Cingular's Two Parents Become One
We are AT&T - You will be assimilated.
Wow - totaly 80's flashback.
I wonder how this will effect prices and technology innovation, since the breakup has been credited with lowering prices and stimulating innovation.
Considering how many of the telecom corporations have continued to make forays into privatizing the net with "fast lanes" and other positions related to development and consumer rights - I think in the long run this will just end up hurting the consumer.
Any wagers on when the next breakup will occur?
I wonder how this will effect prices and technology innovation, since the breakup has been credited with lowering prices and stimulating innovation.
Considering how many of the telecom corporations have continued to make forays into privatizing the net with "fast lanes" and other positions related to development and consumer rights - I think in the long run this will just end up hurting the consumer.
Any wagers on when the next breakup will occur?
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I would say more of a 50's flashback... The 80's broke this up and stimulated competition ie. lower prices, more choices and innovation. I hope this doesnt give us another "walmart is coming to town" situation.
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Not any time soon.
Bellsouth and AT&T don't compete with each other anywhere in the US. Bellsouth provides local telephone service in 9 states and AT&T provides local telephone service in a seperate 13 states. Nowhere will the combined company be reducing the amount of competition that already exists.
Other than that, long distance rates have been falling for years since competiton from companies like Comcast and Vonage have surfaced. And as far as wireless goes, nothing will change other than AT&T having complete ownership in the company.
There is simply nothing that Congress can really go on to prevent this from happening. Competition will remain, and prices will continue to fall. As far as innovation goes...AT&T Laboratories...
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Bellsouth and AT&T don't compete with each other anywhere in the US. Bellsouth provides local telephone service in 9 states and AT&T provides local telephone service in a seperate 13 states. Nowhere will the combined company be reducing the amount of competition that already exists.
Other than that, long distance rates have been falling for years since competiton from companies like Comcast and Vonage have surfaced. And as far as wireless goes, nothing will change other than AT&T having complete ownership in the company.
There is simply nothing that Congress can really go on to prevent this from happening. Competition will remain, and prices will continue to fall. As far as innovation goes...AT&T Laboratories...
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http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=938 »
Over the last couple of years, when I've wanted to take the temperature of the Vonage user community, I've often stopped at the Vonage Forum. This is a privately run enterprise, totally independent of Vonage. More than 23,000 people have joined the Forum since it was officially launched three years ago this month.
Anyhow, I have been noticing a growing number of posts in which many Vonage users and Vonage Forum Members have been complaining about the quality of Vonage calls over Comcast broadband connections.
It's interesting that there are relatively few similar complaints about the quality of these Vonage calls over other broadband provider networks. Occasionally you'll read abou...
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Over the last couple of years, when I've wanted to take the temperature of the Vonage user community, I've often stopped at the Vonage Forum. This is a privately run enterprise, totally independent of Vonage. More than 23,000 people have joined the Forum since it was officially launched three years ago this month.
Anyhow, I have been noticing a growing number of posts in which many Vonage users and Vonage Forum Members have been complaining about the quality of Vonage calls over Comcast broadband connections.
It's interesting that there are relatively few similar complaints about the quality of these Vonage calls over other broadband provider networks. Occasionally you'll read abou...
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Am I missing the point of what this has to do with any adverse effect a merged AT&T and Bellsouth will have on consumers?
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Yes.
This along with my other examples show a trend by telecoms including At&T to limit competition, consumer choices, and mandate legislation that directly contradicts with consumer uses and rights.
This along with my other examples show a trend by telecoms including At&T to limit competition, consumer choices, and mandate legislation that directly contradicts with consumer uses and rights.
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The Comcast Vonage customers should hire a lawyer and look to file a class-action suit againt Comcast under anti-trust regulations. Or Vonage should take Comcast to court for the same reasons. This is why we have anti-trust regulations, and a legal system after all. Ma bell was broken up in the 80s for this reason.
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I am so sick of reading this crap... how about i come over and use your car for the after noon. you pay for it i know, but the gov't now has regulation to say that because you buy the car, pay to keep it up, put gas in it and i don't have a car, you have to let me use yours. if comcast is limiting bandwidth, access, whatever, just like the landline companies that are made to let others use their infrastructure at no cost, then comcast has every right to.
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That example doesn't work. If you were renting my car, that is paying me money to use my car, then I should give you what you pay for. I do not pay Comcast so they don't give me what I pay them for, i.e. bandwith for legal purposes. If you paid me to rent my car, and I took out the transmission to limit your driving because I don't want you going to a specific gas station, you'd be incredibly angry, and rightly so.
If Comcast is limiting bandwith, that is a shady business practice, and I think its even illegal. However, in their defense, I have Comcast broadband and Vonage and never noticed a problem unless the entire internet has gone down in my apartment building.
If Comcast is limiting bandwith, that is a shady business practice, and I think its even illegal. However, in their defense, I have Comcast broadband and Vonage and never noticed a problem unless the entire internet has gone down in my apartment building.
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you have a choice is the point, and this whole thing doesn't even really apply, they're basically just hanging who owns it, the name, and the merge took part before, it's not breaking up and remerging. and if there is no proof, then they can't take legal action against comcast, but vonage can stop using them. this is not relevant.
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RUFF1415 said:
Am I missing the point of what this has to do with any adverse effect a merged AT&T and Bellsouth will have on consumers?
I was thinking the very same thing.
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captainplooky said:...
http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/index.php?p=938 »
Over the last couple of years, when I've wanted to take the temperature of the Vonage user community, I've often stopped at the Vonage Forum. This is a privately run enterprise, totally independent of Vonage. More than 23,000 people have joined the Forum since it was officially launched three years ago this month.
Anyhow, I have been noticing a growing number of posts in which many Vonage users and Vonage Forum Members have been complaining about the quality of Vonage calls over Comcast broadband connections.
It's interesting that there are relatively few similar complaints about the quality of these Vonage calls over other broadband provider
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None taken. Continue reading my examples. It gets much scarier.
While the company name changes, the tactics do not. I was posting originally to illustrate potential issues, and later highlighted those specific to AT&T.
Initially, I was addressing Ruff's statements about how it's commonplace in the industry and that it would not and do not in general hurt or hamper the consumer.
While the company name changes, the tactics do not. I was posting originally to illustrate potential issues, and later highlighted those specific to AT&T.
Initially, I was addressing Ruff's statements about how it's commonplace in the industry and that it would not and do not in general hurt or hamper the consumer.
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Honestly, everybody I know that has anything to do with Comcast complains about it. The internet connections don't seem stable, the picture quality is inconsistent, or whatever.
So far, I have not heard one good thing about Comcast. In fact, I'm used to hearing it called "ComCRAP". I've never dealt with them, but that's what I've heard.
So far, I have not heard one good thing about Comcast. In fact, I'm used to hearing it called "ComCRAP". I've never dealt with them, but that's what I've heard.
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http://www.networkingpipeline.com/blog/archives/2006 ... »
AT&T has been using its considerable checkbook to pay off Congressman to ban cities and towns from setting up their own broadband and wireless networks. The top two recipients of AT&T campaign donations in 2006 have proposed laws to ban or dramatically curtail municipal networks.
That's according to Russel Shaw's blog. Shaw dug into AT&T campaign donations, and found that the top recipient this year is Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas), and number two is Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada).
Sessions has proposed a law that would outright ban municipal networks. At the heart of his so-called "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act" is section two, titled, "Pro...
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AT&T has been using its considerable checkbook to pay off Congressman to ban cities and towns from setting up their own broadband and wireless networks. The top two recipients of AT&T campaign donations in 2006 have proposed laws to ban or dramatically curtail municipal networks.
That's according to Russel Shaw's blog. Shaw dug into AT&T campaign donations, and found that the top recipient this year is Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas), and number two is Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada).
Sessions has proposed a law that would outright ban municipal networks. At the heart of his so-called "Preserving Innovation in Telecom Act" is section two, titled, "Pro...
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Municipal Broadband networks are irresponsible spending of tax payer money. The basic argument used by most municipalities is that this is a way to provide low income families broadband internet access at a lower price. This is BS!!! Internet access is NOT a necessity in life. It is not like giving someone help paying there heating bills int he winter, or providing homes are a reduced cost. Those things are necessities in life. You can get internet access for $8 - $12 per month through companies like net-zero. We do not need to subsidize broadband services for the low income, it is available for free at your local schools and libraries. I hate this notion that internet access is something that we need to subsidize through tax money.
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Celling_it said:...
Municipal Broadband networks are irresponsible spending of tax payer money. The basic argument used by most municipalities is that this is a way to provide low income families broadband internet access at a lower price. This is BS!!! Internet access is NOT a necessity in life. It is not like giving someone help paying there heating bills int he winter, or providing homes are a reduced cost. Those things are necessities in life. You can get internet access for $8 - $12 per month through companies like net-zero. We do not need to subsidize broadband services for the low income, it is available for free at your local schools and libraries. I hate this notion that internet access is something that we
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what would you people do if you lived in a small town where only one telephone company or cable company were available? it's like that alot of places. at public libraries, they only let you research, no email, no chatting, no messengers or any of that. i agree you shouldn't subsidize it. but then again, i never heard anything about even a proposal to use tax money to subsidize internet access. it's bad enough that the things that are subsidized still aren't enough. like subsidized daycare, find a full time job and you'll get help paying for daycare, after you're on an 8 month waiting list. "sure, i'd love to work for you, in about 8 months, will you hold a position for me till then?" if the state made it a point not to allow drug dealers to ...
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I think it would be alright to subsidize the building of a broadband network where one otherwise wouldn't exist, but not to subsidize the individual users.
People need to farm, mine, or whatever they do away from the large cities. We need them and we have to respect them as people. However, it depends on which tax base the money would be coming from. There are different types of taxes in this country. It's not fair for a person in Florida to pay for internet in Wyoming. If Wyoming wants to use its own taxes to build a broadban municipal network statewide, who are we to complain?
People need to farm, mine, or whatever they do away from the large cities. We need them and we have to respect them as people. However, it depends on which tax base the money would be coming from. There are different types of taxes in this country. It's not fair for a person in Florida to pay for internet in Wyoming. If Wyoming wants to use its own taxes to build a broadban municipal network statewide, who are we to complain?
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Who said anything about subsidizing? Many people in small-towns would LOVE to have a choice to pay their town-ran provider instead of some behemouth monopoly!
What do you say now? You like monopolies? I apologize in advance for bringing partisan politics into this, but both representatives are Rupublicans who are all for BIG business.
I think the example itself goes to show how as companies get bigger and bigger, it becomes all about ther money and less choice for the consumer!
What do you say now? You like monopolies? I apologize in advance for bringing partisan politics into this, but both representatives are Rupublicans who are all for BIG business.
I think the example itself goes to show how as companies get bigger and bigger, it becomes all about ther money and less choice for the consumer!
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danbfree said:
Who said anything about subsidizing? Many people in small-towns would LOVE to have a choice to pay their town-ran provider instead of some behemouth monopoly!
What do you say now? You like monopolies? I apologize in advance for bringing partisan politics into this, but both representatives are Rupublicans who are all for BIG business.
I think the example itself goes to show how as companies get bigger and bigger, it becomes all about ther money and less choice for the consumer!
bigger business, or bigger government? which will you choose?
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Verizon, AT&T, SBC, & Google – Let’s End the “Free Lunch” For Everyone!
Verizon and SBC/Southwest Bell/Pac Bell/Pacific Telesis/AT&T or whatever they’re called this year has called for an end to “free lunches” on the internet – running out of revenue options (guess that customer service and adding new features, that wasn’t on the table?) and that companies like Google are taking advantage of a “free lunch” on their bandwidth.
So, I guess it’s a two-way street Verizon?
Speaking of streets, how much are you paying to drive on our streets?
Or those “free” right of way poles you string your wires on.
Free lunch ends when yours does, buddy. It’s my street and my property. I don’t have any of your “services” so come and take do...
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Verizon and SBC/Southwest Bell/Pac Bell/Pacific Telesis/AT&T or whatever they’re called this year has called for an end to “free lunches” on the internet – running out of revenue options (guess that customer service and adding new features, that wasn’t on the table?) and that companies like Google are taking advantage of a “free lunch” on their bandwidth.
So, I guess it’s a two-way street Verizon?
Speaking of streets, how much are you paying to drive on our streets?
Or those “free” right of way poles you string your wires on.
Free lunch ends when yours does, buddy. It’s my street and my property. I don’t have any of your “services” so come and take do...
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Notice this is the same congressman At&T has been donating large sums of monies to.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5807278.html?tag=nl »
A debate over upgrading U.S. telecommunications laws for the digital era began in earnest Wednesday with a proposal aimed at substantially deregulating broadband, satellite and cell phone services.
Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, introduced a bill that reopens a national dispute that has been simmering, but not fully engaged, since the 1996 Telecommunications Act was enacted. The drafters of the law did not envision the explosive growth of the Internet, wireless and broadband technologies over the last decade.
Ensign's 72-page measure takes a broadly pro-business approach. It say ...
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http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5807278.html?tag=nl »
A debate over upgrading U.S. telecommunications laws for the digital era began in earnest Wednesday with a proposal aimed at substantially deregulating broadband, satellite and cell phone services.
Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, introduced a bill that reopens a national dispute that has been simmering, but not fully engaged, since the 1996 Telecommunications Act was enacted. The drafters of the law did not envision the explosive growth of the Internet, wireless and broadband technologies over the last decade.
Ensign's 72-page measure takes a broadly pro-business approach. It say ...
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captainplooky said:...
Notice this is the same congressman At&T has been donating large sums of monies to.
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-5807278.html?tag=nl »
A debate over upgrading U.S. telecommunications laws for the digital era began in earnest Wednesday with a proposal aimed at substantially deregulating broadband, satellite and cell phone services.
Sen. John Ensign, a Nevada Republican, introduced a bill that reopens a national dispute that has been simmering, but not fully engaged, since the 1996 Telecommunications Act was enacted. The drafters of the law did not envision the explosive growth of the Internet, wireless and broadband technologies over the last decade.
Ensign's 72-page measure takes
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Do I have to draw a picture?
Hmmm....
Sen. John Ensign
Amazingly enough, he is introducing legislation that benefits AT&T and limits consumer rights. Who would have ever imagine it?
That is how they are related.
Hmmm....
Sen. John Ensign
Shaw dug into AT&T campaign donations, and found that the top recipient this year is Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas), and number two is Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada).
Amazingly enough, he is introducing legislation that benefits AT&T and limits consumer rights. Who would have ever imagine it?
That is how they are related.
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captainplooky said:
Do I have to draw a picture?
Hmmm....
Sen. John Ensign
Shaw dug into AT&T campaign donations, and found that the top recipient this year is Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas), and number two is Senator John Ensign (R-Nevada).
Amazingly enough, he is introducing legislation that benefits AT&T and limits consumer rights. Who would have ever imagine it?
That is how they are related.
Yeahhhhhhhhh. I'm sticking with my initial "what the hell does any of this crap have to deal with the subject at hand" instincts. Sorry.
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I'm personally sticking to the "if you decide to be ignorant, then don't post" approach. 🙂
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http://news.com.com/Playing%20favorites%20on%20the%2 ... »
Broadband providers and e-commerce companies, historic allies on many political fronts, are finding themselves butting heads over federal legislation that could change the way either side does business.
A bill expected early next year in the U.S. House of Representatives, coupled with recent comments made by executives from BellSouth and the newly merged AT&T and SBC Communications, has raised the prospect of a two-tiered Internet in which some services--especially video--would be favored over others.
No broadband provider has proposed to block certain Web sites. But they have said Yahoo, for instance, could pay a fee to have its search site loa...
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Broadband providers and e-commerce companies, historic allies on many political fronts, are finding themselves butting heads over federal legislation that could change the way either side does business.
A bill expected early next year in the U.S. House of Representatives, coupled with recent comments made by executives from BellSouth and the newly merged AT&T and SBC Communications, has raised the prospect of a two-tiered Internet in which some services--especially video--would be favored over others.
No broadband provider has proposed to block certain Web sites. But they have said Yahoo, for instance, could pay a fee to have its search site loa...
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EFF's Class-Action Lawsuit Against AT&T for Collaboration with Illegal Domestic Spying Program
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T on January 31, 2006, accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.
In December of 2005, the press revealed that the government had instituted a comprehensive and warrantless electronic surveillance program that ignored the careful safeguards set forth by Congress. This surveillance program, purportedly authorized by the President at least as early as 2001 and primarily undertaken by th...
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a class-action lawsuit against AT&T on January 31, 2006, accusing the telecom giant of violating the law and the privacy of its customers by collaborating with the National Security Agency (NSA) in its massive and illegal program to wiretap and data-mine Americans' communications.
In December of 2005, the press revealed that the government had instituted a comprehensive and warrantless electronic surveillance program that ignored the careful safeguards set forth by Congress. This surveillance program, purportedly authorized by the President at least as early as 2001 and primarily undertaken by th...
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Who cares??? Are you serious? I do! I care that a behemouth company like AT&T is blindly following illegal practices!
Don't you care about your privacy and what companies do with your personal information?
Your post just goes to show how ignorant most Americans are and it's ruining our country!
Don't you care about your privacy and what companies do with your personal information?
Your post just goes to show how ignorant most Americans are and it's ruining our country!
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Taking Spying to Higher Level, Agencies Look for More Ways to Mine Data
PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 23 — A small group of National Security Agency officials slipped into Silicon Valley on one of the agency's periodic technology shopping expeditions this month.
On the wish list, according to several venture capitalists who met with the officials, were an array of technologies that underlie the fierce debate over the Bush administration's anti-terrorist eavesdropping program: computerized systems that reveal connections between seemingly innocuous and unrelated pieces of information.
The tools they were looking for are new, but their application would fall under the well-established practice of data mining: using mathematical and statisti...
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PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 23 — A small group of National Security Agency officials slipped into Silicon Valley on one of the agency's periodic technology shopping expeditions this month.
On the wish list, according to several venture capitalists who met with the officials, were an array of technologies that underlie the fierce debate over the Bush administration's anti-terrorist eavesdropping program: computerized systems that reveal connections between seemingly innocuous and unrelated pieces of information.
The tools they were looking for are new, but their application would fall under the well-established practice of data mining: using mathematical and statisti...
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At the time, Admiral Poindexter, who declined to be interviewed for this article because he said he had knowledge of current classified intelligence activities, argued that his program had achieved a tenfold increase in the speed of the searching databases for foreign threats.
While agreeing that data mining has a tremendous power for fighting a new kind of warfare, John Arquilla, a professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., said that intelligence agencies had missed an opportunity by misapplying the technologies.
"In many respects, we're fighting the last intelligence war," Mr. Arquilla said. "We have not pursued data mining in the way we should."
Mr. Arquilla, who was a consultant on Admira...
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While agreeing that data mining has a tremendous power for fighting a new kind of warfare, John Arquilla, a professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., said that intelligence agencies had missed an opportunity by misapplying the technologies.
"In many respects, we're fighting the last intelligence war," Mr. Arquilla said. "We have not pursued data mining in the way we should."
Mr. Arquilla, who was a consultant on Admira...
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...but still... What if you were told that on AT&T's 'Daytona' server (or series of servers) resides phone calls from two years prior to 9/11 of indications of something big between sources in Iraq and somewhere in the continental US???
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dca said:
...but still... What if you were told that on AT&T's 'Daytona' server (or series of servers) resides phone calls from two years prior to 9/11 of indications of something big between sources in Iraq and somewhere in the continental US???
Oh geeze, don't encourage him.
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captainplooky said:...
At the time, Admiral Poindexter, who declined to be interviewed for this article because he said he had knowledge of current classified intelligence activities, argued that his program had achieved a tenfold increase in the speed of the searching databases for foreign threats.
While agreeing that data mining has a tremendous power for fighting a new kind of warfare, John Arquilla, a professor of defense analysis at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., said that intelligence agencies had missed an opportunity by misapplying the technologies.
"In many respects, we're fighting the last intelligence war," Mr. Arquilla said. "We have not pursued data mining in the way we should."
Mr.
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I didn't make it, just linked to it.
It is an animated gif. Basically a series of gif images played over one another to give the appearance of movement.
It is an animated gif. Basically a series of gif images played over one another to give the appearance of movement.
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🙂 That was not my intention. I wasn't trying to imply I had created it, my bad.
They are relatively easy to make though if you are interested in making a custom one. A internet search should turn up alot of how-to guides.
They are relatively easy to make though if you are interested in making a custom one. A internet search should turn up alot of how-to guides.
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This forum is closed.
