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from: MultiChannel News

Operators Opt For Calif. Oversight
Cable Companies Take Advantage Of State Law Replacing Local Franchise Terms
By Linda Haugsted -- Multichannel News, 1/21/2008 5:30:00 AM

Operators big and small have taken advantage of California law allowing operators to replace local franchise terms with state oversight.

from: Free Expression Policy Project

A Federal Court Stops Comcast's Plan to Exile Public
Access Channels to Cable Siberia - At Least for Now

(January 16, 2008) - The large cable companies that sell the public its
"basic tier" and premium TV services have never liked "PEG"
(public, educational, and governmental) channels. But this week in Michigan,
a federal judge stopped the biggest of the cable giants, Comcast, from
reassigning PEG channels from the basic tier to high-numbered, difficult-to-find
spaces in the digital spectrum, and requiring customers to buy new digital
converters in order to view them.

Ex-officials take sides in cable fight
from: Knox News

Roles of former Bredesen adviser, deputy gov. questioned

By Tom Humphrey
Thursday, January 24, 2008

NASHVILLE - Former top-level officials of Gov. Phil Bredesen's administration are working for opposing sides in the legislative war between AT&T and the cable television industry, both men declaring that they are not lobbyists.

from: Milan News

Comcast making changes to local cable channel

By Sue G. Collins, Staff Writer

PUBLISHED: January 24, 2008

Residents tuning in to Channel 18 on their television to watch the latest city council meeting, public forum or local commission meeting will soon find the cable access channel has moved to 902 on the digital TV dial.

from: DSL Prime

Note: The NYT reports 1/24/08 that AT&T profits are up for this quarter.

DSL Prime: Wall Street Falls
DSL Prime examines the future of the Bells as Wall Street slowly passes its own flawed judgment.

Note: Perhaps AT&T is thinking folks in Alabama haven't heard of Connecticut?

from: AL.com

AT&T fights against local franchise rules for video services
Sunday, January 20, 2008
By BRIAN LAWSON
Times Business Writer brian.lawson@htimes.com

AT&T fights against local franchise rules for video services

from: Broadband Reports

Wasn't Competition Supposed To Bring Lower TV Prices?
Everybody raising prices in Northeast...
09:56AM Tuesday Jan 22 2008 by Karl

Remember all of the talk about how when the phone company got into the TV business, you'd see lower prices? Apparently they were just kidding. The Boston Globe notes that RCN, Comcast and Verizon are all raising prices in the region. Comcast will raise rates by an average of four percent next month. RCN is raising their standard TV rates by five percent. Verizon will be raising rates for FiOS TV customers by as much as twelve percent. Comcast explains the rate hikes to the paper:

from: Light Reading

Exclusive Photos: Fire to the Node, Part II
JANUARY 22, 2008

Last week, Light Reading broke the news that AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T - message board) has set out to replace the 17,000 Avestor batteries providing backup power to its U-verse network equipment cabinets in neighborhoods all over America. (See AT&T Begins Massive Battery Replacement.)

Note: Attorney General Richard Blumenthal took AT&T to court when they refused to seek franchising in the state. He's likely to ride the company hard until they replace every battery in Connecticut.

from: WFSB News 3

Exploded AT&T Batteries Raise Concerns
Company Says It's Removing Batteries From Streets

from: Broadband Reports

Verizon, Industry Comment On Time Warner Cable Plans
Verizon taunts MSO, analysts think low caps are a ripoff
03:10PM Monday Jan 21 2008 by Karl

As we were the first to report last week, Time Warner Cable will be testing overage charges in one of the company's Texas markets. We've noted that Charter is also exploring metered bandwidth, and Business Week confirms that Comcast and Cox are as well. In the Business Week report, Verizon takes aim at the cable industry, suggesting that Time Warner Cable is interested in the plans because they lack bandwidth: