Red Bank TV

“He’s gong to sign it” That’s a quote from Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg in an article on Bloomberg talking about NJ legislation(ACS-804/SCS-192) that was voted on and passed yesterday.  Meanwhile, Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Governor Corzine declines to comment on the legislation, instead saying “We're going to take the time to review the details of the bill”

Aside from being smug enough to read the mind of the Governor, Verizon has spent millions of dollars on what the Asbury Park Press calls “a long, expensive lobbying campaign that featured advertising, phone banks and many other trappings of elective politics.”

So much money and effort went into this legislation that it really makes you wonder why is cable TV so worth it for Verizon?  Can you really make that much money off of cable TV?  I find that hard to believe. So why is this issue so important to the phone company?

In my opinion Verizon doesn’t care about Cable TV.  Their only interest is getting into more and more homes so that they can establish themselves as the dominant internet service provider in the state.  Cable TV gives consumers another reason to sign up for Verizon’s FiOS internet service.

The cable franchise legislation that passed has no Network Neutrality wording in it.  Verizon’s NJ cable TV franchise will be delivered to consumers over their high speed FiOS internet connection; thus it is appropriate to talk about Net Neutrality as part of NJ’s cable franchise discussion.

Verizon only stands to make a lot of money if they are able to get into enough homes and begin to sell off portions of their internet bandwidth to their partners.  There is too much new competition for them to make money off phone service, there is too much competition for them to make money off of cable TV, Apple is about to launch movie downloads through iTunes so there is a lot of competition for video on demand.  So how do they plan to make money if not from controlling their portion of the internet?

Cable competition is only one form of competition in NJ’s high speed internet connection boom.  Not only do we want competition for cable TV service but we want to ensure that internet competition is not hindered on those very same wires.

If competition and keeping the internet a level playing field is important to you than I urge you to contact Governor Cozine and ask him to raise the issue of Net Neutrality prior to signing this legislation into law.

Posted by Tom at 07:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (1)

I met Juan, the guy who runs BlueJersey.net at the Personal Democracy Forum in NYC a couple of weeks ago.  We exchanged a few e-mails about Net Neutrality and he invited me to post on his web site.  I try to reach out to anyone in New Jersey that might be an audience for NN and Juan’s community is tuned in to politics in New Jersey as well as issues relating to the Internet; so I’ve had several posts over there.

Yesterday I cross posted a version of a post I put up here; the one that talks about Verizon’s hypocritical press release.

After posting to BlueJersey I noticed that right next to my post was an advertisement from a telco Astroturf operation.

To me this is just another clear example of why the telcos can not be trusted with the future of the internet.  Look at how they talk out of both sides of their mouths.

The follow image is a screen shot I took after posting to BlueJerset.net

Click on the picture for a higher quality look at the post.  The image is compressed slightly here to fit on the page. 

Posted by Tom at 06:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Verizon put out a killer press release today titled: “Verizon Sets the Record Straight on Cablevision's False Advertising Campaign; Calls on Cable Monopoly to Step Aside and Allow Cable Choice and Competition for Consumers to Flourish in New Jersey”

Surly I’m not the only one who sees the irony in this.  Verizon, and all the telcos for that matter, want to have their cake and eat it too and they are none too embarrassed to say so in public.

A Taste Of Their Own Medicine

Verizon says: An ad published yesterday in the Asbury Park Press, as well as radio ads being broadcast on WKXW-FM and other radio stations around the state, use scare-tactics and distortions to lobby for legislation that would protect Cablevision's cable-TV monopoly.
In an apparent effort to cloak Cablevision's involvement, the ads note
that the sponsor is CSC Holdings. However, CSC Holdings is the operator of Cablevision Systems Inc.

Verizon and the telcos are the kings of Astroturf, that is “cloaking” their involvement with ads or faxes, and they have the gal to call out a competitor for using the same tactics.  As I’ve said before: These guys have some set of balls.

Hello, Can you hear yourself now??

The presser continues: "It's time for Cablevision to step aside and allow true competition flourish in New Jersey," said Dennis Bone, president of Verizon New Jersey.

That’s a gem.  Let me try it: "It's time for Cablevision Verizon to step aside and allow true competition flourish in New Jersey,"
Verizon’s plans for the internet are anti-competition, and they turn around and say that about someone else.  Say it with me:  Have These Guys Got Balls or What?

But wait there’s more!!!

"The consumers throughout the state have clearly spoken: They want choice and competition, and they want it now," said Bone.
Yes! Yes we want choice and competition.  We want the choice to invest in municipal Wi-Fi if we choose, we want the choice to have A La Carte Cable service and we most definitely want the choice to use our fiber broadband connections any way we want.

What do we want???

More from the press release:  In May, both the state Senate and Assembly overwhelmingly approved legislation that will streamline New Jersey's antiquated, anti-consumer video franchise rules. In a procedural move, the Senate is required to vote again, and that vote could come next week. “We encourage members of the Legislature and the governor to focus on the many benefits of the video franchise legislation," said Bone. "With it, New Jerseyans all over the state will soon benefit from cable choice and competition.”

To the Senate members and Governor Corzine I say follow Verizon’s advice and voice your concerns over competition.  Voice you concerns about Network Neutrality and how it is bad for competition in New Jersey.  This issue needs to be addressed and New Jersey is the best place to address it.

Posted by Tom at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This comes to me via the Asbury Park Press

The Changing Face of Telecommunications will be discussed at 11:30 a.m. Friday at the Lobster Shanty restaurant at 83 Channel Drive in Point Pleasant Beach. Dennis Bone, president of Verizon Communications New Jersey, will discuss how the deployment of new technologies will benefit businesses and consumers in this area. Admission is $30 for members, $35 for nonmembers. For information, call (732) 223-6632.

I'll be in the city and unavailable to attend this dog and pony show but if you are in the area why not stop by and ask about Verizon's plans for the future of the internet.

Posted by Tom at 06:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Let's look into the future and try to see what kind of internet service Verizon might be offering in Red Bank a year or so from now:

Verizon FiOS Internet Service

With the $39.95 a month plan you get:
45Mbps down/10Mbps up access to the public internet Plus
10Mbps dedicated MSN-for-FiOS on Verizon’s Private Network (VPN) Plus
5Mbps dedicated XBOX live on VPN Plus
2Mbps dedicated WebMD FiOS-Homelink on VPN

Meanwhile Comcast does it's best to keep up 

Comcast Internet Service

With the $35.99 a month plan you get
20Mbps down/5Mbps up
 

Verizon’s plan seems like a great deal, especially in today’s environment where most Americans have much slower internet access.  Let’s dive into the details a bit more.

Access to the Public Internet. 

Verizon is calling the “Public Internet” what we currently call “The Internet”, they have been advised by PR people to start re-defining the internet for political purposes.  IN my example Verizon’s fiber optic cables allow them to offer access to the “public internet” that is twice as fast as what Comcast can offer on their copper (in reality the sky is the limit when it comes to fiber).  Would anyone choose the plan offered by Comcast?  I wouldn’t; in fact there would be no real reason to even consider cable at that level of performance and at that price point.  This will lead to Verizon being the de facto internet service provider in the areas when they run fiber.

 

Verizon’s added services, via their Private Network. 

Verizon’s plans include offering these kinds of services bundled into their internet packages.  Their fiber gives them more than enough bandwidth to offer services like this.  The added services would be another reason why consumers would choose Verizon over cable.  My concern with these bundled VPN services is that they will implicitly limit competition and eventually lead to less innovation and less choice for consumers.

 

Limiting competition

Verizon will control who has access to their Private Network.  It is unlikely, and unlike Verizon’s current practices, that Verizon will open their Private Network to anyone who is willing to pay them.  Verizon likes to partner up with a single company in a sector and lock out competitors.  This will lead to less choice for consumers.

Posted by Tom at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

During sporting events the television broadcasters all like to take time out to do what the call a “Game Reset”, it’s a quick way of recapping the events of the game and getting new viewers up to date.  Now would seem like a good time to do something similar here on the blog.  So without further ado I present RedBankTv.org’s blog reset:

Local Franchise Summary – Red Bank has approved Verizon’s application to operate a cable TV franchise and Verizon’s application has been forwared onto the NJ State Board of Public Utilities for final approval; after gaining the BPU approval Verizion will enter franchise negotiations with Red Bank.

State and Federal Franchise Regulation – Verizon has spent untold millions of dollars lobbying for new legislation at the State and Federal level that removes the requirement to work with local municipalities on cable franchises.  What has been the result of their big spending?  You guessed it; New Jersey’s legislature has passed a state wide cable franchise bill and it is now awaiting Gov. Corzine’s signature.  With pockets as deep as Verizon’s why should they stop at the state level?  Well, they haven’t and their lobbying efforts are paying off big at the federal level as well.  Steadily moving through the House and Senate are bills that would remove the need to work with towns or states on franchises.  The federal legislation looks set to pass and, depending on just how much Verizon wants to spend, it looks likely to pass in the few remaining sessions of this year.

A La Carte cable plans – Senator John McCain has introduced a bill calling for A La Carte cable plans, the FCC supports Sen. McCain’s bill and a Verizon spokesman was recently quoted as saying that A La Carte cable plans could offer them a competitive advantage to other cable companies.  That all sounds good but realistically no real progress has been made on this issue.

Municipal WiFi – It seems to me that the most interesting item to follow regarding Verizon and municipal WiFi’s has to be what is going on in Summit NJ.  Summit sent their RFI to Verizon and responses to the RFI are due in the coming week.  I’ve been corresponding with someone involved in the Summit project and I hope that she will keep me up to date with their progress.  If Verizon responds to the RFI it should tell us what tack they will be taking to discourage municipalities from getting into the WiFi game.

Net Neutrality – This topic has been all over the news as of late.  There is a continuing ill fated effort to put federal legislation in place to guarantee Net Neutrality.  The reality is that the telcos lobbying machine is too powerful for Congress to do anything other than pay lip service to Net Neutrality legislation.  I continue to advocate that efforts be made to raise Net Neutrality as a local issue and to tie it to Cable TV franchises.  So far there has been little reaction to my method.

Posted by Tom at 06:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

One of the reasons I started this blog was because I felt the federal Net Neutrality legislation faces an uphill battle in the face of the Telcos deep pockets and huge lobbying machine.  Taking a local grass roots stand for Net Neutrality is the best way to raise this issue, not by working from the top down in Congress, the telcos natural home turf.  Well, late last night the Markey Net Neutrality amendment was defeated on the House floor by a vote of 152 to 269.

The full COPE Act passed with a vote of 321 to 101.  The COPE Act is a sweeping telecommunications bill and is of import to us here in Red Bank because it further removes the regulations that require Verizon to negotiate with communities such as our for what is in the best interest of our town.  The COPE Act would supersede our own recent state legislation and allow for national cable TV franchises.

What does all of this legislation mean for our efforts?  From my point of view it doesn’t change the aim of this blog which is to get Red Bank officials to question Verizon on three key issues.   Verizon still wants to use our town as a role model and will continue to push forward within the current regulations while state and federal legislation is getting singed into law.

This does make my efforts to get Gov. Corzine to involve Net Neutrality into the New Jersey state franchise legislation discussion all the more urgent.  Gov. Corzine should use this opportunity to show Verzion how important we consider protecting the future of the internet.  The new federal cable franchise legislation will trump our own state legislation, by questioning Verizon on Net Neutrality and declining to sign our franchise legislation into law will send a loud signal to Verizon.

Posted by Tom at 06:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An editorial in today’s (6/6/6) New York Times talks about municipal Wi-Fi networks.  Their editorial calls for New York to get into the Wi-Fi game.  The NYT talks about how local municipalities are leading the muni Wi-Fi movement.

Here is a blurb from the editorial:

Local governments are filling a leadership void at the federal and state levels, and they are going directly to providers to negotiate Wi-Fi deals. San Francisco's mayor has turned to Earthlink and Google. Earthlink, based in Atlanta, is also helping Philadelphia. In some of these deals, lower-speed connections are free, with higher speeds available at a price. The providers also hope to make money off advertising.

The editorial does not touch on telcos, such as Verizon, opposition to muni Wi-Fis but that fact that a major newspaper is calling for another major city to start looking into Wi-Fi should tell us that we should, at the least, be asking Verizon if they would oppose a Red Bank muni Wi-Fi

Posted by Tom at 06:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (65)

Did you know that an online reality show is being filmed, produced and distributed right here in Red Bank?  That’s right a web based 24/7 interactive reality show taking place in our little town.  I keep telling you readers that this Net Neutrality stuff is going to affect us right here in town and I think this is a great example of how.

I don’t know these guys and they don’t know me, all I know is that their company is based around the corner from my house, so without further ado here is some info about their show from their website:

OurPrisoner.com

Kieran Vogel will make Internet television history when he becomes the first person to give total control of his life to the Internet.  Kieran, age 35, lives at home with his elderly parents and his 54 year old half brother.  Kieran has never earned more than $10,000 a year working in pet stores while in pursuit in his lifelong dream of becoming a published writer and cartoonist.  Kieran has now decided that almost anyone could do a better job in making his decisions and he is willing to prove it.  OurPrisoner combines the best of prankish humor and the ultimate total life make over.  For 6 months he will be voluntarily confined to a suburban home where he will live under the watchful and controlling eye of the Internet.  Completely unscripted, every aspect of Kieran’s life will be streamed in real-time and unedited.

 

I say good luck to the guys at OurPrisoner.com, especially that Kieran guy, wouldn’t it be great if they hit it big, right here in our small town?

Now, how could Verizon’s plans affect the success of OurPrisoner.com?  Let’s say that these guys do hit it big and a year from now when it comes time for them to set up their second season Verizon announces that they are going to start their Access Tiering plans.  Verizon could say to the management of OurPrisoner.com that they will not be allowed onto the Verizon Private Network (Verizon’s new name for their top speed internet tier) because Verizon has struck a deal with Fox Reality and they are (hypothetically) going to produce their own version of OurPrisoner.com.  Our local Red Bank guys would be forced to compete at an arbitrary and artificial disadvantage to the Fox show. 

The OurPrisioner.com show may be better than the Fox show but since Verizon has struck a deal with Verizon then OurPrisoner.com viewers would not get a show that is as clear and interruption free as the Fox show.  Facing that kind of barrier to free competition would the OurPrisoner.com show survive?  What could be the potential financial impact for Red Bank?  Maybe OurPrisoner wouldn’t be able to hire the staff that they might have before, maybe they would have to shut down altogether and Red Bank would loose out on all that potential tax revenue.  I could think of plenty of adverse affects the loss of a popular show like OurPrisoner.com could have on our town.

 
I’m doing my best to get the word out about Net Neutrality and how it can affect people on a local level and stuff like this is a very clear example of how the future of the internet is in trouble and the local impact.

 
If any of the BigString or OurPrisioner guys are reading this then I urge you to contact our local town council and let them know that you are concerned about how Verizon’s plans may impact your future.

Posted by Tom at 04:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

This is revised letter to Governor Corzine (version 1.2) revised 6/7, thanks for the feedback.

Dear Governor Corzine, as a software engineer and avid technologist, I am deeply concerned about Verizon's intentions to restrict internet access for New Jersey residents.  Verizon wishes to be the de facto gatekeeper on the internet, determining which content travels at what speed for the portion of its journey that travels over Verizon's wires.  Verizon's plans violate the tenets of Network Neutrality that have fueled growth and enabled healthy competition on the internet.  I fear that their plans will limit the choices for  New Jersey internet users and could put New Jersey businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
    
Since Verizon also plans to use the internet connections they provide to also offer cable television service, it is appropriate that their plans for both internet access and cable access be considered before passing new statewide cable TV legislation.  I am asking you to ask Verizon clear-cut questions about their business roadmap for offering internet access to their customer base, and whether their plans include limiting internet access based on the type of content delivered, or based on relationships they have with certain content providers.  For the sake of New Jersey's online businesses and consumers alike, please consider how Verizon's actions may negatively impact the obvious advantages of the present free market, before signing new cable TV legislation into law.
    
   Sincerely yours,

older version below 

Dear Governor Corzine, as a software engineer and avid technologist, I am deeply concerned about Verizon’s latest intentions with respect to internet access for New Jersey residents.  Verizon desires to act as a de facto gatekeeper on the internet; determining which content travels at what speed for the portion of its journey that travels over Verizon’s wires.  Verizon’s plans violate the tenets of Network Neutrality that have fueled growth and competition on the internet.  I fear that their plans will limit choice for New Jersey internet users and could put New Jersey businesses at a competitive disadvantage.

Since Verizon plans to use the internet connections they provide to also offer cable television service, it is appropriate that their plans for both internet access and cable access be considered before passing new statewide cable TV legislation.

 I am asking you to inquire with Verizon about their plans for their portion of the internet and to consider their answers and how they pertain to free market competition when you decide upon signing new cable TV legislation into law.

Sincerely yours,

Tom

Red Bank, NJ

Posted by Tom at 06:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sometimes it is ok to sit back and know that people out there are fighting the battle for you, but most of the time it’s not a good move.  When professional lobbyist fight about the issues that we care about you rarely see a personal commitment to the issues.  Professionals are in it for the money, for the most part.

This morning I came across an article on NJ.com about someone who had been fighting against the state-wide cable TV legislation.  This person was formally paid by the New Jersey Cable Telecommunications Association to fight Verizon.  Now she has taken the chief executive position in a group funded by Verizon.

If you are concerned about the issues I have brought up in this blog and how they affect Red Bank and New Jersey then I encourage you to get involved in the discussion.  We can not rely on lobbyist to speak for you; especially when they show time and again how their position can turn on a dime.

Posted by Tom at 06:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

In what is viewed as mainly a procedural vote, the House Judicial Committee surprisingly voted in favor of moving a bill legislating Net Neutrality out of committee.  H.R.5417 passed with a 20-13 vote.  News.com covers the story here and Rich Bennett blogs about it here.

Verizon and the other telcos should see that legislation for Net Neutrality is gaining momentum and its defeat in Congress is not a foregone conclusion. (No matter how many lobbyist and former press aids they hire) It may be in their interest to consider inviting Net Neutrality provisions into IPTV cable franchise agreements. 

Adding provisions to the cable agreements would have the effect of satiating Congress and Net Neutrality proponents without expressly written Federal legislation.  If Federal legislation gains traction the telcos should really think about this.  I invite Verizon to set the example in my town, Red Bank.  Give us some verbiage in our agreement and then you can hold us up as an example of your forward thinking.

Posted by Tom at 04:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This morning I’ve seen several references to a blog in Phoenix that lists the available broadband options in the area.

The poster, Jim Lippard, lists several DSLs, a cable company, a satellite provider, a couple of celluar providers and the municipal wifi network as options.

The problem with Jim’s list is that out of all of the options that he lists there is only one that could have a chance to deliver the same kind of bandwidth that Verizon’s FiOS can.  That would be the municipal wifi network.  Verizon knows this; that’s why they’ve fought to block municipal wifi’s around the country.  That’s why we need to keep muni-wifi as an option here in Red Bank.

I subscribe to Verizon’s FiOS service.  I’ve had dial-up, isdn, dsl and cable internet service.  Jim let me tell you, nothing touches what Verizon is providing over their fiber to the home network.  As the only fiber provider in my town I predict that they will become the defacto internet service provider in my area.  Their service is that much better.

That’s why I am concerned about Verizon’s statements about Net Neutrality.  I think their “slow” tier will still be faster than the other options we have in town so there would be no reason for consumers to switch to competitors once Verizon starts putting preferred providers on their “fast” tier and leaving the rest on their “slow” tier.

The only possible competition from Verizon would come from someone buying up “dark” fiber and creating their own internet backbone and providing the last mile via WiMax.

That is why we need to push Verizon in our town to respect Net Netruality and to not oppose a municipal wifi.

Posted by Tom at 06:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Verizon has gotten its wish; under the banner of increased competition they have pushed legislation through the Assembly that removes the need to work with local communities to come to agreement on cable TV franchises.  Now Verizon will apply for a state wide cable TV franchise.

Now Verizon should be held to clearly state their position on competition.  Verizon executives have made it publicly know that they oppose keeping the internet a level playing field and they plan to change the way internet traffic travels over their network.  They want to have a slow lane and high priced fast lane on the internet, in effect creating toll booths on the information super highway.

Their plans could keep NJ consumers from having the best choices available to them when surfing the web or keep NJ companies from having a fair shot at business on the internet.

Verizon will use the same pipes to deliver cable TV as they use to deliver internet service and they will use internet technology know as Internet Protocol(IPTV) to provide TV to your house.  The State Board of Public Utilities (BPU) should ask Verizon if they really are for competition and want to keep the internet a level playing field or if they are only for competition when it comes to getting a piece of the cable TV pie. 

The BPU should not grant Verizon a cable TV franchise unless Verizon promises our state that they will uphold the tenets of Network Neutrality.

Posted by Tom at 05:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thank you to the local official who added an hour onto his busy day to stick around and take the time to talk to me last night.  I think the types of things that I am talking about are not the typical issues that you would expect to hear about when you get involved with local government.  I am very fortunate to live in a small town where the local government takes the time to listen to resident’s concerns.

I am not the best communicator and it may be easier for me to write some java programming code than to try to explain Net Neutrality to a non geek; but I was fortunate that the official took the time to listen and gave me a chance to try to come up with a coherent explanation of what Net Neutrality is and why our town should be talking about it.  I had a hard time of it but, given enough time, I think I was able to get my point across.  I think we had a productive meeting and I look forward to further discussions.

I think the Net Neutrality proponents who were on the panel at the final session of this past Monday’s Personal Democracy Forum faced some of same challenges that I did.  Us geeks almost innately understand Net Neutrality and why it is important but we don’t do a good job of explaining it to non-technical people.  Even when the audience was Rep Anthony Wiener, a government official used to dealing with complex telecom issues, we need to do a better job of explaining in concrete terms why we are concerned about Net Neutrality.  I’m going fishing with my dad this weekend, he’s a salesman and non-technical, I think I’ll practice by trying to explain it to him.  I recommend that the proponents of Net Neutrality at the SaveTheInternet or MoveOn level get some practice in as well.

Posted by Tom at 06:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I’ll be meeting with a local official today.  I wonder what the best approach is to opening the discussion of my issues.  When I spoke before the town council I started the conversation about A La Carte cable since I thought that would be easiest to understand but then by the time I started to discuss Net Neutrality I probably lost the audience.  Maybe in this one-on-one discussion I should go straight to the meat of Net Neutrality and see if I can do a good job of explaining the impact on our town.  Any advice?

Posted by Tom at 06:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks again to those who have dropped me an e-mail of support.  Hopefully I am doing a decent job of spreading the word around our town.  I can see from the access logs that we are getting a lot of readers from around Red Bank and Monmouth County.  I’d love to hear from more of you.  Please feel free to post a comment or drop me an e-mail.  Be assured I wouldn’t post any personal e-mails on the site without your permission.

I hope that you agree that these are important issues to our town.  -- Tom

Posted by Tom at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I’m looking to continue to build up our local support here in Red Bank.  If you know someone who lives in town or owns a business in town please tell them about this blog.  Tell them why it is important to address these issues locally.  Ask them to drop me an e-mail; I haven’t and won’t publish or use anyone’s correspondence without their permission.

Also, I’m looking to hear more from people who are starting to address these issues in their town.  Verizon is applying for a cable franchise in towns all over the state, let me know what they are up to in your area.

Posted by Tom at 06:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Verizon infamously hired an ‘astroturfing’ company to send faxes to the mayor of Red Bank proclaiming to be from local residents.  Mayor McKenna sensing something afoot with these faxes did a little research and called Verizon out.  Verizon wanted it to appear that there was a real grass roots effort in support of them being undertaken by the residents of our small town; but there wasn’t.  It was all made up and it backfired miserably.

Now the telcos are doing it again.  Have these guys got balls or what?  They set up a phony web site, designed it to appear to be run by a grass roots organization and started pushing a web video trying to discredit a real grass roots campaign. (I’m not going to link to their web site)

Let me try to speak clearly to telecom management:  These ass backwards actions are exactly the reason why we don’t trust you and your future plans for the internet.  Can’t you see that?  Who’s running things up there?  We’re not bad people trying to make life hard on you, it’s your actions that make us not trust you.  Speak clearly to us, state your case, engage in rational debate and build up a relationship with your customers.  Tricky astroturf actions only enforce the notion that handing the keys to the internet to you is a bad thing.

Posted by Tom at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (1)

I’ve touched on why I think "keeping the internet a level playing field" is important in my small town in previous posts.

From local artists being able to distribute material, like Kevin Smith (who owns a comic book store in town) using YouTube to distribute his clerks 2 trailer, to local small and growing businesses; Net Neutrality can have a tangible local impact.

I have a meeting with a local official next week and I’m looking for more ideas to make Net Neutrality more of a local issue.  How should I go about doing this?

Posted by Tom at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Verizon Wireless has started sending letters to ‘heavy’ users of their cell phone’s internet services telling them to not use the internet so much.  Verizon Wireless uses that tagline “It’s the Network” in their advertisements and it gives me pause when I hear stories of how they restrict usage of “The Network” to their services or tell people not to use “The Network” too much.  In our area Verizon Wireless does provide the best high-speed wireless service, just as their land based counterpart Verizon FiOS provides the best high-speed internet access.

So, internet users are faced with a choice; you can use Verizon Wireless which provides the highest speeds but only in the way Verizon Wireless wants you to use it or you can switch to a competitor with slower service but with a more liberal attitude towards usage.

Is it far fetched to make the jump from Verizon’s Wireless model to a future Verizon FiOS model?  I don’t think so.  I think you can deduce from some of the public comments that telco bosses have made that they would like to steer the future of the internet to look more like Verizon Wireless’s model.

I am concerned that an aspiring Red Bank artist, gaining popularity through distributing their art on the internet, will some day get a letter from Verizon or have their service curtailed and not have a viable alternative to Verizon.  Without assurances from Verizon that they will keep the internet a level playing field or that they would not oppose a Red Bank municipal WiFi network then this scenario may not be too far fetched.

With Verizon looking to do business in our town, now is the time to ask Verizon about these issues.

Posted by Tom at 06:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

*** Update - This post is actually from December. I only came across it today. 

David H. Deans, the Senior Partner of Deans & Associates, and the founder of GeoActive Group USA, has a short post on his blog today including a quote from a Verizon Spokesman.  Here is a short quote from his blog:

But both carriers(AT&T & Verizon) seem quite amenable to à la carte pricing, even as the cable and satellite operators fight tooth-and-nail to nip the idea in the bud. “There is some feeling that this may be a differentiator for Verizon or AT&T,” said Verizon spokesperson Eric Rabe. “This could be something that either company adopts to differentiate themselves, but we are still examining our options in this area.”

This is the kind of thinking you would expect to see from a well run company.  I hope to hear more about this and I'll try to contact Mr. Deans and/or Mr. Rabe. 

Posted by Tom at 08:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I’ve been reading up on what can be included in a Cable TV franchise agreement.  So far I’m pretty discouraged; at first glance it would appear that it will take some serious legal limbo’ing to put binding verbiage covering my three issues into the agreement.  Looking back now it may have been better to have pushed harder against Verizon’s request to be granted a franchise.  I’ve started advising people in other towns to address these issues prior to granting approval.

 
Then again, maybe this is still exactly the right way to address these issues.  The whole point here is to press Verizon to address these issues, not to keep them out of town.  I don’t believe there is anything that forces our town to finish franchise negotiations in any set period of time.  Sometimes the best way to draw attention to issues is to slow down the process.

 
There may not be room in the legal document that is the franchise agreement for provisions regarding my three issues (I still don’t know that for sure) but there is nothing that says our town council can not formally ask Verizon to formally answer our questions.  If it comes to light that our franchise negotiations are being held up due to Verizon not wanting to answer our questions then it may draw even more attention then it would have at the start of the process.

 
I’m going to have to adjust my approach, but I still advise you to ask your local officials about these issues from the get-go.

 
We’ll see where this leads next. Stay tuned.  If you know more about the cable franchise please feel free to let me know about it.

Posted by Tom at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Left - Train on stage in Red Bank NJ

Above - Tom and Eileen at the show

 

Eileen and I went to see the band Train on Wednesday night at the Count Basie Theatre here in Red Bank.  Fun show, these are some hard working guys; they really gave us our money’s worth.

Artist like Train and especially aspiring artist should be aware that Keeping the Internet a Level Playing Field is of crucial importance to them.  If Verizon and the telcos have their way then they will restrict access to web sites such as YouTube, Google Video, Apple’s iTunes and limit the ways for artist to get their material out to their fans.

Small local Red Bank artists will be hit especially hard.  How can a local artist afford to pay Verizon to be on their premium tier?  The internet is great at getting the word out about interesting new artists; unfortunately big telcos plans would change that.

That is why it is important to local artist or even national acts like Train to push for Keeping the Internet A Level Playing Field.

Posted by Tom at 07:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Verizon’s new cable TV service really is just an extension of the internet. That is why Net Neutrality belongs in the conversation.  It really doesn’t take a long news search to see that Verizon sees their cable TV as just an extension of their internet service.

Here are some quotes from a recent article in which the president of Verizon Delaware was quoted:

From an article By Kate House-Layton, Delaware State News

"This is really a reaction to the evolution of technology," said William R. Allan, president of Verizon Delaware.

"With the advent of the Internet and the advent of broadband technology being spread through the country, this is a convergence of all these services."

"Everything is now digitized," Mr. Allan said. "We want folks to think of Verizon as the premier broadband and communications company."

If high ranking Verizon officials publicly admit that their cable TV service is just an extension of the internet then they should have to explain what their position is on Net Neutrality as part of cable franchise discussions.

Posted by Tom at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Communications Workers of America are addressing Verizon’s dealings in New Jersey with a new ad campaign starting today.  Here’s a blurb from their press release: 

CWA is urging the New Jersey legislature to instead enact legislation providing universal access to affordable, high speed broadband; reasonable build-out requirements and timetables for the state; and effective enforcement mechanisms and penalties for failure to meet standards and timetables.

You can read their press release here

Posted by Tom at 06:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Met with a local TV news producer yesterday.  They are working on a big story looking at the whole relationship between Verizon and New Jersey.  It was an interesting discussion and they wanted to know a little bit about how I felt about Verizon’s application for a cable TV franchise in Red Bank.  Hopefully I was helpful to them.  From what I gather they will be talking to some local officials and will probably be shooting part of their story in town; if you see a camera crew in town tell them I say hello. The story will air some time this fall. 

Posted by Tom at 06:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mayor Ed McKenna speaks out about the rush to bypass local towns best interests in a letter to the editor of the Asbury Park Press today.

Here is a quote from Mayor McKenna's letter:

That process (the local franchise application process) provides significant benefits to New Jersey communities, and these must be protected. It gives decision-making authority to local officials who know best the needs of their citizens. It provides a mechanism for us to make sure our residents have equal access to cable service. In addition, local franchising ensures large companies are accountable to the communities they serve.

Thank you Mayor McKenna for speaking out about this;  I hope to convince you and your fellow Council Members that Verizon should be held accountable to Red Bank on the three issues I am trying to raise.

Posted by Tom at 06:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beyond Red Bank that is.  Welcome to the site.  I have received a lot of interest from people who live outside of our town.  Some visitors have said to me that these are national issues and State and Federal regulation will soon be in place to trump these local agreements.  I would like to address that in this post.

Verizon and AT&T are currently pushing to get into the cable TV business.  Current laws state that cable franchise agreements are set at the local level.  Verizon and AT&T are using big lobbying money at the national level to change these laws (The cable companies are spending considerably on lobbyist to fight this).  I expect that eventually their big money will win out and the requirement to apply for local cable TV franchises will go away. 

What will happen when the law changes and Verizon doesn’t need to apply for cable agreements at the local level?  I understand there to be two possibilities: 1. Verizon will have to apply for a national cable franchise of some sort or, 2. Verizon will have to apply for a cable franchise at the state level.

In either the National or State level cable TV franchise scenario the regulators will look to existing local agreements for precedent.  Our issues will be much better represented if some towns have raised them at the local level.  If, for example, Net Neutrality becomes one of the sticking points during the negotiation process at the local level then it will have to be on the table at the State or National level.

If we don’t begin to address these issues at a local level then Verizon will be able to say to the national regulators: These issues never came up in the towns that we have come to agreement with; if these issues are not important to the actual users out there then why should Washington dictate to the people across America how they get their cable TV?

That is one of the reasons why I feel that raising these issues locally is vital to making them national issues.  How do you feel about the effect addressing these issues at the local level will have on the broader negotiations to come?

Posted by Tom at 06:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In my opinion fair and expansive competition is the key to the success of the American economy.  I’ve been surprised by some of the comments on this site that speak to competition.  In all of my posts I’ve been clear to state that I believe adding more competition to Red Bank’s cable TV market will be a good thing.

What I can’t quite figure out is why some of the readers of this blog think that Verizon likes competition.  Verizon is only for competition when it is to their benefit.  Let take a look at competition for services in Red Bank.

Service	Verizon’s Position Is
	For Competition	Anti Competition	Good/Bad For Red Bank
Cable TV Service	X		Good
Municipal WiFi		X	Bad
Internet Access		X	Bad

Cable TV Service – It is in Verizon’s interest to have competing cable TV service in Red Bank.  They’ve laid fiber optic cable in Red Bank and their business model only works if they can offer cable TV using internet protocol over that fiber. Verizon's Position is good for competition and good for Red Bank.

 
Municipal WiFi – A free or low cost Red Bank municipal WiFi service would compete with Verizon’s FiOS internet service.  More competition would help bring down the cost of internet access.  Verizon is against competing with a mun-WiFi Verizon’s position is bad for Red Bank.

Internet Access – Keeping the internet a level playing field by respecting the tenets of Net Neutrality is good for competition; the internet thrives on competition.  Verizon wants to restrict or slow down internet access to web sites that compete with its own.  Verizon is against competing with the Googles/Yahoos and Apples on the internet.  Verizon’s position is bad for Red Bank web surfers/artists and small businesses.

Hopefully you can see that Verizon is very much anti-competition when it doesn’t favor them.  So do you really think Verizon is for fair and expansive competition?

Posted by Tom at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thank you Verizon – Ups FiOS speed

I just read a press release from Verizon that says that they are upgrading existing FIOS plans; for Free! My FIOS plan will now go from 15mbps down/2 up to 20 down/5 up.  Those numbers are just astounding. They have to at least double the best cable speeds that Comcast has to offer in Red Bank.  Thank you Verizon.

I only wish that Verizon would promise that they will provide this service across the board no matter what web site I visit or what web service I use.  Unfortunately Verizon won’t promise that to Red Bank residents.  Why won’t Verizon promise us that?  It seems like a simple thing to commit to. That is; unless they want to get as many FIOS subscribers as they can at the high speeds and then eventually throttle back the throughput to non-Verizon partner sights.  I can’t think of any other reason why Verzion won’t promise us that.  What reasons can you come up with?

Posted by Tom at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

New Jersey’s 1^st official electronic newspaper, The Atlantic Highlands Herald, chose to publish a letter I wrote to them about Red Bank and Verizon.  Thank you to the editor for publishing it.  You can visit the Atlantic Highlands Herald or click here to go directly to the letter.

Posted by Tom at 07:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not that we needed another reminder of what lengths Verizon will go to in order to get these cable franchises but lo an behold our Mayor McKenna was recently on National Public Radio’s Marketplace talking again about how Verizon faked faxes to his office to try to show support for Verizon’s application.

Here is our Mayor’s quotes from the piece:

Edward McKenna is the mayor of Red Bank, New Jersey.

In a normal week, he receives about 10 faxes from constituents. In three days last November, McKenna says he got more than 200.

EDWARD McKENNA: "Those faxes all purported to come from people who said they were Red Bank residents. In fact, each fax started out by saying, "I am a Red Bank resident and I vote."

These so-called residents all wrote in support of new legislation to increase competition in the cable industry. McKenna noticed the faxes had names, but no signatures.

EDWARD McKENNA: "When I called them, a number of them said they had not authored any such letter. Nor did they authorize anyone to send it on their behalf."

He says the traced the fax number back to an organization funded by the telephone giant Verizon.

Dawn Holian with Common Cause has studied these front groups, also known as "astroturf."

 

You can read or listen to the entire story by clicking here:  Marketplace

Posted by Tom at 07:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (9)

I’ve been receiving feedback asking me that question.  And my answer is: absolutely these are issues that affect people living my town and Verizon approached my town with their desire to run a new type of business.  How can these issues not be addressed locally?

Let me try to talk out my reasoning on ‘A La Carte’ cable service a bit more in this post.

Not offering ‘A La Carte’ cable service will continue to make cable TV service too expensive for some Red Bank Residents; all while Verizon makes more educational programming available to those who can afford a package.  There is a big discrepancy between income levels on the “two sides” of Red Bank.  This void means that families on the two different sides of town have differing levels of real dollars that can be put to use on educational spending.  I am not an expert on public education but I can use common sense to conclude that this gap has to contribute to making the job of educating Red Bank’s children more difficult.  So I think it would be fair to say that anything that exasperates this gap would make teaching Red Bank’s kids harder.  Isn’t that a local issue?  

Our town council has an opportunity to help keep the educational gap between the two sides of Red Bank from growing.  Pushing Verizon to offer ‘A La Carte’ cable service is good for our town; thus it is a very local issue.

There is legislation working it’s way through Congress that would require cable companies to provide ‘A La Carte’ cable service.  I don’t like relying on Congress to handle issues that we can deal with locally.  Verizon and the Cable companies have too much money and too much influence in Congress.  If you agree that this is a local issue then I urge you to ask our town council to deal with this issue locally and not wait and hope for Congress to act.

Posted by Tom at 06:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This Saturday at the Red Bank Primary School members of RedBankTV.org will be handing out informational flyers.  There will be a meeting held by the town to discuss how best to develop pathways and walkways along the riverfront.

This is an open meeting and they are calling for suggestions and public participation.  I plan on suggesting that free wireless internet be provided along the riverfront so that students can do their homework outside and business people will be able to sneak out and get some work done along the river.

The people who will attend this meeting have a good chance off being sympathetic to the issues I have outlined on this website.  Hopefully by handing out simple flyers we will be able to steer them to this website.

I need help getting the word out and if you can spare some time on Saturday morning it would be greatly appreciated.

-- Tom

Thanks to the Asbury Park Press for the tip:

Red Bank officials are open to ideas about use of riverfront open space 

Posted by Tom at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You may have noticed a lot of Verizon trucks around town hooking up new cables over the last few months. Much of the work is part of an effort to bring Red Bank onto the cutting edge of internet technology. Verizon has targeted Red Bank as one of the few towns in the country to pilot a new service called FIOS™, a high speed fiber optic connection into the home. This new fiber optic technology uses pulses of light to bring the internet to your home with amazing speed, fast enough to provide Red Bank residents with cable TV service as well as phone and internet access.

 

Our town council recently approved Verizon’s application to operate a cable TV service, leaving it up to Verizon and Red Bank to negotiate the terms of the cable franchise agreement. The town council made the right decision in approving Verizon’s application because the agreement will spur on direct competition between Comcast and Verizon, which in turn should lead to better and less expensive cable service for all Red Bank cable consumers. Now begins the hard work of deciding what a fair franchise deal entails, and there is more at stake here than just determining how much money Red Bank should receive from Verizon. The town council must make certain that Verizon does not abuse its franchise rights by imposing unnecessary service restrictions on paying customers or road-blocking potential future community technology projects.

I have set up the website www.redbanktv.org in order to track the progress of these complicated negotiations, to provide a discussion forum around the relevant issues, and to provide a commonsensical analysis of the constantly evolving cable TV and internet landscape. Foremost, I am asking our town council to make Verizon address three important issues during the negotiations:


A La Carte

Not everyone in our town can afford a full blown cable package. Yet there is a great deal of quality educational and children’s programming available on cable, much more than on free over-the-air TV. With a standard cable package if you want to get that educational programming for your child then you must also pay for gossip, sports and talking-head news channels. ‘A La Carte’ service means you pick and choose which channels you want to pay for. Just like Comcast, Verizon does not plan to offer ‘A La Carte’ service. Comcast’s franchise agreement is not before the council, but Verizon’s is, and our council should ask Verizon about their position on ‘A La Carte’ service.

Municipal WiFi

As New Jersey’s ‘hippest’ town, Red Bank may one day choose to offer a free municipal WiFi service. Many progressive towns around the country are setting up muni-WiFi’s. Muni-WiFi’s bring free wireless internet access to all town residents. Philadelphia is one such city that chose to offer a muni-WiFi and their integration plan has been hailed as a great way of reducing the digital divide. Verizon, now infamously, has fought Philadelphia’s muni-WiFi all the way. Our town council should ask Verizon if they would oppose a free municipal WiFi network.

Keeping the internet a level playing field.

Verizon will be using a technology known as Video over Internet Protocol (IP) to deliver their cable TV service. Therefore, it is appropriate for our town council to ask Verizon about their plans for providing internet access. Verizon and the other big telecommunication companies have been talking a lot about Tiered Internet access. In that scenario, the teleconms would control what kind of access we have to the internet. This grates against the essence of the internet as a success story - its enormous growth and increase in popularity over the past decade have come about precisely because it is a level playing field. With "Tiered Internet" access, they could decide how the internet is used, restricting access to competing services, or selectively charging for access to independent services such as Apple’s iTunes™ or Google’s Video™. Our town council should ask Verizon about their future plans for the internet.

Summary

Red Bank’s fiber optic future is looking bright. We should be proud that Verizon has recognized our town as a place that other municipalities can learn from. Our role as a leading edge, contemporary community makes Red Bank a town that others look to as an example. Our town council must ask Verizon to address these important issues. If we don’t act on these issues then Verizon’s standard answer will be: "If it was good enough for Red Bank then it's good enough for your town." Let’s be leaders. Ask the town council to push Verizon to commit to a better future.

Posted by Tom at 06:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (506)

Money talks.  Especially when talking to politicians and corporations.  So let’s try to speak their language and figure out if there are any costs associated with the issues I’ve brought up. 

First, let’s see if we can identify any costs associated with not getting Verizon to commit to not opposing a municipal WiFi. 

Verizon has a well documented record of sparing no expense when it comes to opposing muni-WiFi’s.  I would venture to guess that if we don’t remove their opposition to a Red Bank muni-WiFi now then we will have to entertain legal measures down the road.  What would a legal battle with Verizon cost?  Five thousand dollars? 25,50,150?  Philadelphia spent millions fighting Verizon.  We are a small town.  Hopefully it would cost us less.  For the sake of this post let’s put a number on it.  You can choose your own but let me pull a number out of thin air and say it would cost us $250,000 in legal fees to fight Verizon for something that could be taken care of now.  We have some 5000 households in our town.  That works out to about $50 per household. 

I don’t know how many households in town subscribe to cable so I’ll have to do some guessing here.  Let’s say 4000 households subscribe to cable.  Let’s be generous and split that right down the middle and say 2000 households will switch to Verizon.  So 250000 / 2000 would be about $125 per Verizon subscriber.  This should be passed along in the franchise agreement.

What about the Tiered Internet issue?  How could that cost Red Bank money?  The big cost that would be associated with this issue would be along the lines of an opportunity cost, which would then be passed along as a realized cost in the form of lower tax revenue. 

People who watch internet growth and development worry that Tiered Internet plans will make it harder for new companies to emerge and compete with the big guys.  There are a lot of small companies in Red Bank and with the proposals before the town for more office space there are sure to be many more small companies in our future.  What if one of those companies has the next big internet idea?  Analysts say that in the world of Tiered Access that our little Red Bank company with the next great idea would have almost insurmountable barriers in place that would keep our company from competing with the more established players.

It is not hard to assign costs to a Red Bank business that looses out to bigger competitors and has to shut down, all because the big telecoms used Tiered Access to create an uneven playing field.  Just pick a sample business from the tax rolls and take away the tax revenue generated by that company and take away the tax revenue that the employees of that company. 

 

How could lack of “A La Carte” cable plans cost Red Bank money?  I’ll admit, lack of affordable cable TV programming is hard to translate into a revenue stream.  But this is a blog so why don’t I give it a shot.

If there truly is value to educational programming on cable TV then one could assign cost to the education effort required to bring children who don’t have cable TV in line with those who do.  It’s a stretch. I know.  But maybe this issue isn’t so much about the money but the cost that could be associated with losing out on that one kid who could have but was not inspired to learn about something different or explore a career they might not have heard of on TV.

So long story short.   There is real money associated with not getting these issues addressed by Verizon.  If our town council can not convince Verizon to address these issues then we should charge them more in anticipation of future costs.

 

If we can not get Verizon to work with us on the issues I’ve identified then we should be proactive and work these additional costs into the franchise agreement.

 

Posted by Tom at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks to The Consumerist , a very popular consumer rights website, for the mention of the blog on thier website.  Love the Headline: "NJ Townsman Fights Verizon on Net Neutrality"

Good Stuff. Thanks for the link. -- Tom 

Posted by Tom at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are two main reasons why it is important for our town council to get Verizon to guarantee to respect the tenets of Network Neutrality

1.    Red Bank residents want to be able to use the internet without their internet service provider restricting which web services the use or charging them extra to go “outside” the provider’s network.  Internet Access Tiering plans will allow the internet provider to control access to the internet through their network.  Fiber optic internet service is great but what if the provider charged you extra for using Apple’s iTunes? Or prevented you from using Google video?
2.    Red Bank has many small internet related businesses.  What if one of these businesses hit it big?  In a world with Tiered Internet Service, customers for that company may be restricted from visiting their web site because the small company is unable to afford to pay the big telecoms the fees they will charge to be on their preferred network.  That Red Bank company’s growth would be restricted.

Internet Access Tiering is important on a national level but also on some very real local levels.  The rise of the internet has seen the rise of some of America’s new breed of innovative and fast moving companies.  These companies were able to grow because the internet is Neutral.  Everyone plays on a level playing field.

Verizon will be using Internet Protocol and Internet Technologies to deliver cable service to Red Bank residents.  It is absolutely appropriate that the topic of Network Neutrality be on the table during negotiations. 

It is important to Red Bank consumers and Red Bank companies.

Verizon should be pressed to gurantee Network Neutrality.

Posted by Tom at 03:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was contacted and had a brief conversation with a representative of the local media today.  They were kind enough to let me ramble on about the thoughts I have expressed here on the blog.  For those of you have been e-mailing and contacting me with encouragement, the media people would like to know if anyone local to Red Bank would be willing to talk to them (perhaps on camera?) some time next week.

Please e-mail me if you would be interested: tom@redbanktv.org

Posted by Tom at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)