News

Could this be the end of California's Public "Futility" Commission?

Full story on changes at the Public Utility Commission

Three new Commissioners at the California Public Utilities Commission could change it from the Public "Futility" Commission into something that actually protects consumers [GASP!] 

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Regulators are going to the Dark Side

The dark side - Full story
Two prominent "regulators" have gone to work for Comcast - the same company they were supposed to be policing. The issue raises serious questions about the credibility and impartiality of the politically appointed bureaucrats that are supposed to be representing you in regulatory hearings. Full story.

Three UCAN divisions will protest AT&T T-Mobile merger

AT&T and T-Mobile are planning to merge. Not only is UCAN troubled, but so are two other affiliated UCAN projects. More.

What consumers want -- T-Mobile unleashes tiered data pricing

T-Mobile announced today that it is moving from from an unlimited data plan to a tiered data plan. This isn’t a drastic change from its current data plan offering, but it does change the game a bit. Is this change what consumers want or is it what the industry wants?

Pennytalk Mobile App Hidden Costs - Your cell phone minutes

A colleague of mine was looking for a cheap way to make international calls. While browsing the all knowing collective knowledge resource known as the Google, he stumbled across PennyTalk’s website. Some of our members have been using PennyTalk for a while and generally have good experiences with it. But what caught our eye wasn’t just its international long distance calling service, but its mobile applications.

FunTOS - Changes to Verizon Wireless Customer Agreement

It’s time for an another exciting edition of FunTOS! Today’s fun comes from Verizon Wireless. You all know them as the second US wireless carrier to get the iPhone. If you are thinking about switching to Verizon or you are already a Verizon customer, take a look at the changes Verizon made to section in its customer agreement titled, “How Do I Accept This Agreement?"

New appointees could transform the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), from a "lap dog," into a watchdog

The end of an era at CPUC?
Governor Brown's new appointees to California's most powerful regulatory court - the California Public Utilities Commission - has the potential to restore integrity to a tarnished institution. Full Story.

AT&T To Unthrottle Motorola Atrix Upload Speeds Soon (update)

As my colleague Mike pointed out to you in March, AT&T had released a phone that could have taken the mobile world by storm. The Motorola Atrix, combined with its extremely expensive but innovative accessories, could have become the one device to unify all your personal computing and information consumption needs. Sadly, AT&T released the Atrix with a bit of a handicap--it throttled the Atrix’s upload speeds. AT&T said oops and promised to release a fix at an undetermined time.

Heads up! Your AT&T broadband cap begins today.

Just a friendly reminder to all of our readers who use AT&T for their broadband: your cap comes into effect today (much to our chagrin).  DSL users will be capped at 150GB and U-Verse users get 250GB.  After you hit your cap you'll be charged an additional $10 for every 50GB used.  One of the easiest ways to rack up your bandwidth usage is streaming music and video, so be especially concious if you use Netflix or Hulu to stream video to your TV or computer.

For full details on AT&T's new terms of service, check out Josh's blog here.

 

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