Verizon/FairPoint Just About A Done Deal in ME, VT and NH

Well, it looks like another one of my 2008 predictions has bit the dust and this just a little over three weeks after the Patriots loss in the Super Bowl!

Yesterday, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC) approved the Verizon sale to FairPoint Communications. The New Hampshire PUC voted 2-1 with some attached conditions that include the creation of a trust fund for future retiree's health benefits. According to WMUR in New Hampshire, FairPoint will also be establishing a call center in Littleton and a data center in Manchester and will not be able to move them without state approval. One other condition requires FairPoint to notify the state whenever the companies debt rating is downgraded.

Both Maine and Vermont have already approved the $2.35 billion deal. FairPoint currently services approximately 300,000 phone lines in 18 states and the Verizon deal will add an additional 1.7 million lines. The sale will eliminate $1.7 billion in Verizon debt and provide the company with a $600 million tax write off.

According to WMUR, PUC Commissioner Graham Morrison dissented, saying:

.... he couldn't agree that the settlement can "provide a reasonable basis to conclude that FairPoint will not become insolvent, or otherwise be unable to meet its service commitments. ... I am equally concerned and dismayed that the technology plan offered is not consistent with the state's best interests and need to be a competitive global participant in the business and education market in the coming years.

A FairPoint press release yesterday stated:

FairPoint and Verizon are in the process of reviewing today’s written order for any additional provisions or changes not covered in the previously announced stipulation with the staff of the New Hampshire PUC.

The decision can be appealed by opponents who must request a rehearing within 30 days but to me, it looks like this is a done deal.

Verizon has been installing FiOS is parts of Southern New Hampshire so it will be interesting to see how those customers that have fiber coming into their homes will be handled.

Will these decisions come back to haunt these three states? Time will tell.

FCC Public Discussion at Harvard Today

There is a special public meeting of the Federal Communications Commission at Harvard Law School today. Discussion will focus around Internet users rights to use the bandwidth they are paying for to download and upload as they please versus the carriers rights to limit and control network usage. Both Comcast and Verizon Wireless have been on the hot seat recently with accusations made by different customers. Comcast, in particular, has been accused of controlling traffic by some. In an interview with the Associated Press on Friday, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said "I'm concerned about Comcast limiting the ability of people to go anywhere they want to on the free Internet. and that's what the hearing is about." Comcast has denied allegations.

Verizon Wireless has been in the hot seat for denying an abortion rights group access to its mobile network last September. The group wanted to use the network for a national text messaging campaign. Verizon has recently admitted denying access was a mistake.

Congressman Ed Markey, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, will be attending. On February 13, Markey filed a bill titled The Internet Freedom Preservation Act (H.R. 5353), a bill that would:

.... establish broadband policy and direct the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a proceeding and public broadband summits to assess competition, consumer protection, and consumer choice issues relating to broadband Internet access services, and for other purposes.

Here's a piece from a Markey press release:

The goal of this bipartisan legislation is to assure consumers, content providers, and high tech innovators that the historic, open architecture nature of the Internet will be preserved and fostered. H.R. 5353 is designed to assess and promote Internet freedom for consumers and content providers. Internet freedom generally embodies the notion that consumers and content providers should be free to send, receive, access and use the lawful applications, content, and services of their choice on broadband networks, possess the effective right to attach and use non-harmful devices to use in conjunction with their broadband services, and that content providers not be subjected to unreasonably discriminatory practices by broadband network providers.

And more from the same Markey press release:

The bill tasks the FCC with the job of conducting an assessment of broadband practices and consumer rights. Finally, it requires the FCC to hold eight broadband summits around the nation and to report back to Congress on its findings and any recommendations for further action.

I've written in the past about Markey's commitment in this area and support his efforts.

Make Your iPhone Work Like a Palm Pilot?

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has posted a video showing an iPhone running the Palm OS. The application was created by StyleTap - a Toronto company that's been producing Palm emulators for Windows Mobile devices. According to StyleTap, the software that runs on the iPhone "is NOT a product, nor is its presence here a commitment of any kind, express or implied, that StyleTap Inc. will ever release an official version of StyleTap CrossPlatform for Apple iPhone or iPod touch."

Here's a short video demonstrating the application:



One of my passions is saltwater fishing and one of my all-time favorite Palm applications is Tide Tool - it's great to see it running in the video - I want it for my iPhone!

700 MHz Spectrum Auction Update - Could Next Week be the Last Week?

Bidding round 102 came to a close yesterday afternoon with $19,524,595,900 (last week the auction finished at $19,450,389,100 - it is slowing) in total provisionally winning bids. Things have slowed considerably with only 40 new bids placed in round 102. For reference, on Thursday, each round averaged about 50 new bids.

Most active in the final round yesterday were E-Block licenses in the Bismark, North Dakota and Rapid City, South Dakota areas along with B-Block licenses in the southeastern United States.

The public safety D-Block still has not had a bid since the first round and will end up being re-auctioned by the FCC.

This may end up being the last week (an FCC decision but I'm thinking so). After the auction is closed the FCC will announce the winners.

The Kindle, Amazon and Good Customer Service

A buddy, John W. from New York, purchased a Kindle and received it on January 16. John sent along the following email to me on January 17 with his first impressions:

The Kindle came at lunch time yesterday. Usual detritus in the shipping carton - Gevalia coffee maker ad, etc. They even sent me a free demo Schick razor! LOL. Kindle packaged well. Comes in clamshell type white carton that obviously cost some money.

The unit itself is amazing. After charging it up and turning on the wireless, I got full signal and the Kindle auto populated my owner information and downloaded the titles I had pre-purchased. The leather cover gets a bad rap. It is black leather, with a grey suede interior and leather tabs to hold the Kindle in place. It locks a small tab in place on the back to hold it in. People on-line are complaining because it appears flimsy, but if one takes time to read the directions, it works quite well. An elastic strap is attached to hold the cover closed when not in use. One person in one of the forums even fashioned his own replacement from a modified Moleskin reporters notebook. Ahh, creative minds...............

As for the eInk. Wow. It is totally not what you expect and truly looks like paper. Jeff Bezos has mentioned that the Kindle is white because he wants people to forget they are using it while reading and he is right on. I read one short work of fiction last night and I immediately got used to it. The sticking point is the cover, you have to do some jockeying to get comfortable with it.

I used the NowNow service to ask a question. NowNow comes with every Kindle, you can send a question to an actual team of people and get a real answer. Mine came back in like 10 minutes. I asked if there are any keyboard shortcuts for Kindle, and I got 2 messages back with lists. :) Now, that is service!

The only drawback is the time I waited to get it. I ordered 12/5 and got 1/16. I hear that the eInk displays are in short supply, therefore limiting Amazon. Well, anyway, I guess that is a good thing.

I truly love this device. I will send you more thoughts as I play with it.....

Overall a pretty good first impression by John. Last night (February 19) he sent me another update:

I have been working 10-11 hr days. Let me tell you how much I love my Kindle. I have a second one waiting at home for me now. My first unit developed a thin line (width of a hair) on the e-ink display when I page forward, so Amazon sent me a new one to replace it. Now, that is customer service! You go on their help page and click on "Call me back ..... really!", enter your telephone number and they call right back! Amazing technology.

I've read 10-12 books on it so far - I am a fiction addict and I absolutely love it! I will write more as I have time....

Excellent first impressions and excellent customer service - I want one!

Thanks John!!

Analog Cellular Technology "Sunsetted" Today

Today both AT&T and Verizon shut off their analog networks based on an FCC decision way back in 2002 tto "analog sunset" Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) networks. AMPS, first generation cellular technology developed in the early 1980's, requires separate frequency channels for each phone conversation and is extremely bandwidth hungry.

Both Verizon and AT&T gave up front notification and worked with analog customers for years to get them switched over (almost all were years ago) so the shut down will have negligible effect. There may still be a few AMPS networks out there in this country after today - shutdown is optional and some small rural carriers may have not shut down today. Eventually they all will.

You may have read around the first of the year about General Motor's OnStar systems and how the OnStar network was converting to CDMA based communications on January 1, 2008. Here's a quote from InfoWorld on the InStar conversaion:

Some users of wireless roadside assistance have also been left behind in the transition......... The automaker didn't wait for the Feb. 18 deadline but instead shut down its analog service on Jan. 1. In a statement on the transition last year, GM said about 90 percent of its subscribers' cars had CDMA or could be converted to use it. Others would lose their OnStar service. The wholly owned subsidiary of GM said last October it had about 5 million subscribers.

Residential and business alarm systems have been preparing for the shut down for a while also. Here's more from the InfoWorld piece:

....... AMPS isn't only used for cell phones. Many alarm companies use the system to alert police or fire departments to emergencies at homes or businesses. About three years ago, the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) industry group took a survey which revealed that just under 1 million of the approximately 30 million monitored home and business alarm systems used an analog cellular network, said AICC chairman Louis Fiore. About 850,000 of them used the system only as a backup in case the phone line was cut, he said.

In the end, faster and more efficient digital systems took over with AMPS becoming too expensive to support and maintain.

FCC 700 MHz Auction Update - Feb. 16

I'm feeling better after a week with the flu - all I can say is next year I'm getting a flu shot!

I've been watching the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 700 MHz auction fairly closely since it started on January 24. The 81st round finished yesterday (Friday - Feb. 15, 2008) afternoon - here's an update from the FCC auction site:

• Bidding Rounds to Date: 81
  
• Bid totals to Date: $19,450,389,100
• Activity is slowing with selected licenses in the B-block and E-block sections receiving most of the new bids.
  
• There has not been a C-Block bid on the U.S. 50 state package since it passed the FCC reserve price on Thursday, January 31. The current bid is still $4,713,823,000.
• The public safety D-Block has not had a bid in 80 consecutive rounds and is stuck at $472,042,000, still well below the $1.3 Billion reserve price set by the FCC.

Some personal observations and opinions:

• The FCC will likely be ending the auction soon. Before they do they'll probably increase the frequency of the bidding rounds to move things along - they've done this with prior spectrum auctions.
  
• Will C-Block bidding heat up in the final rounds? Most experts are saying no. I'm wondering if there may be a deep pocket bidder patiently waiting.
• The public safety D-Block is the FCC's biggest problem right now - the FCC will have to re-auction and the public-private partnership model I wrote about last month is looking like an interesting possibility.
  

Bidding is closed for the holiday weekend with round 82 starting Tuesday (Feb. 19, 2008) morning.