33 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
Copyright © 2014 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.
The Telecom Digest for Sep 30, 2014
Volume 33 : Issue 171 : "text" Format
33 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981Copyright © 2014 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.The Telecom Digest for Sep 30, 2014 |
| Messages in this Issue: | |
|---|---|
| Re: 2 Industries That Are Even More Despised Than Airlines | (Neal McLain) |
| Can't upgrade to iOS 8? Beware bugs in the system | (Monty Solomon) |
| A Glum Sign for Apple in China, as Smuggled iPhones Go Begging | (Monty Solomon) |
| Re: How much does an iPhone 6 really cost? (Hint: It's way more than $199) | (Pseudonym) |
| Spy Agencies Urge Caution on Phone Deal | (Monty Solomon) |
| AT&T wants you to have cheaper cable | (Bill Horne) |
| Re: AT&T wants you to have cheaper cable | (Neal McLain) |
| Did Verizon FiOS Slow Down Customers' Apple Downloads? Nope | (Bill Horne) |
Popularity, I have always thought, may aptly be compared to a coquette - the more you woo her, the more apt is she to elude your embrace. - John Tyler
See the bottom of this issue for subscription and archive details.
| Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:42:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: 2 Industries That Are Even More Despised Than Airlines Message-ID: <708e7c5b-0a13-4081-93ce-662fb0593627@googlegroups.com> On Saturday, September 27, 2014 8:06:37 AM UTC-5, Bill Horne wrote: > If you were asked to name the first thing that comes to mind > when you think about the airline industry, chances are it wouldn't > be something pleasant. While airlines get us from Point A to B > faster than any other mode of transportation, it's more like a > necessary evil. Most of us... [snip} Well, I'm not really surprised that "subscription television" (i.e. cable TV and satellite TV companies, aka MVPDs) came in one notch below airlines. As I explained in my comment following the fool.com article, MVPDs are caught in the middle. On the one hand, the broadcasters demand ever-higher retransmission-consent fees at every contract renewal. On the other hand, consumers are justifiably upset by the ever-increasing retail prices for MVPD service. Apparently the fools at fool.com either don't understand this or they're keeping it a secret. Fool.com claims that it knows about three companies who will dominate the consumer television market in the future, but it doesn't identify them. It states that they're not Netflix, Google, or Apple, and I assume they won't be TWC, Comcast or Charter. Fool led me to believe that they would reveal the Three Big Secrets if I watched their video. So I sat through the whole tedious thing while one of their engineers reiterated all of his complaints about cable TV and satellite TV (but, of course, never mentioning rising wholesale prices). At the end of it all, he still didn't reveal the Three Bid Secrets; he then stated that I'd have do something else. I never found out what the "something else" was because at the point I clicked out. So I still don't know who the Three Big Secret companies are. I'd be interested in knowing who those companies are and how they plan to dominate the entire television industry in the future. Neal McLain aka TexasCableGuy |
| Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 02:03:10 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Can't upgrade to iOS 8? Beware bugs in the system Message-ID: <p0624087ad04ea67093ac@[10.0.1.7]> Can't upgrade to iOS 8? Beware bugs in the system Serious security flaws in iOS7 makes the older operating system risky. by Robert Lemos Sept 27 2014 Ars Technica Despite Apple's recent missteps in patching iOS 8, iPhone and iPad users may want to upgrade to the Apple's latest available mobile operating system to fix some serious security issues. ... http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/09/cant-upgrade-to-ios-8-beware-bugs-in-the-system/ |
| Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 01:46:41 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: A Glum Sign for Apple in China, as Smuggled iPhones Go Begging Message-ID: <p06240875d04ea2a2af59@[10.0.1.7]> A Glum Sign for Apple in China, as Smuggled iPhones Go Begging By PAUL MOZUR and SHANSHAN WANG SEPT. 28, 2014 HONG KONG - When Apple's latest iPhones went on sale this month in Hong Kong, Singapore and New York, among the hip urbanites and tech-obsessed was another group clamoring for the devices: Chinese scalpers looking to make a premium by flipping the phones to smugglers. But the gray market for the new iPhones has already dried up, even though they will not officially go on sale in China for a few weeks, at the earliest. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/technology/personaltech/glum-sign-for-apple-in-china-smuggled-iphones-go-begging-.html |
| Date: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 18:52:19 -0400 From: "Pseudonym" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: How much does an iPhone 6 really cost? (Hint: It's way more than $199) Message-ID: <elmop-2C457F.18521928092014@[78.46.70.116]> In article <p0624084bd04d58aa58bd@[10.0.1.7]>, Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> wrote: > How much does an iPhone 6 really cost? (Hint: It's way more than $199) > > Summary: To paraphrase Mark Twain: There are lies, damned lies, and > smartphone prices. Every review I've read of the new iPhone 6 this > week says the price starts at $199. That's not true. The total prices > that buyers pay for smartphones on two-year contracts from American > carriers will shock you. ...if you're not a T-Mobile customer. But if you're a T-Mobile customer, you know exactly how much it costs you. Because you agree to the full amount up front, without anything hidden. |
| Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 01:29:50 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Spy Agencies Urge Caution on Phone Deal Message-ID: <p0624086bd04e9e9bbdc2@[10.0.1.7]> Spy Agencies Urge Caution on Phone Deal By ERIC LICHTBLAU SEPT. 28, 2014 WASHINGTON - An obscure federal contract for a company charged with routing millions of phone calls and text messages in the United States has prompted an unusual lobbying battle in which intelligence officials are arguing that the nation's surveillance secrets could be at risk. The contractor that wins the bid would essentially act as the air traffic controller for the nation's phone system, which is run by private companies but is essentially overseen by the government. And with a European-based company now favored for the job, some current and former intelligence officials - who normally stay out of the business of awarding federal contracts - say they are concerned that the government's ability to trace reams of phone data used in terrorism and law enforcement investigations could be hindered. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/us/spy-agencies-urge-caution-on-phone-deal.html ***** Moderator's Note ***** >From the "Executive Summary" of the Chertoff report: The NPACs are thus an essential part of the U.S. telecommuni- cations system and critical infrastructure. If NPACs were compromised, telephone calls and text messages might not be completed, many search warrants and subpoenas might not be served correctly, and our system for prioritizing communications in a national emergency might not function. Here's my Executive Summary: Neustar is trying a "Hail Mary" pass, because the ILECs want Telcordia to run the Local Number Portability program. However, it'll be interesting to see just how much information leaks out, about what our law enforcement agencies have been doing with Neustar's help. Bill Horne Moderator |
| Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 13:17:36 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: AT&T wants you to have cheaper cable Message-ID: <20140929171736.GA6323@telecom.csail.mit.edu> So called cord cutting, the term for going without pay-TV, is a real threat to pay-TV providers. Experian Marketing Services has found that the trend is not only real, but accelerating: The report said the percentage of U.S. households without pay-TV jumped from 4.5% in 2010 to 6.5% last year. Pay-TV providers have gotten the memo; after originally resisting any changes, these providers are slowly adjusting to this new paradigm. The latest company to acknowledge the current model is unsustainable is AT&T. A recent deal of $39 per month for broadband Internet, basic channels, Amazon.com Prime, and Time Warner's HBO appears to be an implicit admission that providers need to present better value to compete with Hulu- and Netflix-only households. Rest at: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/09/28/att-wants-you-to-have-cheaper-cable-should-verizon.aspx -or- http://goo.gl/jCra3t Bill -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) Both ends of the ozone burnin' Funny how the world keeps turnin' - Toby Keith |
| Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 19:25:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Re: AT&T wants you to have cheaper cable Message-ID: <b6344ffa-42d4-4758-a7a7-71e0c73a013b@googlegroups.com> On Monday, September 29, 2014 12:17:36 PM UTC-5, Bill Horne wrote: > So called cord cutting, the term for going without pay-TV, is a real > threat to pay-TV providers. Experian Marketing Services has found that > the trend is not only real, but accelerating: The report said the > percentage of U.S. households without pay-TV jumped from 4.5% in 2010 > to 6.5% last year... [snip] The article states: "A recent deal of $39 per month for broadband Internet, basic channels, Amazon.com Prime, and Time Warner's HBO ..." but it doesn't state what those "basic channels" are. I'd like to know: re any local broadcast stations are included? If not, that would explain AT&T's ability to offer the service at a lower retail price than franchised cable TV companies can offer. Of course the subscriber would have to figure out some other way to obtain broadcast signals. Such as rabbit-ears or a rooftop antenna. Neal McLain aka texascableguy |
| Date: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 13:33:00 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> To: telecomdigestsubmissions.remove-this@and-this-too.telecom-digest.org. Subject: Did Verizon FiOS Slow Down Customers' Apple Downloads? Nope Message-ID: <m0c54b$hfs$1@dont-email.me> By Laura Northrup It's been a busy week for Apple's download servers, as iPhone and iPad owners eagerly downloaded a new operating system, and owners of the new iPhone 6 downloaded an update, then frantically rolled back that update to avoid some issues. All this meant one thing: lots of downloads from computers and mobile devices alike of the new and old operating systems. We began to hear rumblings that Verizon FiOS customers had trouble downloading software from Apple's servers. These problems went away while using a mobile connection or using a VPN to encrypt their traffic and appear to be downloading from a different Internet service provider. http://consumerist.com/2014/09/25/did-verizon-fios-slow-down-customers-apple-downloads-nope/ -or- http://goo.gl/qT1CgP -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my address to write to me directly) To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. - Douglas Adams |
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