---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20181216193015.GA1905@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 14:30:15 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Sure, Verizon blew $4.6 billion on AOL and Yahoo, but at least it isn't AT&T * Verizon wrote off $4.6 billion from its AOL and Yahoo acquisitions, an admission that Oath hasn't succeeded within the broader company. * Verizon had received criticism at the time that it was too cautious around media, but staying away from big deals may have been the right move for the company. By Alex Sherman Sometimes the scope of the strikeout matters. When Verizon acquired Yahoo for $4.8 billion in 2016 after spending $4.4 billion for AOL a year earlier, investors and analysts were skeptical. It turns out they were right to be. Verizon announced Tuesday it was writing off $4.6 billion from those two deals, erasing nearly half of the companies' combined value. At the time, Verizon weathered criticism about not only buying past-the-prime assets but also being too cautious with its acquisition strategy. Its primary competitor, AT&T, had just agreed to spend $133.5 billion ($175 billion with debt) on DirecTV and Time Warner, firmly planting its media flag. Yahoo and AOL seemed like a meek response. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/11/verizon-made-the-right-decision-not-to-be-big-on-media.html -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <pv60r9$3g3$1@dont-email.me> Date: 16 Dec 2018 12:08:55 -0500 From: "Fred Goldstein" <fg_es@removeQRM.ionary.com> Subject: Re: Verizon's moment of clarity Best. Description. Of. A. Bell. Company. Ever! Readers who missed Bill's note should go back and read it. It so well describes the malignant Bell System DNA that runs through these companies. I wish it had a larger audience. Very deserved, and extremely well written to boot. On 12/15/2018 4:07 PM, Bill Horne wrote: ... > > ***** Moderator's Note ***** > > Alcoholics have moments of clarity: that precious instant when they > realize that the only person who can help them is walking in their > shoes. Some - too few, sad to say - take that insight to heart and use > it to guide them on a better path. > ... > > The problem isn't that Verizon is incapable of performing well, just > that it's incapable of changing. That's not a fatal flaw in and of > itself - military bases are models of efficiency, but haven't changed > in any meaningful way for hundreds of years - but in today's online > media world, changes occur at the speed of light, and Verizon is, as a > company, just not that bright. > > Bill Horne > Moderator ***** Moderator's Note ***** Thank you. I can go for three months on a compliment like that! Bill (Blushes, digs toe in dirt, says "Aw, shucks!") Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20181216192034.GA24064@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Sun, 16 Dec 2018 14:20:34 -0500 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Montana cellphone, Internet infrastructure vulnerable to outages; new funding could help By David Erickson When an accidentally damaged fiber optic cable cut out Internet, landline and cell service - including 911 service - in the Bitterroot Valley last week, it exposed a longstanding and widespread problem in Montana. Because of vast distances and a sparse population density, the state's telecommunications infrastructure often lacks redundancy and there is often no back-up when an errant excavator hits a crucial line. The CenturyLink cable that serves the Bitterroot Valley has been cut before, in 2011, causing the same outages. There hasn't been much improvement to the problem since then. In 2017, a damaged CenturyLink fiber optic line in Kalispell cut out Internet in the Flathead Valley and 911 calls had to be rerouted to Missoula. https://missoulian.com/news/local/montana-cellphone-internet-infrastructure-vulnerable-to-outages-new-funding-could/article_87fd0b01-7a22-5c03-984f-0b2775ce860c.html --- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ***** Moderator's Note ***** A few years ago, I had a seasonal job as a dispatcher for the Rangers in Glacier National Park. There was more than one occasion when I was given a cell phone, and told to use it for 911 calls if one of the rangers had an emergency report for a location outside the park: the reduced reliability of 911 service in sparsely-populated areas was a common problem then, as well as now. It wasn't until the first time it happened that I understood why Montana's ranchers and farmers have gun racks in their trucks. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <D620AB70-8579-4436-A7AD-AC179A026C6D@roscom.com> Date: 15 Dec 2018 15:16:22 -0500 From: "Monty Solomon" <monty@roscom.com> Subject: The global cashless movement meets its foe: Local government The global cashless movement meets its foe: Local government More Americans are ditching paper money, but critics of cashless restaurants and shops say many people are being left behind. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/12/14/global-cashless-movement-meets-its-foe-local-government/ ***** Moderator's Note ***** This isn't "telecom" at first glance, but there are two things that worry me about this story: 1. It doesn't make sense: there's a something missing that I can't figure out. Local governments don't act the way that this story implies, at least in my experience. 2. "Smart" phones are being drafted to substitute for credit cards, and those portable computers are unavailable to most of the homeless, to many lower-income families, and to undocumented person afraid of being tracked. That's being given as the reason for local government's concern - but it doesn't make sense. I've never known a small businessman who wouldn't prefer cash over EFT, and local store owners know their Councilman's home phone number. It doesn't pass the smell test. Bill Horne Moderator ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20181216213603.3F89B200B899CC@ary.qy> Date: 16 Dec 2018 16:36:02 -0500 From: "John Levine" <johnl@iecc.com> Subject: Re: The global cashless movement meets its foe: Local government In article <D620AB70-8579-4436-A7AD-AC179A026C6D@roscom.com>, Telecom Digest Moderator wrote: >1. It doesn't make sense: there's a something missing that I can't > figure out. Local governments don't act the way that this story > implies, at least in my experience. NY and NJ are probably fairly different from where you are. The both have a lot of consumer protection laws. >2. "Smart" phones are being drafted to substitute for credit cards, > and those portable computers are unavailable to most of the > homeless, to many lower-income families, and to undocumented person > afraid of being tracked. That's being given as the reason for local > government's concern - but it doesn't make sense. No, that's a side issue. Every Apple/Google/Samsung Pay acount is tied to a credit or debit card and in my experience that means a physical plastic card. The issue here is unbanked people who don't have a card, physical or virtual, just cash. ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Mon, 17 Dec 2018