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from: Crain's New York

Consumer Groups Want Verizon Franchise Delay

Crain's New York Business, May 20, 2008
By Amanda Fung

Consumer advocate groups Common Cause New York and People’s Production House, as well as some City Council members, say Verizon's deal with the city merits further scrutiny.

from: Telephony Online

More disturbing numbers for telcos

May 13, 2008 11:02 AM, By Carol Wilson

Two separate sources this week are offering up more analysis showing the telcos are falling behind the cable companies in the broadband and video battle.

Information Gatekeepers, an analyst firm that once predicted the telcos would overtake cable in broadband penetration, this week issued its High-Speed Access Report for the first quarter of 2008, showing cable is outperforming its forecast and the telcos are under-performing what IGI had forecast in 2006. The latest report is in keeping with what IGI began saying in 2007, when it warned that both AT&T and Verizon were falling behind in implementing high-speed access plans, and thus their data revenues would not make up for lost wireline access income.

from: NY Daily News

Verizon TV proposal needs tuning

Friday, April 25th 2008, 4:00 AM

Telecom giant Verizon has finally submitted its long-awaited proposal for a competing cable television franchise for New York City.

If you live in the Bronx, Brooklyn or Queens and you're eager to ditch Time Warner or Cablevision, take a number.

from: Blogging Broadband

Book Report Raises Questions About Texas’ SB5

Those keeping score know that the Texas legislature really started the state-mandated video franchise train down the tracks. SB5 was passed in Texas at the end of 2005. It was a natural place for the phone companies to get the ball rolling, as SBC, now the new AT&T, called Texas home. Since SB5 passed, a likely-unprecedented wave of states adopted some form of “shall issue” video franchising — all of it aimed at helping the phone companies get into the cable business.

from: Village Voice

Lobbying Albany: A Recession-Proof Industry
Posted by Duncan Meisel at 4:25 PM, April 17, 2008

Wall Street may be taking a beating recently, but at least one other New York industry seems recession-proof: lobbying. Once again, spending on lobbying broke records, with an all-time high of $171.2 million spent on influencing state lawmakers, according to the Commission on Public Integrity which released its annual report on lobbying of the New York State legislature.

from: MultiChannel News

Verizon Sues Time Warner Cable Over Ads
Telco Alleges Cabler Makes False Claims About FiOS Service
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 4/9/2008 10:21:00 PM

Verizon Communications filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against Time Warner Cable, alleging the cable operator’s TV ads make “blatantly false” statements about its FiOS services in an attempt to dissuade customers from switching.

from: Cranes New York

Verizon files to break cable monopolies

The telecommunications giant submitted a proposal that would make it the first company to offer cable TV service throughout New York City.
April 15. 2008 5:59PMBy: Amanda Fung

Verizon Communications Inc. would be the first company to offer cable TV service throughout all of New York City under a plan filed with city officials Tuesday.

from: Light Reading

Nice Lobby
APRIL 10, 2008
Discuss >

1:00 PM -- There's one industry in the U.S. economy that is certainly not in a recession: lobbying. In New York state alone, lobbyists had a golden year in 2007, taking in a record $172.1 million. There are a lot of people and companies to thank for that, but none more so than Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ - message board).