35 Years of the Digest ... founded August 21, 1981
Copyright © 2017 E. William Horne. All Rights Reserved.

The Telecom Digest for Wed, 30 Aug 2017
Volume 36 : Issue 99 : "text" format

Table of contents
How Hurricane Harvey Is Affecting Customers of Comcast, AT&T and CharterBill Horne
Alabama customers go after Centurylink with class-ascion lawsuitBill Horne
Uber to end controversial post-trip tracking as part of privacy driveMonty Solomon
AT&T California Fiber Optic ScandalBill Horne
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message-ID: <20170830025823.GA13146@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2017 22:58:23 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: How Hurricane Harvey Is Affecting Customers of Comcast, AT&T and Charter Comcast and AT&T are among the pay-TV and telecom providers in the storm's path. By Chris Nolter As President Donald Trump surveys damage from Hurricane Harvey, the full impact of the storm to local broadband and wireless networks is not yet known. The storm had knocked out more than 280,000 cable and wireline telecom hookups in Texas and Louisiana by Tuesday afternoon, the Federal Communications Commission reports. The count is up significantly since Monday, when the government reported that nearly 190,000 cable and wireline customers were out of service. https://www.thestreet.com/story/14287591/1/how-hurricane-harvey-is-affecting-customers-of-comcast-at-amp-t-and-charter.html -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170830025112.GA13122@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2017 22:51:12 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: Alabama customers go after Centurylink with class-ascion lawsuit Written by Edward Gately The latest suit was filed by Heninger Garrison Davis on behalf of Alabama customers alleging that their plans were changed or they were charged for extra services without their permission. According to the firm, CenturyLink's goal was to "meet performance and incentive programs and boost profits," but the customers paid for those practices, resulting in "heavy overcharge fees when customers tried to challenge the charges or terminate their accounts." CenturyLink is in the process of acquiring Level 3 Communications. Michael Brandenburg, Frost & Sullivan digital transformation - connected work industry analyst, said the allegations in the suits seem to be being made against the consumer business unit of CenturyLink, "so I would not expect the class-action suits to have a material impact on the Level 3 acquisition." http://www.channelpartnersonline.com/2017/08/29/alabama-customers-latest-to-go-after-centurylink-with-class-action-suit/ -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ Message-ID: <22D535E2-BF56-433C-BF2E-0542B786BE11@roscom.com> Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2017 08:13:55 -0400 From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com> Subject: Uber to end controversial post-trip tracking as part of privacy drive Uber to end controversial post-trip tracking as part of privacy drive Uber is set to reverse a controversial decision to collect users' location information after their trip ends, Reuters reports, with the privacy u-turn coming first to the iPhone app - expected to get the update this week - and subsequently to Uber's Android app. This is according to Uber's chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, who told the news agency the company will restore the ability for users to share location data only when they are using the app. https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/29/uber-to-end-controversial-post-trip-tracking-as-part-of-privacy-drive/ ------------------------------ Message-ID: <20170830031148.GA13387@telecom.csail.mit.edu> Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2017 23:11:49 -0400 From: Bill Horne <bill@horneQRM.net> Subject: AT&T California Fiber Optic Scandal By Bruce Kushnik Expose: AT&T California Fiber Optic Scandal: Billions Charged for Broadband that Never Showed Up. In 1993, Pac Bell California announced it would be spending $16 billion on fiber optic upgrades to 5.5 million homes by the year 2000; 1.5 million by 1996. This was 24 years ago. ... Virtually no one knows the history of fiber optic broadband in America, much less what happened in their state, even though they were charged thousands of dollars per household. Instead, in 2017, we get embarrassing proposed laws, such as SB-649 in California, which claims that if the State just frees the companies from regulations, they will deliver new, "fabulous", broadband wireless services. These are tied to other bills and new proposed regulations, including current FCC proceedings to "shut off the copper" and replace it with wireless. It is time for investigations, not new gifts to AT&T et al. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/expose-att-california-fiber-optic-scandal-billions_us_59a4ce47e4b0b234aecad1c7 -- Bill Horne (Remove QRM from my email address to write to me directly) ------------------------------ ********************************************* End of telecom Digest Wed, 30 Aug 2017

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