Now Hear This
An open and frank discussion of media and telecommunications issues - from the consumer point of view.

Now Hear This Newsletter, October 9, 2008 Posted by Bob at 10/08/08 08:20 PM

For months now the Commerce Department office in charge of the government’s digital television conversion box coupon program has been insisting it has enough money to make sure everyone who wants to get two of the $40 coupons will be able to do so. But now Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is telling lawmakers NTIA's numbers are not only wrong, but are likely way wrong. That could mean millions of consumers who depend on free, over-the-air television won't be able to get the government coupons.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, September 25, 2008 Posted by Bob at 09/25/08 12:56 PM

Back in May we told you about Tom Allibone, a longtime telecommunications consultant who had appointed himself an “FCC Deputy,” looking out for his fellow consumers in the runup to the national transition to digital broadcasting next February. Luckily for consumers, Deputy Tom has stayed on the job since then and he is out with a new report this week that should send chills down the spine of anyone who depends on over-the-air free television – and hopefully the government officials in charge of the transition.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, September 11, 2008 Posted by Bob at 09/12/08 11:10 AM

The U.S. Senate’s top antitrust watchdog is asking the nation’s leading wireless companies why they have recently doubled their charges for text messages. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), chairman of the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee, has sent a letter to the presidents and chief executive officers of the four largest U.S. wireless telephone companies asking them to justify sharply rising rates for customers to send and receive text messages. Kohl’s letter requested an explanation from Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile, which collectively serve more than 90 percent of the nation's cellular phone users.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, August 28, 2008 Posted by Bob at 08/28/08 04:44 PM

The United States has not made significant improvement in the speeds at which residents connect to the Internet in the last year, according to a new report from the Communications Workers of America. Further, the U.S. is continuing to fall farther and farther behind other countries such as Japan, South Korea, Finland and France in terms of Internet speed. Plus, AT&T's latest attempt to hide its no-frills Internet service from consumers.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, August 14, 2008 Posted by Bob at 08/14/08 06:36 AM

While better than nothing, the early digital television transtion in Wilmiington, NC, next month will likely yield little more than false positive results.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, July 31, 2008 Posted by Bob at 07/31/08 11:03 AM

Parroting the talking points that Comcast and its lobbyists have been spreading around official Washington since the company was busted by the Associated Press for its Internet throttling activities last year, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell is arguing the FCC needs to defer to big Internet service providers when it comes to the vital information pipeline. We think allowing the fox to guard the hen house has almost always been a bad idea. But it is inexcusable when a government official such as McDowell – an official who is charged with looking out for the public – rushes to the defense of a fox who has just been caught with a mouth full of feathers.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, July 17, 2008 Posted by Bob at 07/17/08 01:24 PM

There are increasing rumors the Federal Communications Commission is about to quietly ram through new rules written by wireless phone industry covering those ubiquitous early termination penalties they charge. The FCC will be acting against the consumers it is charged with protecting if it continues with any further such back room, below the radar shenanigans. The commissioners need to quickly and forcefully reject this legal bailout written by the wireless industry, for the wireless industry.

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Transition in Trouble: Action Needed to Ensure a Successful Digital Television Transition Posted by Bob at 07/07/08 03:50 PM

The good folks at the the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights are out with a report that should be required reading for any government official involved -- or who should be involved -- in the looming transition to digital television next February. Titled "Transition in Trouble: Action Needed to Ensure a Successful Digital Television Transition," the report lays out the problems and challenges of the upcoming transition and what can still be done to make it go smoother.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, July 3, 2008 Posted by Bob at 07/02/08 01:25 PM

Two issues that could have major repercussions for consumers are now floating around the executive offices of the Federal Communications Commission headquarters. One is the proposed merger of the country's only two satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius, to form a nationwide monopoly. The other is a dubious deal being offered by wireless companies on those maddening early termination fees they charge.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, June 19, 2008 Posted by Bob at 06/18/08 06:23 PM

For months now we have been hearing from readers asking when the technical gurus over at our sister organization Consumer Reports would be providing ratings and reviews on digital TV converter boxes. We are happy to announce that the wait is over and, in even happier news, it looks like some of the cheaper DTV converter boxes now on the market work just as well – or even better – than more expensive models.

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Now Hear This Newsletter: June 5, 2008 Posted by Bob at 06/05/08 04:09 PM

This morning Verizon Wireless announced plans to acquire Alltel in a $27 billion deal that, if approved, will create the country’s largest wireless phone company. It's incumbent on government regulators to protect consumers as they review this latest -- and biggest -- mega merger in the already concentrated wireless business.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, May 22, 2008 Posted by Bob at 05/22/08 12:46 PM

Longtime telecommunications consultant Tom Allibone recently appointed himself an “FCC Deputy,” looking out for consumers in the looming transition to digital television. “Deputy Tom” has posted a story online about the trials and tribulations of getting his rural New Jersey home ready for the February 2009 switchover by full-power TV broadcasters from their traditional analog signals to all digital. Allibone’s story should be required reading for the government officials at the Federal Communications Commission and the Commerce Department in charge of the switchover, which will affect millions of Americans who rely on free, over-the-air television. Ditto for electronics makers and retailers, as well as the TV broadcasting industry.

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Is Your ISP Tracking Your Web Surfing and Selling the Data to Advertisers? Posted by Bob at 05/19/08 03:46 PM

It’s the stuff of a science fiction thriller: A big company shadowing your every move on the Internet, compiling a detailed profile of every web site you visit, how long you stay, and what you did while you were there. But this nightmarish scenario is all too real – and it is playing out right now. A number of small Internet service providers are already stealthily tracking their customers as they surf the web and sharing that information with online advertising firms. And it gets worse.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, May 8, 2008 Posted by Bob at 05/07/08 03:12 PM

There are times when killing the messenger -- or rather the messaging consultant -- might be the best thing for everyone involved. Case in point: the peculiar decision by the federal bureaucrats in charge of educating the public on the looming transition to digital television to spend millions of taxpayer dollars to hire the ethically-challenged Ketchum Communications Inc. as their communications and "messaging" guru. Ketchum, you may recall, was at the center of two of worst government public relations debacles in recent memory.

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Now Hear This Newsletter, April 24, 2008 Posted by Bob at 04/24/08 01:12 PM

The Commerce Department finally contemplates some long overdue changes to qualify nursing home residents and post office box users for its digital television converter box coupon program, but the agency continues to ignore expiration date mess.

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Now Hear This Electronic Newsletter, April 10, 2008 Posted by Bob at 04/10/08 01:26 PM

Earlier this week the two top government officials in charge of the upcoming transition to digital television trundled up to Capitol Hill to report on how it’s going. Several lawmakers told the pair they are extremely worried millions of consumers who depend on free, over-the-air television will be left in the dark when full power broadcasters are required to switch to all digital signals in February 2009. “I've just got my fingers crossed,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye. We have our fingers crossed too, but we would feel a lot better if the lawmakers and government bureaucrats in charge of this landmark transition – arguably the biggest change in broadcasting since the advent of color television – were doing a whole lot more than they have so far to make sure this massive conversion comes off as problem free as possible.

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Now Hear This Electronic Newsletter, March 27, 2008 Posted by Bob at 03/26/08 01:40 PM

The Justice Department’s has given its blessing to a merger between the country’s only two satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius, arguing the resulting monopoly won’t harm consumers. Among the many things that make absolutely no sense: It appears the competition cops at the Justice Department didn't actually bother to talk to any satellite radio consumers. We take apart DOJ's nonsensical justifications for approving the anti-consumer deal and hope the Federal Communications Commission does better as it now takes up the case.

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Now Hear This Electronic Newsletter, March 13, 2008 Posted by Bob at 03/13/08 12:39 PM

Should telecom titans such as AT&T and Verizon be given retroactive legal immunity for allowing the government to run wiretaps on their customers without a warrant? We say absolutely not. Compromise legislation moving through the House addresses national security concerns, but also would maintain consumer privacy and civil liberties. What a concept.

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Consumer Reports Offers Tips for Curbing Cell Phone Spam Posted by Bob at 03/12/08 02:42 PM

The good people at our sister organization Consumer Reports have put together some helpful hints for dealing with the problem of cell phone spam.

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Guest Blog: Government-Subsidized TV Converter Boxes Will Actually Block Signals From Thousands of Broadcasters Posted by Bob at 03/06/08 11:44 AM

Many consumers might not be able to receive the over-the-air broadcasting they now receive after conversion to digital signals -- even with a government-subsidized converter box. More than 2,900 Class A and low-power TV stations are likely to continue to broadcast in analog, and those signals will be blocked by most of the available converter boxes.

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Now Hear This Electronic Newsletter, February 28, 2008 Posted by Bob at 02/28/08 01:30 PM

Last month millions of savvy consumers signed up to receive $40 government coupons to help pay for analog-to-digital television conversion boxes, devices that will be needed to keep many old TV sets working when the nation’s full-power broadcasters go all digital in February 2009. Now it appears all those on-the-ball consumers will actually be penalized for their on-the-ballness. Plus, Comcast pays people to pack a public hearing on net neutrality.

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FCC and Congress Need to Slap Down Comcast and Adopt Open Internet Access Rules Posted by Bob at 02/20/08 10:23 AM

It’s our network and we can do anything we want. That’s the scary new mantra of cable giant Comcast when it comes to the issue of open Internet practices, also known as network neutrality. For the sake of every consumer who uses the Internet, the FCC needs to slap down Comcast hard and make it clear that it takes the principles of network neutrality seriously.

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Now Hear This Electronic Newsletter, February 14, 2008 Posted by Bob at 02/12/08 01:59 PM

A new bill has been introduced in Congress that could go a long way toward keeping the Internet open and unfettered by corporate gatekeepers. The Internet Freedom Preservation Act would effectively enshrine the principle of “Network Neutrality” into law, making it a part of the landmark Communications Act of 1934. We think that's a great idea.

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Now Hear This Electronic Newsletter, January 31, 2008 Posted by Bob at 01/31/08 11:52 AM

Consumers are getting an awful lot of faulty information about the looming transition to digital broadcasting next February, according to just released survey by Consumers Union, the publisher of this blog. All told, the survey found that 74 percent of the respondents who said they were aware of the upcoming transition to all digital broadcasting have serious misconceptions about its actual impact on them and what steps they need to take to keep their TVs working after the switchover.

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Now Hear This Electronic Newsletter, January 17, 2008 Posted by Bob at 01/16/08 01:38 PM

There have been some encouraging signs in recent days that the Federal Communications Commission might be starting to take its consumer protection duties a bit more seriously. Also in this edition: Government Cracks Down on Media in Kenya; Cell Phones in Remote Places; Courts Stop Comcast from Moving Community Access Channels to Digital in Michigan; Trying to Fight High Cable Rates in a Small Town.

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