PAY DOUBLE? WTF?

Now, you can sign a new contract with Verizon, pick any phone and then ditch the service for $175. But according to a leaked doc, those days are numbered.

Beginning 11/15, early terminations on contracts with unspecified “advanced device”(s) will be subject to a fee of $350. And while that policy might slow ebay entrepreneurs just looking to make a few easy bucks on a resold Blackberry, it’s devastating to the average guy who just wants to ditch his contract early.

The good news, however, is that fee will drop by $10 every month. But still, that’s a $110 termination fee in month 23 of a 2-year contract…which is clearly absurd. [BGR]

via Gizmodo

Deutsche Telekom, the owners of T-Mobile in the U.S., are reportedly looking into acquiring competitor Sprint. Together, the two companies would have a customer base that rivals AT&T.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Detsche Telekom is prepping a multi-billion dollar offer for Sprint Nextel, which is the third-largest wireless carrier in America. Together, the two companies would have a combined customer base near AT&T’s nearly 80 million subscribers. (continue reading…)

Chris, McGreal, a reporter for Britain’s Guardian newspaper, took to the road last month to report on how Americans living along Route 66–made famous in John Steinbeck’s fictional Grapes of Wrath journey–are faring during the recession.

You might think McGreal quickly encountered “real Americans” protesting President Obama’s “socialist” healthcare agenda by hurling insults at town hall meetings. Cable news channels are full of these images, which together portray the United States as a giant angry grassroots rally against reform-minded policies.

Odd, then, that McGreal reports this:

The outbursts against President Obama’s healthcare plans filling television screens, with opponents calling him a Nazi and accusing him of planning death committees to do in old people, are to a large degree manufactured by the same people who use similar tactics to oppose abortion.

(continue reading…)

With sheer strength and overwhelming odds on their side, they were frontrunners to win their battles. But Goliath, Apollo Creed, and whoever lost to the “Mighty Ducks” have one thing in common: sloppiness late in the game. The same can be said of America’s telecom giants.

As the FCC crafts the first-ever national broadband plan, and with $7.2 billion in stimulus funds for broadband expansion on the line, the massive phone and cable companies are falling over themselves to defend the embarrassing state of Internet access in America. The agency’s public comment period closed this week.

On Monday, Blair Levin – the FCC’s broadband czar – expressed disappointment at the industry’s official comments, citing a general “sloppiness of thinking” and a tireless stream of “get-mine-first” proposals.

But just like a real-life team of “MythBusters,” Free Press countered the industry’s drivel this week with a data-driven reply that took apart many of its more absurd and deceptive arguments.

Free Press’ reply provides evidence that the telecom giants Comcast, AT&T and Verizon want a “do-nothing” plan, which would leave consumers where we’re at now: ranked 14th in speed, 20th in penetration, and 22nd in price, with a duopoly broadband market to thank for it. Although broadband has become an economic, democratic and cultural necessity, 40 percent of Americans cannot afford high-speed Internet or live in areas without service.

I’ll outline some myth-busting highlights here (although I encourage you to check out our 62-page report):

Industry Myth #1: Deregulation promotes investment and the spread of the Internet.

Reality: AT&T and its cronies are quick to brag about how much they’re investing in their networks, and how any regulation would deter further investment.. However, the data has shown that regulation designed to prevent abuses of market power encourages investment.

For example, the FCC applied a Net Neutrality condition to the 2006 AT&T/Bell South merger, forcing the company to adhere to openness for two years. Gross capital investment increased immediately following the imposition of the Net Neutrality merger condition, and continued to rise after that. Only with the neutrality condition sunsetting in 2008 do we see a sharp decrease in investment. In fact, the current deregulated market has seen network disinvestment industry-wide for several years. For more data and examples, see Section A of the reply.

Myth #2: We have a competitive broadband market.

Reality: Providers cling to their widely discredited and misleading talking points on competition. They claim that the market is competitive enough to lower prices and spread broadband due to “third pipe” competitors on platforms like mobile broadband (not phone or cable competitors, however). However, the reality is that mobile broadband – the most viable alternative – is slow, expensive and dominated by the telecom incumbents. For more, see Section B of the reply.

Myth #3: Net Neutrality will doom the Internet.

Reality: AT&T, Verizon and Comcast want to become the Internet’s gatekeepers and crush Net Neutrality. Without Net Neutrality, online content can be sped up, slowed down or made unloadable depending on which companies or sites can pay to play, and results in massive telecom profits.

Contrary to the claims of the telecoms, preserving the open Internet will not result in its complete collapse. Internet traffic is not spiraling out of control; prices for the equipment to expand networks continue to fall, and the evidence shows that an open Internet and reasonable network management can coexist.

The value of openness in promoting online investment and growth was recently acknowledged by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration – the agency in charge of over half of the $7.2 billion for broadband – which attached strong openness rules as a condition of receiving any of the funds. For more, see Section C of the reply.

So why are the telecom giants recycling tired, old calls for less oversight and making dishonest claims of increased investment and meaningful competition? Profit, pure and simple. But to spread open and affordable Internet to all Americans, we must recognize their misinformation, and encourage the FCC to act in the public’s interest and alongside the thousands of you who wrote to the agency in support of Net Neutrality.

via savetheinternet.com

With all signs (literally) pointing to a new Storm joining Verizon Wireless’ lineup in the not-too-distant future, it’s just about the perfect time to start discounting the current model in hopes of working that inventory down before the inevitable launch of numero dos. Starting today, VZW customers can snap up the SurePress-equipped Storm 9530 for $99.99 on contract, which is a full Benjamin less than it has been since debuting last November. If you’re looking for a word of advice on the situation, here’s ours: hold out for the next revision — you’ll thank us later. via Verizon drops BlackBerry Storm price to $99.99 on contract.

via Engadget