Is AT&T discriminating against the elderly and rural residents?

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   tsmogposted 6 weeks ago

   "AT&T, along with other providers of landline phones, will be actively phasing out their landline services soon in response to the FCC Landline Shutdown Order 19-72. U.S. service providers will be required to offer customers an alternative to landlines and use devices to convert analog signals to digital, either thru fiber optic cables or wireless technology, like LTE/5G. This isn't going to happen overnight but both AT&T and Verizon are pushing now to be fully operational on newer infrastructure in the next few years. AT&T has already applied for a waiver to stop servicing traditional landlines in California."
   
   https://forums.att.com/conversations/la … 34af932776
   
   From a letter I received from AARP . . .
   
   " Timothy,
   
   AT&T wants to stop providing landline phone service for 580,000 California residents—and we need your help to defeat them.
   
   If AT&T gets its way, these residents, many of whom live in high-risk wildfire areas, will no longer have a provider for vital communications service, including internet, and access to 9-1-1 and other emergency services, which will cease to exist."
   
   A Google landing page to pick and choose an article from:
   https://www.google.com/search?client=fi … land+lands
   
   Fortunately, as a California resident, this won't affect me, though I 'only' have a landline phone. Mine is through my cable provider. Phew!
   
   Should I buy a smart phone at an average cost of $700
   Report: Average selling price of a smartphone in North America jumped $119
   https://www.androidauthority.com/averag … 3-3331896/
   
   I had one for a few years given to me by a friend. The problem is in my mobile home I don't get any bars and have to go outside to get reception.
   
   Is this just the nature of progress us old fogies have to adjust to? I can't fathom how to operate one. It looks easy, but hey, what  is the learning curve?

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2. 92

   Nathanvilleposted 6 weeks ago

   Interesting read:
   
   The situation in the UK is radically different:
   
   In the UK all analogue landline phones will have been converted to digital by next year (2025); mine was converted to digital by my ISP (Internet Service Provider) just a few months ago e.g. regardless to who the provider is, the infrastructure to make the digital switchover is already in place across the whole of the UK – predominantly because the UK Conservative Government forced ‘British Telecoms’ to upgrade their old copper wire telephone lines to optic fibre, as a national requirement.
   
   Phone switch - analogue landlines switching off by 2025 in the UK https://youtu.be/zl9AR52rBCU

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      tsmogposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

      Yup, as with the announcement by AT&T it is a national endeavor to switch to digital. Without wanting to do research, knowing what is happening here in the US and there in UK, I imagine possibly it is worldwide?
      
      I have to chuckle a little. In my back yard is both the AT&T and Cox Cable junction boxes for the mobile home park. I see them when sitting at my desk in my office. Now, I see the symbolic contrast of old school vs new school in the sense of technology.
      
      Common to both is the transmission lines are buried beneath the earth and of course those two service junction boxes. I have seen the Cox techs come to their junction box, but never have I seen any AT&T tech since I have lived here beginning 2006.
      
      It took quite a bit of planning for both when the mobile home park was built in the early 70's. Extrapolate that to the larger community or section of the city. What did the planners know back then that average Joe/Jill citizen didn't?

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         Nathanvilleposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

         In the context of our discussion, your last sentence strikes a chord e.g. “What did the planners know back then that average Joe/Jill citizen didn't?”
         
         Most certainly by the 1980’s the telecommunication companies did know what was coming, more so than average ‘Joe blogs’; for examples:-
         
         1.    By the 1980’s the Government Department I was working for, without Government knowledge or consent, took the ‘Executive Decision’ to upgrade the Department’s telecommunications system running alongside the motorway network, from copper wire to optic fibre (future proofing); at great expense – hiding the expenditure in the accounts for over a decade, in such a way that the Government wouldn’t be aware of how it’s taxpayers money was being spent!!!
         
         Anyway, the outcome is that by the time I retired, our Government Department owned the largest private network in Europe, if not the world e.g. 2,300 miles of optic fibre network across England; and as well as making ‘smart motorways’ possible, it was also saving the Department (taxpayer) huge sums of money because it didn’t have the cost of renting the use of communication lines from British Telecom; plus also, when I retired, our Government Department was earning sum income from renting the use of surplus capacity to a few ‘select’ private companies.
         
         2.    In the 1980’s British Telecom also knew what was coming.  At that time British Telecom was the sole telecommunication company in the UK, and was a nationalised industry (State owned).  One of the prime rules of ‘nationalised industries’ is that they are prohibited from making a profit e.g. any money they make has to be ploughed back into the business; and in that respect, in the early 1980’s British Telecom was at an advanced planning stage to ‘upgrade its copper wire network with optic fibre – But in 1984 Margaret Thatcher privatised it, and as a private company British Telecom abandoned its plans to modernise its infrastructure, and instead just creamed off the profits to its shareholders.
         
         Albeit, in 2012 the Conservative Government dictated to British Telecom that it had to upgrade the infrastructure – which it has done over the past 12 years, now near completion; which is why the UK communication network is going fully digital by the end of next year (2025).
         
         3.    In the early 1990’s, in completion to British Telecom, many small companies started laying their own optic fibre networks in cities across the UK; but due to the high investment costs on the initial layout, and the years it takes to build up a customer base to pay for that initial investment; within a few short years all the small private companies were on the verge of bankruptcy – So Richard Branson took the opportunity to buy up all these small companies cheaply to create a national (nationwide) company in competition with British Telecom (Virgin Media).  Its Virgin Media that I am with (rather than British Telecom) for my telephone, Internet and cable TV.

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            tsmogposted 6 weeks agoin reply to this

            Thanks! Yes, planning is a engineering topic/specialty all to itself. When I was studying to be an architect an option was to specialize in city planning with a given curriculum. That was at a community or 2 year college institute of learning where credits would be transferable to a college/university. Alas. life changed and I was off on an adventure of changes of this and that.
            
            Without researching, relying on memory, Cox Cable came to life in the late '70s in San Diego Calif. That is when cable TV was first offered. The fiber optics infrastructure is mainly underground. A high school bud who I ran cross country and track with went to work for Cox out of high school working his way to an executive position.
            
            Again, based on memory, I think it was the mid '90s that Cox made internet available through their infrastructure. I don't know when phone service came available. I know I switched to it about 2012. I have a bundle package for:
            
            TV
            Internet
            Phone
            
            In San Diego County we essentially have two cable corporations; Cox Cable and Spectrum. They really don't compete with each other as it depends who has the infrastructure in an area.
            
            For instance, I have Cox Cable and Spectrum is not available to me. My brother in another community has Spectrum and no access to Cox Cable. My brother north of us in Orange County has Cox Cable.
            
            The competitors to the cable company was/is the old school telephone line companies like AT&T. That was phone and internet including broadband. Of course, we know their new chapter on their service for that. Then there is Direct TV for both internet and TV via satellite.
            
            I am glad to hear Branson stepped to take opportunity of circumstances that was beneficial to people. Of course, that is capitalism, right?

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               Nathanvilleposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

               Yep, the fibre optics infrastructure is mainly underground.  With reference to your comment:  “In San Diego County we essentially have two cable corporations; Cox Cable and Spectrum. They really don't compete with each other as it depends who has the infrastructure in an area.” 
               
               In the cities in the UK, because that is where Virgin Media has its ‘optics infrastructure’ people do have a choice between the Virgin Media infrastructure and British Telecom’s infrastructure.
               
               Whereas in the towns and villages, there is only the British Telecom’s infrastructures; however, that doesn’t mean that British Telecom has a monopoly outside of the cities – because when Margaret Thatcher (Conservative Government) privatised British Telecom in 1984 they imposed a legal requirement on British Telecom that they have to permit any competitors who wish to offer ‘services’ in competition to British Telecom the ‘legal right’ to use British Telecom’s infrastructure for a nominal usage fee. 
               
               Therefore that allowed satellite TV (SKY, owned by Rupert Murdoch) to offer a TV, Internet, and phone service package, by paying British Telecom nominal rates to use British Telecom’s infrastructure for Internet and phone - in competition to Virgin Media (cable TV) who has its own infrastructure for the full TV, Internet and phone service, in the cities.
               
               As you said, there is also ‘Direct TV’ which in the UK is ‘FreeView’ (terrestrial TV), and internet TV; although both Rupert Murdoch’s (SKY – Satellite TV), and Sir Richard Branson’s (Virgin Media – Cable TV) offer the FreeView channels and Internet TV channels as part of their comprehensive packages, for no extra cost.
               
               Yep, Sir Richard Branson is a capitalist (entrepreneur), he’s the 330th most wealthiest person in the world; making his wealth by being a successful entrepreneur – and I love him e.g. he has a very British attitude towards business of “people before profits”:
               
               Sir Richard Branson’s philosophy on working practices is alien to American way of thinking, and would make most Americans baulk; as should be obvious from this short video interview of Sir Richard Branson’s views on ‘work /life’ balance:  https://youtu.be/V67nDvfNQV0

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                  tsmogposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                  Thanks!
                  
                  I am unsure about licensing rights of one telecom company using another's infrastructure for cable, internet, phone services here in my neck of the woods other than what I shared being Spectrum is not available to me. I do know with utilities that is so.
                  
                  My electricity billing with San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) is two parts; Delivery and Generation. With generation, today, my billing is through 'Community Choice Aggregation'. What occurs is I am credited the SDG&E charge for generation and then billed the CCA rates. So, far it amounts to about a 24% savings.
                  
                  Community Choice Aggregation
                  https://www.sdge.com/customer-choice/co … ggregation
                  
                  If you decide to explore that at the bottom of the landing page is the ability to choose the community to get the skinny for it. My community is Escondido.
                  
                  I was introduced to Branson through Virgin Records years ago particularly with the music genre 'Progressive Rock', i.e. Mike Oldfield, Rick Wakeman, and others. I admire what he has done with his entrepreneurial spirit and capitalist adventures from afar. My ears perk up when I hear his name mentioned in the news or see it in print or online.
                  
                  My interest, just now, piqued from watching the video you shared and I watched a couple more YouTube videos on him. Those two are:
                  
                  The Untold Truth Of Richard Branson by Grunge (10:44 min)
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li9elZeYPxY
                  
                  and,
                  
                  Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin | The Brave Ones by CNBC International TV
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa3zOc_fjiI
                  
                  Interesting, informative, and thought provoking. However, again, it is observing from afar. One thing, I learned, is his ownership of Virgin Racing. Remember, I am a car nut to an extent. The second YouTube video was very interesting as it was a historical perspective of his adventures.

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                     Nathanvilleposted 5 weeks agoin reply to this

                     The supply of electricity (and natural gas) to the homes in Britain has similarities to the arrangement you describe between CCA & SDG&E for yourself in California; but some fundamental differences too.
                     
                     Before composing my reply, I went onto the CCA website to understand their operation, and then tried going onto the SDG&E website, but was blocked – so I got the information I wanted for SDG&E from the Wikipedia instead.
                     
                     Anyway, as far as I can see the fundamental difference (if I understood from Wikipedia correctly) is that SDG&E own the infrastructure that they use to supply your electricity to you, while CCA (a not-for-profit) company aim to purchase cheap ‘Renewable’ Energy on your behalf which then uses the SDG&E to get the electricity to you home:  Have I got anything wrong, or is that the gist of it?
                     
                     In the UK there are three parts (not the two that you have in California):
                     
                     1.    Generation
                     2.    Transmission, and
                     3.    The Utility Company who you pay your bill to.
                     
                     The Transmission is the National Grid (the infrastructure) owned by a private profit making company aptly named ‘National Grid’ – Albeit the Conservative Government are currently in the process of nationalising it so that they can have better control of the energy market as part of the Government’s legal requirement to achieve net zero carbon by 2050 (but that’s another story).
                     
                     The Generation is obviously the power station, windfarms and hydro-plants etc.
                     
                     In simple terms (the process in Britain is):-
                     
                     1.    The National Grid buys the electricity it needs from the Generation companies on a cheapest first and most expensive bases e.g. the National Grid will snap up all the available wind power (the cheapest in the UK), and only buy natural gas to make electricity as a last result (the most expensive).
                     
                     2.    The Utility Companies buy the electricity from the National Grid at wholesale prices (which is how National Grid makes its profit), and then the Utility Companies sell that electricity to the home owner at retail price, using the National Grid infrastructure to get the electricity from A (the source) to B (the home).
                     
                     I don’t know if my explanation is as clear as mud or not?
                     
                     The system, as complicated as it is, was a set up by Margaret Thatcher (then Conservative Prime Minister) when she privatised the whole system in the late 1980s; it was intended to allow open market competition e.g. you shop around and choose which utility company you pay your bill to, in spite of the fact regardless who you pay your bill to, its generally the same electricity coming from the same sources and using the same infrastructure – So in effect the Utility Companies in Britain operate on paper (paper exercise) but don’t do anything physical, other than install electric and gas metres in your home so that they know how much to charge you for your usage – I know I am a bit oversimplifying things, but it’s a system that’s difficult to explain on paper!
                     
                     The Utility Company I’m with is Octopus Energy, I chose them because their “mission is to bring fair energy pricing to everyone.” and sure enough their pricing is a lot cheaper than the original big six.  The Big Six being the 6 original private (profit making) companies that dominated the market when the industry was privatised by Margaret Thatcher. 
                     
                     Octopus Energy was only launched in 2015, but its popularity for good service and good pricing has quickly shot its market share up so that now it’s one of the biggest utility companies in Britain:-
                     
                     Octopus Energy has a policy to invest their profits in Renewable Energy and to only by ‘Renewable Energy’ from the National Grid.
                     
                     CEO of Octopus Energy (30 seconds video):  https://youtu.be/AaejnbrejvY
                     
                     Thanks for the videos on Sir Richard Branson; most enlightening e.g. his tax avoidance, and then criticising other British Companies for trying the same thing (the pot calling the kettle black) – it just goes to show that no one is perfect. 
                     
                     But yeah, he certainly is a lovable, adventurous and interesting character; and it’s cool that Virgin Racing caught your interest, in that it overlaps your interest in cars.  You might be “observing from afar”, as you put it; but I think our perception of Richard Branson seems to be basically the same – ‘One Cool Guy’.

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