Comments on: Verizon appeals open-access spectrum

By: Verizon drops open-access challenge | Prepaid Reviews

Verizon drops open-access challenge | Prepaid Reviews — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:00:54 +0000

[...] site, you may want to subscribe to the the feed.A month ago, we railed against Verizon for their appeal of the open-access provision of the 700 MHz spectrum auction. They later filed for an expedited hearing, given our proximity to [...]

By: Joe

Joe — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 16:42:25 +0000

Comments like this are always appreciated, Mike. Yes, there are two sides to every story…including some of what you have in your response. I won’t go at them individually, since that would be massive. There are ways to regulate an open-access spectrum, and there is a way to subsidize phones without forcing customers to sign away their right to sue the company.

But mostly, the things you’re talking about are not what we’re all about. We want to empower the consumer, but examples like yours of demanding a free month of service for a dropped call is ridiculous.

(And the TV/Phone analogy is weak, since a phone is something you tote around with you everywhere and a TV moves infrequently if ever.)

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:53:33 +0000

Wow, what is it with this website? I was reading a few articles and it seems that so far, most of them have this snotty “they-are-trying-to-take-over-the-world-and-I-won’t-have-it!” undertone. Let’s say that you purchased electricity from the local utility and you charged a group of people to use it as long as their appliances drew a certain amount of power in order to maintain a high level of service for all. You would be happy and so would your customers. Let’s say that some other people wanted to use higher powered devices, on your power grid, without paying you…and the government says you have to allow it. You would be miffed, as would your customers. The unregulated devices would affect the network adversely, driving up costs for yourself as well as disrupting or degrading service for those paying customers. Hate Verizon if you will, but they are looking out for themselves as you would in the same situation.

Oh, and those contracts? They allow for cheaper pricing on devices. Customers are very spoiled. People have never grasped subsidized handsets and always expect a free phone even after mistreating their current one causing it to not work. I am a paying customer and I very rarely drop a call, however, I understand that it happens at times and I don’t flip out or call in demanding a credit for the full month of service. It is the nature of the technology and it is getting better. Read the contract, read the fine print, and you will understand this. Another thing. When your TV breaks, do you call the cable company and curse them and threaten to switch providers? Then why do it to your cell phone company? YES I work in tech support for a cell provider.

By: Verizon facing sanctions for auction challenge? | Prepaid Reviews

Verizon facing sanctions for auction challenge? | Prepaid Reviews — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:08:25 +0000

[...] whole thing is turning into a massive mess. First, Verizon challenges the FCC auction rules, basically saying that the open-access rules aren’t proven to be effective, and even [...]

By: FCC lacks a backbone | Prepaid Reviews

FCC lacks a backbone | Prepaid Reviews — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:01:14 +0000

[...] might have been a hollow showing. Yes, FCC Kevin Martin appears to be caving to Verizon, who sued the FCC over the rules. Sources said Martin is now attempting to use a different policymaking vehicleÃ¢â‚¬â€a [...]

By: AT&T now has beef with spectrum auction | Prepaid Reviews

AT&T now has beef with spectrum auction | Prepaid Reviews — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 14:03:45 +0000

[...] one does, you can expect the other to mimic. So maybe AT&T isn’t trying to void the rules of the 700 MHz auction, but they certainly have a problem with the rules imposed by the FCC. Theirs, though, has no thing [...]