Verizon: WV Cable Thefts A Public Safety Threat
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While cable thefts and vandalism are a problem for utility companies nationwide, Verizon says the problem is especially bad in West Virginia, where over 17,000 customers, including first responders, have lost service for up to five days.
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Verizon Communications, the nation's second-largest telecom company, told congressional investigators that it has provided customers' telephone records to federal authorities in emergency cases without court orders hundreds of times since 2005.
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In a Jan. 14 story, The Associated Press, relying on information from Comcast Corp., erroneously reported the company had received letters of inquiry from the Federal Communications Commission. The company received one letter, not multiple, regarding complaints that it actively interferes with its subscribers' Internet traffic.
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Timaru building sites are being targeted by thieves.   In the last fortnight thousands of dollars worth of tools have been stolen, while over the weekend 120 metres of electrical cabling, some of which was underground, was stolen.
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In a new competitive threat to Cablevision&#39;s cable-television and Internet services, Verizon Communications yesterday announced it will string fiber-optic connections directly to homes and
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(InfoWorld) - Guns, saws, and some very dim-witted thieves were all apparently involved in a network blackout that affected Internet users, primarily in the northeastern United States, earlier this week. Cogent Communications said Thursday that a cable cut that occurred near Cleveland on Sunday night was caused by a saw, not by gunshot as first thought, but technicians struggling to replace the cut cable used a replacement cable that had been shot. Cogent was one of several operators affected through Monday evening when two-thirds of a mileÂ of cable was cut between Cleveland and the tiny town of Montville, Ohio. With more than 32,500 miles of fiber, Cogent is one of the largest network operators in the United States. Crews rushed in to fix the problem only to discover that their replacement cable had been damaged by gunshots. "The original cable was not shot, it was the replacement cable," Cogent said Thursday. "The original cable was cut with a saw of some sort. Police are speculating that the thieves thought the cable was made of copper." Copper prices have spiked in recent years, spurred in part by increased demand from China, and theft of all kinds of copper, including wires, has become common. Unfortunately for the Cleveland thieves, fiber-optic cable is made of glass fibers, not metal. Cogent did not name the service provider whose lines had been cut, but a source familiar with the situation said the lines are owned by Level 3 Communications. Level 3 did not return calls seeking comment. TeliaSonera lost the northern leg of its U.S. network to the cut, the company said. Grant Gross in Washington contributed to this story.
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(InfoWorld) - A telecommunications carrier cannot enforce agreements with two cable television carriers that prevent them from offering competing voice services in parts of Pennsylvania, according to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. Citizens Communications Co., which offers telecom services under the Frontier brand in 23 states, had inherited the agreement on voice competition restrictions when it acquired Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises Inc. in March for US$1.29 billion. In 2006, Commonwealth had obtained settlements restricting cable providers Blue Ridge Communications and Service Electric Cablevision Inc. from offering voice service in parts of rural Pennsylvania during a regulatory fight. The petitions by Blue Ridge and Service Electric to offer voice service presented the first change for widespread competition in the areas of eastern Pennsylvania they cover, the DOJ said in a Monday announcement. Blue Ridge, in 2006, and Service Electric, in 2005, requested authority for their telephone affiliates to provide local telecommunications services in Commonwealth's service area. Commonwealth filed protests with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. The 2006 settlements between Commonwealth and the two cable providers restricted the geographic scope of their voice offering in exchange for Commonwealth agreeing to withdraw its protects. The DOJ's Antitrust Division informed Commonwealth of its concerns over the effect on competition before the company was acquired by Citizens. The agreement that removes the geographic restrictions is a "good result for rural telephone customers in Pennsylvania," Thomas Barnett, the assistant attorney general in charge of the DOJ's Antitrust Division, said in a statement. "Cable companies and other ... competitors should be able to enter telecommunications service markets without facing unnecessary barriers." Although such private agreements are related to state regulatory proceedings, they are not immune from federal antitrust laws, the DOJ said. Citizens, based in Stamford, Connecticut, has also made commitments not to oppose future applications by either cable company to provide voice telephone services using their own facilities. Citizens has also given all cable providers in Pennsylvania the rights to enforce a separate private settlement that it will not protest future applications to provide telephone services in its territory.
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By Josh Mitchell, The Baltimore Sun  Mar. 6--The final obstacle to cable television competition in Baltimore  County was removed last night when the County Council approved a deal with  Verizon Communications.
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For months, Verizon Communications Inc. has been pushing legislation that would shift control of the cable franchising process from local to state officials, telling legislators that the current system is a major obstacle to competition.
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By Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio  Jun. 3--A proposed state law expanding Ohioans' cable-video service options stretches 29 pages. But it can be summarized in just two words: big bucks.
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By Mike Rogoway, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.  Feb. 2--Verizon Communications Inc. has a preliminary deal with cable  television regulators to start offering TV service in Washington County, a  long-anticipated challenge to Comcast Corp.   The pact, due for consideration Feb.
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By David R. Anderson, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.  Feb. 9--Cable television customers in Washington County are a step closer  to being the first in Oregon with a choice of Comcast or Verizon.
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Verizon this week is launching Managed Web Content Services, which is designed to guard corporate info from phishing, spyware, malware and viruses.
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Unlike AT&T, Verizon wonât monitor its network to block unauthorized copying. That would violate customer privacy, it says, and would be expensive too.
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Cell-phone users may soon be able to watch TV on their phones. Also: Companies organize a safe way to dispose of e-trash....  Feds investigate stun-gun maker Taser.... and more.
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To: TECHNOLOGY EDITORS  Contact: Barry A. Rothman of Onstream Media Corporation, +1-954- 917-6655, brothman@onstreammedia.com; or Chris Faust of FastLane Communications, +1-973-582-3498, cfaust@fast-lane.net   POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Feb.
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Verizon Communications Inc. and Montgomery County officials said yesterday that they have reached a tentative agreement that could allow the telecommunications giant to sell its new fiber-optic cable television service in an area heavily dominated by Comcast Cable Communications Inc.