Table of contents:

* 1 - [telecom] Is T-Mobile degrading online videos and violating net
  neutrality? YouTube thinks so. - Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
* 2 - Re: [telecom] Dishh, DirecTV/AT&T, Time Warner Cable All Raising Rates
  In January - Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
* 3 - [telecom] Comcast wins large city government contract - HAncock4
  <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>

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Message-ID: <DAF700F3-1540-452F-AB23-A29E7E2C3AD5@roscom.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Dec 2015 11:19:38 -0500
From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
Subject: [telecom] Is T-Mobile degrading online videos and violating net
 neutrality? YouTube thinks so.

by Brian Fung

When T-Mobile launched a new feature last month that let customers
stream unlimited Netflix, HBO, and Hulu over their data plans, there
was a notable partner missing: YouTube.

Now, YouTube is accusing T-Mobile of degrading the quality of its
videos, as well as those of other providers. In a statement to the
Wall Street Journal, a YouTube official said T-Mobile is "throttling
all video services" in what could amount to a violation of the
government's net neutrality rules.

http://www.betaboston.com


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Message-ID: <096c722c-2760-411a-bfe5-04f02df15a4c@googlegroups.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 19:39:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Neal McLain <nmclain.remove-this@and-this-too.annsgarden.com>
Subject: Re: [telecom] Dishh, DirecTV/AT&T, Time Warner Cable All Raising
 Rates In January

On Sunday, December 27, 2015 at 6:52:41 PM UTC-6, Bill Horne wrote:

> Happy New Year: Dish, DirecTV/AT&T, Time Warner Cable All > Raising Rates In
January - Because They Can
>
> For a bunch of the big cable and satellite companies, it
> does indeed look like a very merry Christmas and a happy
> new year are on the horizon but consumers can be
> forgiven for feeling a lot more grinchy about it. That's
> because all the new nickels, dimes, and dollars that
> are going to line businesses' big virtual pockets are
> coming directly from subscribers in the form of unasked-
> for price hikes.

Well of course it's all the fault of the retail vendors -- i.e., the MVPDs.
With no mention of the role of the wholesalers -- the programmers that produce
the programs and set the wholesale prices.  Or the role of the licensees of
broadcast stations that dictate retransmission-consent fees.

And no mention of the fact the federal law allows the programmers and the
broadcasters to charge whatever the market will bear.

And no mention of the federal law that makes this situation possible -- the
grotesquely misnamed "Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act
of 1992."

And no mention of the fact the Congress apparently has no interest in doing
anything about the situation -- in spite of the fact that at least three bills
have been introduced in Congress in the past few years.

- The FANS Act (Furthering Access and Networks for Sports). Originally
introduced in 2013 by Congressman Brian Higgins (D-NY26); recently
reintroduced by Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).
http://tinyurl.com/FANS-Act

- "Video CHOICE" (Consumers Have Options in Choosing Entertainment) Act.
Introduced December 2013 by Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA18).
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr3719

- "Local Choice" Act introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Sen.
John Thune (R-SD).
http://tinyurl.com/nwqx9et

Neal McLain


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Message-ID: <bd782389-0e26-43f3-8aea-4f422864397c@googlegroups.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2015 10:49:06 -0800 (PST)
From: HAncock4 <withheld@invalid.telecom-digest.org>
Subject: [telecom] Comcast wins large city government contract

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Comcast Corp. will spend
$10 million in Philadelphia, PA, to wire more than 200 recreation
centers, health clinics, police stations, and other city buildings
with high-speed fiber-optic lines, but also earn $32 million in
fees over about 15 years to manage the local network.

Philadelphia now uses Verizon's "leased circuit" technology with
speeds of about 1.5 million megabits per second to most buildings.
The city renews a Verizon data-services contract annually and will
not renew the contract when the Comcast network comes online, he
said.  The new Comcast network will offer speeds beginning at 100
megabits per second and advance to gigabit speed, or 1,000 megabits
per second, for City Hall, the Municipal Services Building, and
police district headquarters.

for full article and details please see:
http://www.philly.com


Historical note:  Until about 1990, Philadelphia's city
government still utilized a plain Centrex system with rotary
dial telephone sets, still with the MUncipal 6 number plate*.
Even with Centrex, the City Hall switchboard still required 24
positions of a 608 cord board.  Today, much of that traffic
is served by a 311 system.
http://www.phila.gov/311/Pages/default.aspx

Until about 1980, the city government had an ancient PAX
(Private Automatic Exchange), with old Automatic Electric
AE40 telephone sets, that supplemented the Bell network.


*Some city government web pages still use the MU 6 style [of phone number listing]. Example:
https://www.courts.phila.gov/pdf/brochures/housing-court-mediation-program.pdf
(see bottom page 2)


***** Moderator's Note *****

My circuit breaker just tripped.

1.5 million megabits per second = one trillion five hundred billion bits per
second, right?

Bill Horne
Moderator


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End of telecom Digest Wed, 30 Dec 2015