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a technology consultant firm predicting business as usual

from: Gartner

AT&T Closes BellSouth Deal by Making Only Small Concessions

4 January 2007

Jay E. Pultz Kathie Hackler Phillip Redman

AT&T made several minor concessions to win FCC approval of this deal. Now larger and with a wholly owned wireless capability, AT&T is strengthened as a global telecom leader. But enterprises shouldn't overlook alternatives.

from: Tompaine.com

The FCC Shafts The Locals

Art Brodsky
December 21, 2006

Art Brodsky is communications director for Public Knowledge, a public interest group working at the intersection of information and technology policy.

It’s never over until it’s over, and it’s never over. That’s a primary rule for those who try to follow the various policy debates in Washington, D.C. Exhibit A? On December 19, the Federal Communications Commission approved a draft proposal to speed up the methods by which local governments grant franchises for video services, usually provided by cable.

from: Ars Technica

Grassroots or astroturf? AT&T and the politics of influence

12/21/2006 12:36:41 PM, by Nate Anderson

In the course of our earlier reporting on AT&T's attempt to deploy IPTV to the Chicago suburbs, we discussed the Advanced Technology Alliance. It's an interest group that pushes the AT&T agenda hard through letters to the editor and a giant chicken, but local critics have charged it with being an "astroturf" (that is, a fake "grassroots" effort) group funded by AT&T. Ars has now learned more details about the relationship between the two companies.

From: Bloomberg News

Verizon, AT&T Lobby States for TV Licenses, Bypassing Congress

By Molly Peterson

Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. haven't fared well in Washington in their bid to expand their television business. They're doing a lot better in Trenton and Topeka.

The phone companies are backing off a two-year push to get Congress to help them win a bigger chunk of the $68 billion cable-TV market. Instead, they're shifting their focus to state capitals -- nine legislatures have already approved TV-licensing laws -- as well as the Federal Communications Commission.

from: Broadband Reports

Fighting AT&T
The battle over franchise agreements

Posted 2006-12-18 14:24:21 by Karl

If you ask telco execs, lobbyists and the FCC, local video franchise agreements are the worst kind of bureaucracy. Towns are little more than greedy parasites that make absurd demands at every opportunity and rarely have local residents' interests in mind. Telco lobbyists suggest that the existing franchise system needs a lobotomy, and by replacing the current system with statewide or federal system, they can speed up next-gen broadband and IPTV deployment.

from: Broadcasting and Cable

Free Stater Weighs In

Friday, December 15, 2006

The Free State Foundation, a free market think tank in Maryland, has increasingly been weighing in on communications issues.

The latest e-mailed commentary from tank thinker Randolph May suggests that whatever Congress does or doesn't do, telcos may yet get their franchise reform one state at a time.

from: TV Technology.com

Michigan and FCC Take Up Franchise Reform
Date posted: 2006-12-15

When it comes to franchise reform, telcos are proving there's more than one way to skin the cat. Having failed to get a bill passed on Capitol Hill, telcos have brought their persuasive powers to bear on the FCC, which has scheduled a franchise vote for Dec. 20.

from: Springfield News Leader

CABLE ORDINANCE

City made wrong choice on new law

As the state House of Representatives member from District 135, I've had the opportunity to discuss key issues with hundreds of constituents during my two years in office. One issue that I learned was very important to these voters is the ongoing cable rate increases and their desire for elected officials to do something about it.

from: CNET News

AT&T launches IPTV in second market

By Marguerite Reardon
Fri Dec 01 2006

AT&T is moving forward with its Internet Protocol television rollout as it begins offering the service in a second city.
On Thursday, the company announced it has launched the service, called AT&T U-verse, in Houston. This is the second market where U-verse services are commercially available. The company debuted the service in June in San Antonio. AT&T has said publicly it plans to expand U-verse to 15 to 20 markets by the end of 2006.

from: Telecom Web

MI Video-Franchise Bill Draws Beltway Lobbyist Fire

Several Washington, D.C., lobbying and activist groups this week mustered Michigan residents and the network-neutrality issue to oppose pending legislation in that state that would create a border-to-border video-franchising system (TelecomWeb news break, Nov. 11).