WASHINGTON -Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2007 today, reopening the debate in Congress over Net Neutrality - the fundamental principle that prevents Internet service providers from discriminating online.

A new set of concessions by AT&T appears to have cleared the way for the phone giant to take over BellSouth to create the world's largest telecommunications company.

• View (PDF) the new set of concessions filed by AT&T on the Federal Communications Commission web site.
• Read an Associated Press article on the deal.
• And see the reaction to the concessions by Consumers Union and other public interest groups.

There is an area in Eastern North Carolina (Hyde Co.) where my Ericson cell phone used to work in analog roaming mode.  My contract with NC Cingular Wireless allows unlimited roaming in South Eastern US. Cingular charged me for roaming three times in that area and when I contested the charges, they dropped them.  After the third time, my phone stopped working anywhere in the area. My mother in-law has the same Cingular plan that I have only it is based out of Florida. Her phone continues to work in the area while mine will not.  Cingular I.T. people told me to buy a Nokia 6340I and it would solve my problem.  I bought the $217 phone and it doesn't work there either. Now they tell me they have a GSM network only and the tri-mode Nokia is not programmed to work in NC for TDMA or analog.  I wasted the extra money and countless hours on the phone with their customer service and technical service only to have no phone coverage in one of the three key places in the state that I specifically need to have coverage. I am a long time Consumers Union/Consumer Reports member (over 25 years) and heard of this site on the Clark Howard Show. Update: On May 3, 2006 the New York Times ran a story about Tom's problem. Here is an excerpt from "Analog Callers Hung Up in a Digital Country" by Ken Belson: "TOM ARRINGTON is caught in a technological limbo. Most days, he uses his Nokia cellphone at home in Raleigh, N.C. But when he visits his farm in Hyde County near the Atlantic Coast, his handset, which uses digital G.S.M. technology, gets no reception. His carrier, Cingular, does not have digital coverage there yet. In years past, this was not a problem because Mr. Arrington's old handset roamed on Cingular's G.S.M. (global system for mobile communication) network and analog networks run by local carriers. But Mr. Arrington said that after complaining about his roaming charges, he found that his phone's analog roaming function no longer worked. "Cingular went all digital in North Carolina and took me with them," said Mr. Arrington, 56, a retired hydrogeologist. "They betrayed my contract." Mr. Arrington decided that getting a second cellphone plan from a local carrier was too expensive. Instead, he borrows his sister-in-law's phone because she has an older handset that still works on analog networks. A Cingular spokesman declined to say how or why the analog function on Mr. Arrington's phone stopped working, though he said his company had a roaming agreement with SunCom Wireless, a carrier that serves the Southeast. Even so, Mr. Arrington is not alone. As carriers expand their digital networks, they are selling fewer phones that work on older analog networks, which are often the only ones operating in far-flung corners of the country. To cut costs, big carriers are dropping roaming agreements with rural providers who used to cover gaps in their coverage." Update On January 8, 2007 Tom wrote: I am the person who had service with Cingular with unlimited roaming in south eastern US, then lost service in eastern NC, as they went solely digital in all of NC.  As Paul Harvey would say: "and now for the rest of the story." I had a friend visit us at our farm in coastal Hyde County (eastern NC) in early November 2006. She had a Verizon cell phone that worked without incident throughout the weekend. As she left, I promised her, my wife and myself that by close of business the following Tuesday, I would have a Verizon phone.  I went to Costco, signed a 2 yr contract with Verizon, and got a very nice Sanyo Trimode phone for $39 with free activation. I got, at no additional fee, a car charger, ear bud and carry holster and 'ported' my number from 12+ yrs with Cingular over to Verizon.  The sales representatives were outstanding; the support service I have experienced from Verizon is exceptional.  During the past 2+ yrs, I was trying to find other carriers that worked with the largely analog cell system in eastern NC, as well as my home in Raleigh, the Verizon coverage map did not include the areas I needed down east, now they do!  My new Verizon phone works everywhere I wanted and needed it.  Any questions or concerns that I have had received a response from Verizon Support personnel as though I was their only customer and the successful resolution of my problem was their only mission.  What a breath of spring!! As for Cingular Wireless: Can you hear me now?

I thought I would support Apple and buy my friend an iTunes Gift Certificate. I loaded up iTunes, and tried to buy a $10 gift certificate. It said "The iTunes Music Store cannot complete this purchase at the present time. Please try again later."  I figured there was no harm in clicking again. Same Message. Later, both gift certificates went through. Apple's support professionals, reached by e-mail, said that they could not refund my money. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, and requested the token extra $10 back. They e-mailed me to ask whether my case was resolved a while back, I said no. I have not heard back from either Apple or the BBB. The moral of the story is that you always place web orders on credit cards. A credit card company would have gotten justice. I still support Apple Computer and understand that the representatives were bound by the Terms of Sale. This isn't an excuse: I bought no gift certificates, according to the messages at the time. I was charged for two because of a software bug.

I purchased three Apple itunes gift cards at $30 apiece. Once I thought about it, I realized that Apple is making a tremendous profit by pricing their gift cards in even amounts. Get it?! The songs cost $.99. This means that for these three cards, Apple will collect an unused $.30 for each card. Not a bad deal for Apple; and don't believe this was not their intent. Apple's response was "the card holder can add more songs to their card and use the extra cents." What?! How is my 10 year-old niece going to pay on a web site?  She has no credit cards. Also, how many people are going to go through the hassle for .99?

In December 2004 we responded to a full page ad in the Sunday supplement. The ad promised three pieces of equipment, free installation, HDTV, four rooms, for $29.99. It sounded too good to be true. We questioned the young lady extensively; the equipment was ours to keep, no contract, when we go north for the summer we could take it with us, no extra charge for re-installing. After several days, we got the billing and installation straightened out, the $50, was deducted from our account, and Dish Network's phone number appeared on the withdrawal. The only name on the ad was Dish Network. They are now refusing to honor the ad, which we verified with the company who ran it, that they had approved it. Dish Network/Echostar, now claims that the ad was run by Elephant/Marketing Guru, a promotions company, NOT them.  And that Elephant/Marketing Guru is responsible for making good on the promises in the ad. All I know is that, Dish Network/Echostar took our money and now they are refusing to give us what we paid for

Programmer does not want to refund money paid.  Signal gone today (W7 #19) FOX Net.  The company is offering no substitute.  My subscription is paid until June 05.  The other channels in the package are still on the air. I will contact Netlink account administrator tomorrow.

I have had a consistently poor signal since I moved to Aurora, IL. Last year I had eight Comcast service calls, without any adjustment to the bill until I complained to the FCC. (Comcast knocked out power as well, blowing out two USB hubs) I just purchased a new LCD TV and the picture quality is unacceptable. So far today, six Comcast people have visited and most of the problem seems to be in the lines themselves. I would switch to the Dish Network, except that Dish doesn't respond at all to e-mail and a written letter took three weeks to elicit a response. It's pretty clear that their level of service is no better. The problem with Comcast is still unresolved.

Living in a mountain valley in central PA, I installed a large satellite dish to receive TV programming in 1985.  For years I have purchased most of my paid programming from National Programming Service, and am quite satisfied.  To my knowledge, it is the only way that programming can be purchased by choice and not bundled.  I do not care for sports for example and do not pay for or receive sports shows.  This year I purchased all the Showtime and Movie Channel shows for $99 for the year.  Discovery and The Learning Channel were $14 for the year.  My point is that I have a choice in the programming I purchase and a choice of suppliers for competitive pricing.  Lately the cable/small dish conglomerates have become more blatant in their attacks on this method of distribution.  They advertise that the signal fades in rain and is inferior.  This is not so, in fact we get first quality signal that they rebroadcast.  They have tried to convince programmers not to sell to us.  We have lost and regained programs only by direct letter writing campaigns.  We need to prevent these large cable companies from eliminating competition and free choice.  Thanks.

Choice is quickly disappearing for quality TV viewers. C-band satellite TV, the services received from big dish, is quickly removing channels from subscriber's choice.  Now these channels can be viewed only if you have a "little" dish (Direct TV or Dishnet), where there is no competitive pricing, poor quality and no choice of programming packages.  This, of course, is for rural viewers (who have no cable) who are always at the bottom of the technological barrel. We also have no or little choice for broadband internet for some of the same reasons. Rural America has no concentrated group of citizens in a given area to go to bat for them.

I was called by a Cablevision salesman who offered me a one month free trial. I really didn't want to do it because my Cablevision experience previously was horrendous (poor technical quality, the worst customer service I have ever seen, etc). However, I decided to try the one month free trial. First here were installation problems.  Then the quality of the video was poor on many channels and Cablevision's own people admitted it wasn't going to be fixed any time soon. When I cancelled more than a week in advance of the deadline, every step of the way got bungled. It took many phone calls to get my bill straightened out.  However, I am not certain that the billing has actually been resolved. My latest bill was incorrect. Until I see a correct bill, I won't be convinced they have finally figured things out. Never again....

I wanted cable TV and was told it wasn't available where I live.  I then asked what the delta would be if I paid it myself.  I received in writing a quote for $5000 to install service.  I then checked with my local municipality and, on page 5 of the agreement found that Time Warner was bound to provide hookup for free "regardless of distance, topography, etc".  I threatened to file a complaint with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer protection and got my cable hookup for free.

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