the DSL, last I checked, were also pretty pathetic. I ping an average of 12ms to NYC currently. Lastly, the shitty ass DSL AT&T is willing to sell me isn't a whole lot cheaper than OOL, but considerably "worse" as a product and as a whole.

Still, I shouldn't be paying like $55/mo (not sure about actual figure, need to double check the bill) for 60Mbit/30Mbit when people can get symmetrical 1Gbit fiber for $70/mo. Granted, the Google Fiber crowd represents an extraordinarily small percentage of US internet users.

I would kill for some municipal fiber. I doubt Cablevision nor Frontier are going to deliver me FTTH any time soon. That'll happen just before the municipal fiber

Edit: I'm well aware that U-Verse is a bullshit product too. I think the nearest U-Verse deployment caps out at "up to 24Mbit" downstream. That's crap.

Selenia
Gentoo Convert
Premium Member
join:2006-09-22
Fort Smith, AR

Selenia

Premium Member

Re: Fuck Frontier and fuck AT&T and fuck Cablevision!

At this point, I would love 60/30 for $55. I am paying about $55 for 20/2 from TWC where I am staying for some months to come and used to live for awhile. Back home, I pay $44 to Cox, but for 50/10. I would gladly pay $10 more for triple the upstream and an extra 10 mbit down to boot.

ptrowski
Got Helix?
Premium Member
join:2005-03-14
Woodstock, CT

ptrowski

Premium Member

Re: Fuck Frontier and fuck AT&T and fuck Cablevision!

I pay $70 for 50/5 here in northeast CT. I would love to see the rate go down a bit.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS to Elite

MVM

to Elite
said by Elite:

I think the nearest U-Verse deployment caps out at "up to 24Mbit" downstream. That's crap.

That 24Mbit is sufficient for most of the statistically average U.S. families. That is good enough for Mom, Dad, Sis, and Bro to each watch their own Netflix stream. (Of course, most families I know watch flicks together.)

atuarre
Here come the drums
Premium Member
join:2004-02-14
EC/SETX SWLA

atuarre to Elite

Premium Member

to Elite
Would you really kill for it? I was hoping this city would consider starting a muni like Lafayette did. No, we are too busy moving money to pay for parks and buying skyscrapers and airplanes for the local law enforcement.
98778011 (banned)
join:2014-08-24
Charlotte, NC

98778011 (banned)

Member

Re: Fuck Frontier and fuck AT&T and fuck Cablevision!

Law Enforcement should be first before a muni network. Without the police and other first responders you won't have crap if something happens. That FTTH network won't get you anything, and not everyone wants it.

Darknessfall
Premium Member
join:2012-08-17
Motorola MG8725
Asus RT-N66

Darknessfall to Elite

Premium Member

to Elite
said by Elite:

Seriously, what a load of shit. I live in an area where I have two choices. I can either keep paying Cablevision a fucking fortune, but in return, I get pretty kickass fucking internet, but it comes at a high cost. My other option is AT&T DSL. U-Verse never hit my area and now it absolutely never will. The fastest speed I can get via AT&T DSL, is, I believe..."up to 6Mbit" down. I don't even know about the upstream, but I'm sure it's absolutely abysmal. Also, the routing and pings to NY on the DSL, last I checked, were also pretty pathetic. I ping an average of 12ms to NYC currently. Lastly, the shitty ass DSL AT&T is willing to sell me isn't a whole lot cheaper than OOL, but considerably "worse" as a product and as a whole.

Still, I shouldn't be paying like $55/mo (not sure about actual figure, need to double check the bill) for 60Mbit/30Mbit when people can get symmetrical 1Gbit fiber for $70/mo. Granted, the Google Fiber crowd represents an extraordinarily small percentage of US internet users.

I would kill for some municipal fiber. I doubt Cablevision nor Frontier are going to deliver me FTTH any time soon. That'll happen just before the municipal fiber

Edit: I'm well aware that U-Verse is a bullshit product too. I think the nearest U-Verse deployment caps out at "up to 24Mbit" downstream. That's crap.

U-verse currently is up to 45 Mbps in CT with 75 Mbps probably coming soon. How can you say that U-verse is terrible? We've had it for years with no real problems at all and I'm on the internet quite a lot. 60 Mbps is pretty much useless for most people.

Elite
Kiss My Ass
join:2002-10-03
New Haven, CT
Synology RT2600ac
TP-Link TC-7650
ARRIS SB8200

Elite

Member

Re: Fuck Frontier and fuck AT&T and fuck Cablevision!

Last I checked, my nearest deployment was only pushing 24Mbit. This may have changed. It's moot either way because I cannot and never will get U-Verse, especially with the Frontier acquisition. 45Mbit is still a joke, as I'm sure they charge an arm and a leg for it. I could get 120Mbit down and 40Mbit up from OOL for $100/mo.

Edit: I know that I have it better than most as an OOL user, but my point is that I could be getting a lot more than I currently get, for less, if there were other options.

DcGamer05
join:2001-07-05
Danbury, CT

DcGamer05 to Darknessfall

Member

to Darknessfall
the majority of people with ATT DSL and U-Verse aren't even getting close to advertised speeds. Ive considered U-Verse service before but many neighbors have signed up and all of them are back with Comcast. One neighbor in particular was only getting 8mbps down and 5 up. They said her speeds were 20/10 but she wasn't getting close to it at all.

U-verse internet in Connecticut is significantly slower than cable. For the same price of AT&Ts 18mbps u-verse plan Im getting 105mpbs down and 20 mbps and you do notice a difference with Netflix quality and load times. Load times of webpages, youtube videos.

Frontier is going to destroy an already neglected market. This deal should be denied.

NormanS
I gave her time to steal my mind away
MVM
join:2001-02-14
San Jose, CA
TP-Link TD-8616
Asus RT-AC66U B1
Netgear FR114P

NormanS

MVM

Re: Fuck Frontier and fuck AT&T and fuck Cablevision!

said by DcGamer05:

the majority of people with ATT DSL and U-Verse aren't even getting close to advertised speeds.

Evidence? For as long as I had AT&T ADSL service (since I signed up with Pacific Bell), I got the tier speed. I know three others getting what they pay for, as well.

... Im getting 105mpbs down and 20 mbps and you do notice a difference with Netflix quality and load times.

I have 15 Mbps DSL. My sister has 50 Mbps cable. I can't see any difference in Netflix load time, and quality between the services.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080 to Elite

Member

to Elite
Basically what some people have done is MOVE. Let's grow the economies in places where companies deploy broaband (AFFORDABLE broadband) and punish those which don't.. or are willing to let incumbents be greedy and lazy.
Many places in the midwest are now tumbleweeds economically since the recession. Vacant lots of land scar much of the midwest now where there were thriving businesses-- after the banks dried up credit. Getting closer to 2015... how long are you willing to wait?