AT&T is discussing the possibility of letting app creators pay to let wireless users bypass data caps when using particular app services. De facto, app makers could use payments from users — or revenues from ads generated by those users — to cover the data costs. Groups like Public Knowledge are complaining about the possible [...]
During the AT&T- T-Mobile merger, consumer groups warned that T-Mobile customers would suffer post-merger. Well, the merger was killed but the result for T-Mobile customers is almost immediately a downgrading of service: the mobile carrier is making roaming changes in order to “continue providing competitive pricing options in the industry.”… The limits will be staggered: [...]
One of the justifications for the FCC and Justice Department opposing the AT&T – T-Mobile merger is that T-Mobile was a “low-cost” competitor offering better deals to customers. A lot of the plan price comparisons ignored limits on T-Mobile offerings and DSLReports highlights a new highly deceptive example of a T-Mobile offer that sounds [...]
The House payroll tax extension bill is larded with rightwing ideological addenda and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski has denounced a provision that would “tie the agency’s hands in ways that could be counterproductive, reducing economic value and hindering innovation and investment.” [H]e warned that provisions limiting the FCC’s ability to designate [...]
Today, the Economic Policy Institute releases my paper on “The Benefits of Robust Wired and Wireless Networks.” From the press release: The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) today released an analysis of the broadband ecosystem, the strategic importance of broadband deployment and the role that the AT&T/T-Mobile merger could play in closing the broadband gaps in [...]
I’ve done quite a bit of research over the years on the digital divide and who has access to broadband– and the frustrating part is that it’s so hard to have accurate data on where carriers are providing service and whether the speeds provided are adequate. The carriers actually claim that disclosing the prices charged [...]
