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story category Incumbent Cat Fight
Bell, cable scrap over SBC political ads
(old news - 02:35PM Wednesday Apr 27 2005)
tags: competition
As we've mentioned, SBC has been running TV ads (WMV) in Texas trying to drum up support for telco deregulation, and for its push to ban community run Wi-Fi. In an entertaining twist, Comcast and Time Warner are refusing to run the ads, and SBC is accusing them of censorship. Says a Time Warner Exec: "We find their position that we're somehow treating them unfairly to be very disingenuous."

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Forums » Incumbent Cat Fight
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Post a:
user_hater

join:2001-12-14
Tyler, TX

Whats the problem here?

i think the cableco's should take the ad revenew and laugh at sbc, cause nobody knows what the hell the ads talking about anyway!

odog
Cable Centric Vendor Biased
Premium
join:2001-08-05
Norcross, GA
clubs:
·Comcast
·Metrocast Communic..
·Vonage


edit:
April 27th, @02:42PM

deregulation = price increases

I hate to say it... but most of the time deregulation has the opposite effect.

Any time they say they want the law changed so they can lower rates.... and also claim that they also want to do it..... really gives me doubts.
--
disclaimer: my opinions are my own, my employer is not responsible.
Beeper
Part Of The Problem

join:2001-09-27
Dayton, OH
clubs:

Re: deregulation = price increases

said by odog See Profile:

I hate to it... but most of the time deregulation has the opposite effect.

Any time they say they want the law changed so they can lower rates.... and also claims that they also want to do it..... really gives me doubts.
Check the price of air fare, long distance, and gas.

Once they were regulated, now they are not. Today, they are far cheaper than before.
--
Guaranteed Fear and Loathing. Abandon all hope. Prepare for the Weirdness. Get familiar with Cannibalism.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: deregulation = price increases

Emphasis mine:
said by Beeper See Profile:

Check the price of air fare, long distance, and gas.

Once they were regulated, now they are not. Today, they are far cheaper than before.
These days, the price of gas isn't the best example of a price drop after deregulation
--
Hey Fast Eddie... you're next!
Beeper
Part Of The Problem

join:2001-09-27
Dayton, OH
clubs:

Re: deregulation = price increases

said by pnh102 See Profile:

Emphasis mine:
said by Beeper See Profile:

Check the price of air fare, long distance, and gas.

Once they were regulated, now they are not. Today, they are far cheaper than before.
These days, the price of gas isn't the best example of a price drop after deregulation
Tis true, until you factor in inflation. When you do, today's gas is cheap.
--
Guaranteed Fear and Loathing. Abandon all hope. Prepare for the Weirdness. Get familiar with Cannibalism.

en102
Canadian, eh?

join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

Re: deregulation = price increases

Energy deregulation wasn't good for California (yeah Enron - we mean you!)

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: deregulation = price increases

said by en102 See Profile:

Energy deregulation wasn't good for California (yeah Enron - we mean you!)
Well technically it was not "deregulation." It was a re-regulation of the energy industry which was called "deregulation." Contrast this with Pennsylvania, which has had deregulated electrical service for quite some time, and along with it, a true drop in prices and a real choice in energy providers. Heck, our deregulated electrical grid was spared the worst of the Big Blackout of 2003
--
Hey Fast Eddie... you're next!

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

said by Beeper See Profile:

Tis true, until you factor in inflation. When you do, today's gas is cheap.
I would be afraid to go there as well. Inflation isn't as low as many people think it is.
--
Hey Fast Eddie... you're next!
Beeper
Part Of The Problem

join:2001-09-27
Dayton, OH
clubs:


edit:
April 28th, @08:57AM

Re: deregulation = price increases

Try this for size.

SRFireside

join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX
·RoadRunner Cable

Re: deregulation = price increases

Can't really factor inflation for gas as it is a commodity. Just look at the how that chart flies up and down. In 2003 when Bush said he wanted to invade Iraq gas prices were at about $1.30 where I lived. Two years later and the price has gone up 70%. There is no way you can say that's just the adjustment for inflation.

On top of that I remember gas being as low as $.75 per gallon back in 1998. That would mean the prices went up about 280% in just seven years. This has nothing to do with inflation. It's commodity pricing and goes by very different rules of economics.
Beeper
Part Of The Problem

join:2001-09-27
Dayton, OH
clubs:

Re: deregulation = price increases

I don't see it fly up and down, except when Ronald Reagan deregulated oil price controls. There was a sharp spike downward.

I see it sell in a fairly narrow band over a 20 year period.
--
Guaranteed Fear and Loathing. Abandon all hope. Prepare for the Weirdness. Get familiar with Cannibalism.

SRFireside

join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX
·RoadRunner Cable

Re: deregulation = price increases

Normally when you see items costs on an inflationary scale you see a steady rise and/or a steady decline based on production costs, demand, cost of living, etc. Here you see spikes and jumps of prices going up and down in an erratic pattern. Sure it looks like most of it stays between $1.25 and $1.60 per gallon over most the decade, but again on most markets you don't see such a continued flux.

I didn't start driving a car until around 1986 so I don't have any recollection of gas prices before then. Do remember gas prices being really low when I was driving. You'll have to fill me in on Reagan's price deregulation scenario. Not sure what that means and how he can have OPEC abide by them.
Beeper
Part Of The Problem

join:2001-09-27
Dayton, OH
clubs:

Re: deregulation = price increases

said by SRFireside See Profile:

You'll have to fill me in on Reagan's price deregulation scenario. Not sure what that means and how he can have OPEC abide by them.
The policy was to try to protect US consumers from high oil prices by setting the price of oil. The consequence was that no one had oil.

After Reagan deregulated, oil shortages disappeared and prices fell sharply.
--
Guaranteed Fear and Loathing. Abandon all hope. Prepare for the Weirdness. Get familiar with Cannibalism.
bmn
? ? ?
Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus
·Packet8
·Cox HSI


edit:
April 27th, @03:44PM

You forgot cable... Oh wait, the price of cable increased after deregulation.

Fact is you can't say whether prices will increase or decrease after deregulation or not. Everyone thought cable prices would drop after deregulation and that hasn't been the case in the least.
--
64 bit CPUs and OSes? That's so 1996.

Since the dawn of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun. -CM Burns

Minvaren
Premium
join:2001-07-26
Houston, TX
clubs:
On the other hand, there's always electricity deregulation...
Saradin

join:2003-05-03
I'm a young dude, so I have to ask: what were gas prices before deregulation? They've been climbing here in central NJ over the past decade to ~2.10$ (give or take up to 10 cents) a gallon for plain unleaded now
BosstonesOwn

join:2002-12-15
Everett, MA
clubs:
·Comcast
·Comcast Formerly ..

Re: deregulation = price increases

said by Saradin See Profile:

I'm a young dude, so I have to ask: what were gas prices before deregulation? They've been climbing here in central NJ over the past decade to ~2.10$ (give or take up to 10 cents) a gallon for plain unleaded now
I remember in 93 when i got my brand spanking new camaro, super unleaded was 1.09 a gallon and that was the highest price i can remember for that year.
--
"It's always funny until someone gets hurt......and then it's absolutely friggin' hysterical!"

SRFireside

join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX
Long distance was deregulated? I thought ATT got split up and LD services was just opened up to competition.

drakkkar

join:2003-02-07
Houston, TX

said by Beeper See Profile:

said by odog See Profile:

I hate to it... but most of the time deregulation has the opposite effect.

Any time they say they want the law changed so they can lower rates.... and also claims that they also want to do it..... really gives me doubts.
Check the price of air fare, long distance, and gas.

Once they were regulated, now they are not. Today, they are far cheaper than before.
Long distance used to be expensive, because it was once considered a luxury, not a necessity. High LD rates helped facilitate cheap infrastructure. The deal was basically, you provide anyone in the US with a dial tone who wants one fairly cheaply, and then you can make your profits off of long distance.

Poor highly rural arear would have been left behind by some sort of a "Telephone Divide" otherwise, since they would never have had the leverage to get phone service in a pure free market unregulated environment.

Then, once pretty much everyone had a dialtone, dereglation was possible. Both regulation of telecom, and deregulation each have thier place at various times.
--
~Age and Treachery will always overcome Youth and Skill.~
Galvage

join:2004-02-11
Taconite, MN

quote:
Check the price of air fare, long distance, and gas.

Once they were regulated, now they are not. Today, they are far cheaper than before.
Well airfare went straight up along with the telephone bill. It wasn't until VOIP that telephone bills got cheaper. But also with the deregulation of the cell phones I am noticing higher bills there. Oh yeah what about the deregulation of energy I don't think the people in san diego would agree with you.

As for the price of gas it was highest back in the gas crisis. But before that it was pretty damn cheap.

asdfdfdf

@xtraport.net

As fireside point out, a major part of the long distance equation was government action to break up the at&t phone monopoly and to deny the resulting local voice companies entrance into the long distance market(so they couldn't leverage their local voice monopoly into long distance dominance, which they have since done with more recent moves to deregulate).

Deregulation isn't inherently good or bad. There are smart ways to deregulate and idiotic ways to deregulate.

franchiseexchange

@verizon.n

Well, deregulation comes with a double edge sword... you can't move to ban (legislate) MUNI wifi deployment away, while trying to skirt the cable franchise laws.. that's having it both ways... either you want one, or the other... not both!!!!
I'd hold verizon's feet to the fire with prices anyways... right now some cable triple play packages kill the POTS part of the verizon lineup hands down.. (if you can live with the VOIP QOS)
xrobertcmx
Premium
join:2001-06-18
Sterling, VA
clubs:

Re: deregulation = price increases

Cox offers a digital telephone package here. It is just standard pots delivered by coax.
Beeper
Part Of The Problem

join:2001-09-27
Dayton, OH
clubs:

I do not think it means what you think it means

Censorship?

Hardly.

It's a business practice that they (SBC) does not like.
Cyber2lz

join:2001-11-15
Odessa, FL

business practice

"It's a business practice that they (SBC) does not like."

But they would stoop to it in a heartbeat !
--
If you're not livin' on the edge, you're takin' up too much space !

RadioDoc
Sortofadog
Premium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-05-11
Chicago, IL
·AT&T Midwest

The future is here...

It's not "censorship". It's one company exercising it's monopoly control over it's market.

Comcast is completely within its rights to not accept whatever local commercial ads for insertion into the non-broadcast channels it doesn't want to run. There is no "must carry" for those except during political campaigns.

However...

This is what happens when the only media outlet has enough market power to decide who gets to use that outlet. Comcast could easily (and legally) take a voluntary premium from, say, Burger King to not run McDonalds ads, and there isn't a damn thing McDonalds could do about it. It's no different than the local newspaper refusing ads from a store the editor doesn't like, or the local radio station refusing ads for a car dealer the GM thinks screwed him over.

As Comcast, Clear Channel, Viacom, TWC and NBC/Universal continue to gobble up all of their competition, you will see more and more of this type of predatory practice. It's only a matter of time before cable companies start blocking satellite provider ads.

SBC has their heads up their asses on this one, but the situation should still worry everyone.
Ahrenl

join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA
·Verizon FIOS

Definition: Content Provider

I'd think a content provider can run whatever ads it wants. If I was trying to sell donkey sex lubricant, and tried to place an ad for it, I'd bet there'd be a fair number of content providers that would block me too. If SBC thinks they deserve to have some kind of freedom of expression right, like a political group, well, they're not, they're a corporation, and they'll have to setup a fake advocate group like everyone else.

WhyADuck
Premium
join:2003-03-05

Re: Definition: Content Provider

said by Ahrenl See Profile:

... they'll have to setup a fake advocate group like everyone else.
You don't really think they haven't already done that, do you?

I just think it is so funny when big phone companies engage in dirty tricks, and then others use those tricks against them. For example, way back in the early days of competition, incumbent phone companies set the "access charge" scheme on local calls, the idea being that when a CLEC customer placed a call to a customer of the incumbent, the CLEC would have to pay for the local call by the minute. Pretty quickly the CLEC's figured out that the best thing they could do was offer cheap ISP access at a flat monthly rate, so that the incumbent's customers would be calling the CLEC's numbers and racking up the minutes. The phone companies screamed bloody murder - they were all for access charges until the money started flowing in the opposite direction. But they had made their bed, and they had to lie in it.

John Galt
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Oceanside, OR

said by Ahrenl See Profile:

...and they'll have to setup a fake advocate group like everyone else.
Ha-hah-ha...!


--
A is A

verolom

join:2002-03-23
Eatontown, NJ
·Comcast


edit:
April 27th, @06:21PM

Freedom of speech... no not that of SBC

I find the whole municipal provided wi-fi service a freedom of speech issue. People have the right to communicate and other "people" don't have the right to shut them up.

SBC needs to demonstrate that they have opened their monopoly controlled market for other providers (i.e ~50%) before they can make claims of hypothetical unfair business practices by the municipal government.

I'm not a communist, but at some point it might be better if SBC's assets are nationalized and sold to the highest bidder to pay off debt
NightHawke

join:2002-02-28
Rockport, TX

Read the fine print for commercial submission

TOS/AUP sez that "They reserve the right to refuse to broadcast a commercial that is offensive and/or violates company policy."

And putting a proprganda slime that sbc is putting out is considered to be a violation of TOS/AUP.

Especially if it's a farce in the bloody first place...
rick1991

join:2003-01-22
East Fultonham, OH

Talk about being treated unfairly

What about all the ads that the cable companies put on their channels that bash DSL and satellite. Who is being unfair there?
reslor1

join:2003-01-10
Hackettstown, NJ

Put the shoe on the other foot

I wonder how comcast and Time Warner would feel if SBC decided to remove them from the yellow pages under Internet providers?
Forums » Incumbent Cat Fight


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