More contacts

I was given some information on a State of Alabama agency called Connecting Alabama (http://www.connectingalabama.gov), which is attempting to get all of Alabama on broadband.

I contacted their Jefferson county regional representative, Chelese Beck (http://www.connectingalabama.gov/ca/default.aspx?page=27) .  There are many things that they share with us, especially getting students connected to the internet.  We hope to work with them in achieving this goal.

On the legislative front, we received a letter from Rep. Bachus. The letter acknowledged that Rep. Bachus received our correspondence and indicated that the Congressman would look at the bill regarding low income broadband access once it comes out of committee. 

E-Mail to Rep. Bachus' Office

I sent the following e-mail to Philip Swartzsager, staff member in Rep. Spencer Bachus' office:

Philip,

We spoke last week regarding attempting to get support for broadband access for low income students in Hoover (and the rest of Alabama, for that matter).

At the time, you indicated that you would be doing some more research on the matter and get back to me.

Here are a couple of items to be aware of:

1) In order to get their merger with NBC/Universal approved by the FCC, one of the conditions that Comcast Cable placed upon themselves was the creation of the Internet Essentials program that provides $10.00 per month broadband access to low income families (criteria for low income is that there have to be school age children in the household who are on free or reduced lunches). AT&T is in the process of having their application for merger with T-Mobile approved by the FCC. The clock had stopped on the process but it started again today. I would like Rep. Bachus' suggest to the FCC that one of the conditions of the approval of the merger be that AT&T provide a program like Comcast's Internet Essentials to the customers in their entire service area.

2) I spoke to Sen. Sessions' staff member Graham Hixon last week. Graham was to meet with the FCC this week regarding the merger and will look into the above condition.

3) Please have Rep. Bachus support H.R. 2163, The Broadband Affordability Act of 2011, introduced by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), that basically seeks the same thing as what we're looking for by using the Federal UCC tax.

Please let me know where your office stands on the above.

New Developments

Of the three broadband providers in Hoover, only one actually seemed to be interested in our cause, and that was Bright House Networks.

Robert Smith of Bright House contacted me today and said that they had some high level discussions on the implementation of a program, but they were having some administrative hurdles, which he explained.

Mr. Smith also brought up something that neither Rep. Bachus' office, nor Sen. Sessions' office were aware of, and that is a bill that a Congresswoman from California was trying to get passed.

Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA) has introduced H.R. 2163, The Broadband Affordability Act of 2011

In a nutshell, this piece of legislation does what we are attempting to accomplish. I have calls in to Rep. Bachus' office and Sen. Sessions' office. As soon as I speak with them, it will be time to contact all of your representatives in Washington to get their support on this important bill.

I'll report back when I hear more.

Sen. Sessions Response

I spoke with Graham Hixon from Sen. Sessions' office. I explained what our goal was in detail. Mr. Hixon will be meeting with the FCC soon regarding the AT&T/T-Mobile merger soon and will find out what conditions are being placed on the merger, if any.

It should be noted that Mr. Hixon told me that Comcast originally put the condition of low-cost internet access on the table before the merger was approved.

More to come soon.

Rep. Bachus Called Back

Philip Swartzsager from Rep. Spencer Bachus' office called me back and asked for more information. He was given the address for this blog and indicated that he would call me back once he had done all of his research.
(Updated 8/26/11 to add Rep. Bachus' staff member's last name)

Some New Developments

I still have not responded to Terri's e-mail, however, some new developments have surfaced.

The Comcast Internet Essentials offer was not done entirely out of the goodness of Comcast's heart.  It was actually a condition placed on Comcast by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in order to approve a requested merger between Comcast and NBC/Unversal earlier this year:

Broadband Adoption and Deployment. Comcast will make available to approximately 2.5 million low income households: (i) high-speed Internet access service for less than $10 per month; (ii) personal computers, netbooks, or other computer equipment at a purchase price below $150; and (iii) an array of digital literacy education opportunities. Comcast will also expand its existing broadband networks to reach approximately 400,000 additional homes, provide broadband Internet access service in six additional rural communities, and provide free video and high-speed Internet service to 600 new anchor institutions, such as schools and libraries, in underserved, low-income areas.

This was brought to my attention by not only Skip from Charter Communications, but also a friend locally. 

Currently one of the three companies that I contacted is also in front of the FCC requesting to merge with another company.  AT&T has an application in place to merge with T-Mobile.  I am going to request that a condition be placed on the merger, if approved, that is similar to the condition placed on Comcast.

At this time I have requested a meeting with Congressman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) and Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL).  Both will be in Birmingham during the August recess and I would like to ask for their assistance in this matter. 

I will update as I hear from their offices.

AT&T "Rethink Impossible"

As mentioned in my previous post, Terri Gualano, Regonal Director - Legislative Affairs, AT&T, was first to respond to my first e-mail.  Here's the response:

08/15/11 2:47 pm

Robin, good to hear from you. I know that we give the same type of discount to our landline customers for phone services. With our TV product being relatively new I am not aware of such a program. Would you please allow me some time to research?  Terri

Terri Gualano

AT&T - Alabama

Regional Director-Legislative and External Affairs

I responded with:

Terri,
Thanks for the quick reply.  Please be advised that the Comcast offer is for internet/broadband access only, not for TV service.  What I am looking for is a discounted rate for low-income families on internet access, which in AT&T's case would be the DSL service, not the U-Verse service.

Hope this clarifies my e-mail.

Thanks,

Her response:

08/15/11 3:06 pm

Yes it does.

Terri Gualano

AT&T - Alabama

Regional Director-Legislative and External Affairs

On Tuesday, 8/16/11 I received her next response:

08/16/11 9:03 am

Unfortunately our Lifeline is only extended to phone services. Comcast is testing Lifeline for DSL in limited markets. Hoover is one of the lucky ones. Terri

Terri Gualano

AT&T - Alabama

Regional Director-Legislative and External Affairs

Huh?  What?  Did she understand what I was asking?  I needed to clarify, so I sent out this e-mail:

Terri,

Thanks for your reply.

My original e-mail was to request a meeting with the AT&T representative who I could talk to about implementing a program like Comcast's in Hoover.  If you are not that person, could you direct me to the correct person?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Robin

Well, that should clear it up, right?  Nothing more than a request to meet with someone to discuss a possible discounted program for internet access in Hoover.  And if she wasn't the person to contact, tell me who is. (Sidenote:  After I sent the above e-mail, I contacted State Representative Paul DeMarco to see if he had any insight into something we could do.  My reason for contacting Mr. DeMarco was Terri's title "Regional Director - Legislative and External Affairs".  I figured Mr. DeMarco might know Terri.  Mr. DeMarco does know her and offered his assistance should I need it.

One thing I have to say about Ms. Gualano is that she is very prompt in responding to e-mails.  Here was her response:

08/16/11 10:24 am

I would be the correct person. I have discussed the issue with our Regulatory group and we have no future plans to implement such a program. Thank you for your interest.

Terri Gualano

AT&T - Alabama

Regional Director-Legislative and External Affairs

Ouch.  The title of this post is "Rethink Impossible", a play on words of AT&T's slogan, which is in the signature line of each of Terri's e-mails:

Sent to you by AT&T... America's Fastest Mobile Broadband Network. Rethink Possible!

Apparently when it comes to providing a discount to disadvantaged children, don't think that's possible...

I have not responded to that e-mail yet.  My original e-mail was copied to Jon Anderson, Hoover Editor of the Birmingham News, and to Janice Rogers of WBRC Fox6.  Both indicated they would like to possibly do a story on this.