According to the FCC, the current national broadband map just isn’t cutting it anymore
Across the U.S., individuals have varying levels of access to fast, reliable broadband service depending on location. In general, those living in rural communities have fewer connectivity options and slower internet...
The California Public Utilities Commission is going to study whether AT&T Mobility's (T) proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA Inc. (DTEGY) is good for California residents and business. The agency noted that the combined company would serve 47% of the...
The wireless industry still has a public-relations battle over the safety of radio-frequency radiation and electromagnetic frequency radiation. The issue reared its head again in California, where various groups are protesting the safety of smart meter readers that the California Pacific Gas and Electric...
An arbitrator certified a class-action lawsuit against Verizon Wireless that potentially could cost the No. 2 cellphone carrier close to $1 billion in refunds of early termination fees."I find the claimants have complied with the criteria for class certification," wrote Eugene I. Farber, a...
AT&T Inc., which controls the nation's largest mobile-phone carrier Cingular, agreed pay more than $30 million and withdraw a U.S. Supreme Court challenge to end a highly controversial, seven-year-old case at the California Public Utilities Commission. In addition to the record $12.14 million fine...
AT&T Inc., which controls the nation's largest mobile-phone carrier Cingular, agreed pay more than $30 million and withdraw a U.S. Supreme Court challenge to end a highly controversial, seven-year-old case at the California Public Utilities Commission. In addition to the record $12.14 million fine...
AT&T Inc.'s Cingular Wireless asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a record $12 million fine levied by the California Public Utilities Commission against the top mobile phone carrier in 2004, putting before the high court another wireless industry appeal that turns on the...
WASHINGTON—Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) vetoed legislation to allow California wireless and wireline telecom subscribers to contest unauthorized billing charges, including those arising from the theft or loss of mobile phones. Schwarzenegger’s veto is a big victory for the mobile phone industry, which opposed the...
WASHINGTON—Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.), co-chairman of the Congressional Wireless Caucus, is asking lawmakers to join him in writing a letter to the Federal Communications Commission urging the FCC to declare that states have no jurisdiction over early-termination fees. "In our view, there is no...
WASHINGTON-A California state appeals court upheld a record $12 million fine levied by the California Public Utilities Commission against Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in 2004, rejecting the mobile phone carrier's contention that the agency's action was pre-empted by federal law. "While the commission is preempted...
WASHINGTON—A California state appeals court upheld a record $12 million fine levied by the California Public Utilities Commission against Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in 2004, rejecting the mobile phone carrier’s contention that the agency’s action was pre-empted by federal law. "While the commission is preempted...
WASHINGTON-The Utility Reform Network and the Division of Ratepayer Advocates of the California Public Utilities Commission asked the agency to reconsider its recent decision overhauling the telecom consumer bill of rights and replacing it with a campaign emphasizing enforcement and education. "With this application...
WASHINGTON—The Utility Reform Network and the Division of Ratepayer Advocates of the California Public Utilities Commission asked the agency to reconsider its recent decision overhauling the telecom consumer bill of rights and replacing it with a campaign emphasizing enforcement and education. "With this application...
WASHINGTON-A federal court in Colorado told state regulators there that they cannot require Alltel Corp. to file rate statements and agree to certain service-quality standards in order to receive eligible telecommunications carrier status-a necessary designation to receive universal-service subsidies. "The Colorado Public Utilities Commission...
WASHINGTON—A federal court in Colorado told state regulators there that they cannot require Alltel Corp. to file rate statements and agree to certain service-quality standards in order to receive eligible telecommunications carrier status—a necessary designation to receive universal-service subsidies. "The Colorado Public Utilities Commission...
WASHINGTON-California state Sen. Martha Escutia (D) last Friday vowed to pursue a law creating a bill of rights for telecom consumers similar to the one utility regulators approved in 2004, but that was overhauled last week. "Six years of effort and this was the...
WASHINGTON—California state Sen. Martha Escutia (D) today said she plans to redouble efforts to pass a law creating a consumer telecom bill of rights similar to the one utility regulators approved in 2004, but dramatically altered yesterday. "Six years of effort and this was...
WASHINGTON—The California Public Utilities Commission today voted to replace the existing bill of rights for telecom consumers with one far less regulatory and highly dependent on state enforcement. "This decision is a prime example of the commission’s desire to use the power of market...
WASHINGTON-The mobile phone industry's campaign to further reign in state regulations was potentially dealt a serious blow last week when a key lawmaker hinted federal pre-emption of state and local regulations would not be included in telecom reform legislation in Congress, a prospect that...
WASHINGTON-The bill-of-rights brawl in California took yet another turn last week, with Public Utilities Commission member Dian Grueneich offering a new telecom consumer-protection plan less onerous than the existing regime, but more regulatory than another proposal backed by CPUC President Michael Peevey. Votes on...
WASHINGTON-California Public Utilities Commission member Dian Grueneich said her telecom consumer-protection plan imposes far fewer obligations on carriers than the existing bill of rights while providing stronger enforcement than a far more deregulatory proposal backed by agency head Michael Peevey. "In 2004 in California,...
WASHINGTON-California Public Utilities Commission member Dian Grueneich later today plans to release a telecom consumer bill-of-rights plan countering one crafted by CPUC President Michael Peevey and former commissioner Susan Kennedy. The CPUC said Grueneich, a Democrat appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, will hold a...
WASHINGTON-Former federal telecom regulator Rachelle Chong wasted no time as the newest member of the California Public Utilities Commission in making her presence known, joining other state regulators in recommending wireless truth-in-billing be national in scope and that states be preempted from enforcing such...
WASHINGTON-A state appeals court has agreed to review a record $12 million fine levied by California regulators against Cingular Wireless L.L.C. in 2004. "Cingular is encouraged to hear that the California Court of Appeal has agreed to hear our case," said a Cingular spokesman....
