July 2006 Archives

DIRECTV recently announced that it is delaying the launch of its new High-Definition TV DVR until the fall. The company initially said the HD-DVR would be available in the spring of this year, but has changed their prediction several times during the last few months. They have continued adding local HDTV channels to their satellite broadcasts in numerous major markets, but until the HD-DVR becomes available, the only way to watch those broadcasts is live. Satellite Rival Dish Network has had a comparable HD-DVR on the market since February.

AOL, the Internet branch of Time Warner Inc., is revamping its online video Web site with more than 45 video-on-demand channels and an improved search engine to attract broadband users. Aolvideo.com will allow users to watch music videos and movie trailers from companies such as MTV and Warner Bros. They will begin testing the site on Aug. 4 and then make it available to all viewers on Aug. 22.

The video-on-demand online channels will offer TV programs such as "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Laguna Beach" for $1.99 per episode, and the site may eventually sell movies to download. AOL will also make money from selling online ads as users watch movie trailers and home-made videos for free as part of their initiative to break into the lucrative online video search market currently dominated by Yahoo! and Google.

According to new research, adults in households that have digital video recorders (DVRs) actually watch less TV than adults in the general population. The findings by Mediamark Research, an audience-measurement firm, seem to conflict with major broadcast network researchers who told advertisers in November that people in households with a DVR watched 12 percent more hours of TV a day than those without. David F. Poltrack, chief research officer for CBS, said the Mediamark numbers were unreliable, because they were derived from people's often-low reports of their own TV watching. The figures suggesting that adults who use a DVR watch more television come from Arbitron's 2,000-person machine-recorded survey in the spring of 2005, but it covered only the Houston market.

While Verizon Wireless proudly claims its wireless "Broadband Access" service is unlimited, some customers are finding Verizon's definition doesn't match their expectations. The service uses a technology called EV-DO that allows users to access the Internet at high speeds from their laptops, just about anywhere. Verizon labels this service "broadband" because it has average download speeds of 400-700 kilobytes per second. However, when customers use it like they would other broadband connections, Verizon is likely to cancel their account, according to ConsumerAffairs.com.

Under Verizon's terms and conditions, the company hardly goes out of its way to explain the limits on their definition of "unlimited broadband access." Customers who take the time to read the fine print will find that "services cannot be used: (1) for uploading, downloading or streaming of movies, music or games; (2) with server devices or with host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, Voice over IP (VoIP), automated machine-to-machine connections, or peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing." Jeffrey Nelson, Verizon Wireless spokesman, said that calling the service "unlimited" is not misleading. "It's very clear in all the legal materials we put out," he said. "It's unlimited amounts of data for certain types of data."

In a 4-0 decision last week, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to end regulations requiring incumbent telecommunications carriers to share their DSL broadband connections with competitors. The regulations allowed competitors such as Earthlink to offer their DSL services over lines owned by telecommunication giants AT&T and Verizon. While larger Internet service providers (ISPs) like Earthlink have agreements with these companies allowing them to offer service over the lines, smaller ISPs may be left in the dark after the DSL network-sharing rules end in a year. Read more about the decision in the article FCC Removes DSL Network-Sharing Rules.

The AT&T Foundation, the philanthropic arm of AT&T Inc., recently announced a $1.6 million AT&T AccessAll grant to the National Urban League to support opportunities for technology-career development for African Americans. Announced at the Urban League's national conference today in Atlanta, the AT&T Foundation grant will launch five new Digital Career Academies, as well as expand offerings at 11 existing academies located across the country. The grant is part of the three-year $100 million AT&T AccessAll initiative to provide technology access to underserved communities.

The Digital Career Academies program builds on the success of a 2004 AT&T Foundation grant initiative, which provided $1,070,000 to the National Urban League to launch the initial 11 technology career academies. Through the program, the Urban League provided information-technology career training in computer and video-game programming, 3-D animation, digital radio and IT administration.

Verizon will widen its broadband speed advantage over other telecom and cable TV companies by installing equipment from Alcatel, Motorola and Tellabs that will dramatically increase speeds on the company's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network. Verizon plans to deploy the Alcatel equipment first, to be followed by Motorola and Tellabs, though this is subject to finalizing definitive agreements.

Initially, the new equipment will be capable of increasing broadband speeds by up to four times downstream to the customer's home and by up to eight times upstream back to the Internet on Verizon's FTTP network. To read more about what Verizon will be able to offer their DSL customers, you can read this Verizon press release.

EMBARQ recently announced that Visage Mobile, the leading enabler of private-label wireless services, will provide the wireless operations platform for EMBARQ's wireless product offer that launched in June. The deal allows EMBARQ, the fifth largest local exchange carrier in the United States, to deliver integrated telecom bundles that include wireless service enabled by Visage Mobile.

Beginning this week, BellSouth and TiVo will launch the first of a variety of co-marketing initiatives that promote BellSouth FastAccess DSL and TiVo. Through an agreement with TiVo, select FastAccess DSL subscribers will receive special pricing on the TiVo box and service. These customers can further enhance their already reliable, high-speed Internet service with TiVo's broadband applications, including online scheduling, TiVoToGo transfers, TiVo Guru Guide recommendations, streaming radio, movie browsing and TiVo's easy-to-use Home Media features.

"TiVo is pleased to work with BellSouth on this powerful marketing initiative," said Naveen Chopra, vice president of business development at TiVo. "With its strong southeastern presence and renowned customer satisfaction, BellSouth is uniquely positioned to market the benefits of a broadband-connected TiVo Box. Together, we can turn a DSL Internet connection into a pipeline for video content delivered directly to the television." You can read this BellSouth press release to find out more about this marketing initiative.

Stephanie posted in May about AT&T phasing out the Cingular brand, and it looks like AT&T plans to continue the trend when its purchase of BellSouth is approved. AT&T is banking its future on the fact that, despite problems in the past, it is still the most recognizable name in the phone business. Like Verizon and other telecommunications companies, AT&T is also selling bundles of services and wants to have a single brand for all its products.

"The BellSouth and Cingular names are not just at the iconic level globally," said Wendy Clark, vice president for advertising at AT&T, in a recent New York Times article. "When you have an integrated solution, the nomenclature of wireless and wireline will become blurred to the point where you need a single brand. It's about one-stop shopping." The rebranding effort will be a large undertaking, and not without risks. BellSouth and Cingular don't have the history of the AT&T brand, but the companies currently have a more than 70 million customers between them.

AT&T also plans to organize a national campaign to reintroduce its brand. The company declined to provide specifics about the campaign, but said the scale and message would be in line with their current efforts to rename SBC, which has included a redesigned blue globe and the catchphrase "Your World. Delivered."

You can read more about AT&T's plan in the New York Times article AT&T Bets Its Brand Is More Than Nostalgia.

AOL announced that it is testing closed-captioning for the deaf and hearing-imparing on its online video. The captioned video will initially feature a variety of content from CNN, including breaking news and entertainment, with more captioned content to be introducted over the next few months. Available through AOL's paid service and the free AOL.com, the closed-captioned content can be activated by clicking on a "CC" button displayed on its media player. The video is made available as part of a partnership between AOL and WGBH's Media Access group, the Boston-based public broadcast company that invented TV captioning in the early 1970s.

AT&T announced that CapTel products are now available to customers in Michigan. A new technology, developed by Ultratec Inc. that allows individuals with hearing loss to view word-for-word captions of their telephone conversations, CapTel is designed for individuals who have good speech but do not hear well over the phone.

To learn more about this service, read the AT&T press release.

BellSouth shareholders voted to approve its merger with AT&T. BellSouth and AT&T jointly own Cingular Wireless, the nation's largest wireless voice and data provider. The purchase of BellSouth will bring Cingular Wireless under one company, allowing AT&T to offer a wider variety of services to combat wireless rivals and cable television companies. In an effort to reduce costs and be more competitive in the increasingly crowded telecommunications sector, the company has said it expects to cut around 10,000 jobs following the acquisition.

According to a survey of home buyers by HomePages.com, 70 percent of consumers say rising gas prices have become an important consideration when deciding where to live. Nearly half of all home buyers ranked rising gas prices as "very important."

If you are want to factor your fuel budget into your moving decision, start your house search close to the office to cut down on commute time. Look for housing that is near desired local services and amenities, such as restaurants, coffee shops, and schools.

To save money while you are searching for a home, do your homework online. Search realtor sites and use online moving tools like the ones Stephanie wrote about in May. You can also check out HomePages^TM, a Web site that helps you find detailed information on communities. View neighborhoods, streets and homes through their aerial mapping technology before you drive to see anything in person.

Verizon Wireless struck a blow to cell phone telemarketing this week when it was granted a permanent injunction blocking a Miami telemarketer from making automated calls to Verizon customers.

Verizon began its fight against the calls in February when it sued All Star Vacations and Marketing Group Inc., along with another Florida travel company, for illegally soliciting wireless phone customers. The cell phone provider said more than 500,000 of its customers received telephone calls from All Star on behalf of the two travel companies. Verizon and All Star eventually agreed on the injunction on May 24, which was later entered into the New Jersey Superior Court. All Star agreed to pay $5,000 in damages to Verizon, which will donate the money to Casa de Esperenza, an organization working to prevent violence in Latino communities.

NBC announced that it will let Netflix subscribers rent the premier episodes of two new drama series before the shows air on TV. Starting Aug. 5, Netflix members can rent the debut episodes of "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "Kidnapped", about six weeks before they premiere on television. The DVDs will also have preview trailers of other fall dramas airing on NBC. The network hopes to generate crucial word-of-mouth buzz for the shows in an effort to climb out of third place in the ratings. Netflix will run online ads for the DVDs, while NBC will promote them on network spots.

The first Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Player, the DMP-BD10, has been announced by Panasonic. The player, along with a matching receiver (SA-XR700) and speaker system (SB-TP1000), will be available to buy in September. Blu-ray is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association, a group of the world's leading consumer electronics and computer manufacturers, including Apple, Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson.

You can read more about Panasonic's Blu-ray Disc Player in the article Panasonic Announces Blu-ray Disc HD Home Theater. Additionally, you can go to Panasonic's Web site on Blu-ray technology for more information.

Motorola and Yahoo! announced that they will sell new Motorola devices preloaded with Yahoo! services starting in 2007. The phones will come with Yahoo! Go for Mobile, a Web application that includes Yahoo's mail, search, address book and local information programs, and be available on millions of handsets in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Motorola and Yahoo! plan to jointly market the new handsets.

Read more about this new partnership in Motorola's press release.

The state Supreme Court ruled recently that Nevada Power could collect $665 million from customers in southern Nevada. The high court added $180 million more to the $485 million that Las Vegas-based Nevada Power Co. was allowed recover by the state Public Utilities Commission. The decision grants them more than two-thirds of the $922 million the company initially sought in the heavily disputed case.

State Consumer Advocate Eric Witkoski said the unanimous Supreme Court ruling could result in an "unfair" 9 percent increase in Las Vegas-area electricity rates if the utility seeks to recover the money all in one year.

Read more about the decision in the article State high court grants big Nevada Power rate increase.

For most people, home networking means connecting a digital video recorder (DVR) to more than one TV or making a broadband connection from anywhere in the house. While more complicated home entertainment networks that connect consumer electronics with each other or with PCs are still largely a novelty, research firm Parks Associates reports that these networks are set to become much more commonplace, increasing from the four million households currently networked to 30 million by 2010.

In a study released earlier this month, Parks analysts examined such factors as market demands, physical requirements, and the profiles of early adopters of connected entertainment networks. They found that consumers with broadband connections were most likely to have networked homes.

Learn more about this trend in the article Study: Home networking to hit home.

YouTube announced this week that its viewers are now watching more than 100 million videos per day. The site holds the leading position in online video with 29 percent of the multimedia entertainment market in the United States, according to the latest weekly data from Web measurement site Hitwise. Delivered for free, YouTube videos account for 60 percent of all videos watched online. In June alone, 2.5 billion videos were watched on the site. More than 65,000 videos are now uploaded daily to YouTube, up from 50,000 in May, the company said. The site also boasts nearly 20 million unique users per month, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

YouTube is currently developing advertising and other means of generating revenue to support the site, including partnerships with NBC and Hollywood production companies.

AT&T announced a distribution agreement with MTV Networks and BET Networks to deliver MTVN and BET linear, high-definition, on-demand and digital music programming as part of the AT&T U-verse TV℠ channel lineup.

"The MTV Networks and BET Networks brands are among the strongest in television," said Dan York, head of programming, AT&T Operations Inc. "We are very happy to be offering the wide array of MTV Networks and BET Networks program services to AT&T U-verse customers."

AT&T U-verse TV is delivered by Project Lightspeed, the company's initiative to expand the fiber-optics network deeper into neighborhoods to deliver U-verse TV, AT&T Yahoo!® High-Speed Internet U-verse Enabled and, in the future, Voice over IP services. Through its subsidiaries, AT&T expects to reach nearly 19 million households by the end of 2008.

For a full listing of the channels that will be available, check out the AT&T press release.

The U.S. Senate will not vote on a bill to ban Internet gambling before the chamber takes its August recess. Supporters of the legislation were trying to push it through the Senate quickly following the arrest of David Carruthers, the chief executive of BETonSPORTS, on charges of racketeering and conspiracy. However,  lawmakers are still working on the bill and will not be able to hold a floor vote before the Senate recesses for its August vacation.

Almost identical to legislation overwhelmingly approved earlier in July by the U.S. House of Representatives, the Republican-backed bill would prohibit most forms of Internet gambling and make it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites. Critics of the bill contend that it is an election-year appeal to the party's conservative base, but supporters claim legislation is needed to clarify that a 1961 federal law banning sports betting also covers an array of online gambling.

AT&T and Wi-Fi start-up MetroFi submitted a proposal to build and operate a wireless broadband network in Riverside, California. The proposed network would provide free Internet access throughout the city with download speeds of 500Kbps and upload speeds of 256Kbps. AT&T will include a persistent advertisement on every Web page in exchange for the free access and proposed offering a paid service to Riverside residents allowing them to subscribe to a 1Mbps download broadband service.

When cities began looking into building Wi-Fi networks, phone and cable companies like AT&T, Comcast and Time Warner lobbied against them. They feared that cities owning and operating Wi-Fi networks would allow them to unfairly control the market. But now that many cities are considering partnerships with private firms, those same companies are beginning to bid for the chance to build the networks.

Read more about the bid at CNETnews.com.

According to iDefense, a computer security group, more than one million users of MySpace.com and other Web sites may have been infected with adware spread by a banner advertisement for a site called deckoutyourdeck.com. The banner appeared in user profiles on MySpace and exploits a problem in the way Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser handles Windows Metafile (WMF) image files. MySpace has been targeted by hackers because of its popularity, but site officials contacted in London had no immediate comment.

Learn more about this threat in the article Ad Dishes Up Adware to More Than a Million PCs.

According to the J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study^SM released today, overall customer satisfaction falls off substantially among residential customers served by the nation's 76 largest electric utilities. Allegheny Power, E.ON U.S., Omaha Public Power District, PPL Utilities, Salt River Project and Southern Company lead the rankings in their perspective regions.

"Electricity prices and consumption are both up sharply, and customers are critical about how much they're now spending on electricity," said Alan Destribats, executive director of the utility practice at J.D. Power and Associates. "The leading utilities are curbing the impact of this by offering more pricing options such as time-of-use or load-control rates, and they work hard to keep their customers informed and educated about how to conserve energy and reduce their electric bills."

The study results are based on customer responses from 26,688 telephone interviews conducted from March 23, 2006, through June 6, 2006, among residential customers of the 76 largest electric utilities across the continental United States.

For more details on the results of this survey, read the J.D. Power and Associates press release.

Online movie seller CinemaNow recently unveiled a new service that allows customers to legally download a movie from the Internet and copy it onto a DVD that can be played on any standard DVD player. This new service is a major step for Hollywood as more movie and television studios are looking to offer movies and TV shows to consumers via the Web for playback on TVs and portable DVD players.

The service will first offer only 100 older titles, such as 2003's "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and 1992's "Scent of a Woman." The service is expected to grow, with some industry watchers predicting downloads could replace renters and retailers such as Blockbuster and Netflix in the $24 billion home DVD business.

Priced at $8.99 and up, downloads will include the movies plus the menus, games or director interviews that were part of the original DVDs. To protect against piracy, the technology allows users to burn only one copy. Downloading and burning one movie should take a few hours depending on content, broadband connections and other factors.

The Cox Communications advertising campaign featuring the slogan "Your Friend in the Digital Age" was recently inducted into the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) Hall of Fame. Established in 1997, the Hall of Fame honors the most notable, most influential and most memorable marketing campaigns from cable's past and present. CTAM singled out Cox's successful marketing campaign that focused on the consumer, advanced new products, raised customer satisfaction and grew its customer base.

When high-speed internet was introduced in 1996 and digital phone in 1997, they launched customer-friendly bundled billing and one phone number/Web site for all services. Marketing campaigns carried the slogan "Your Friend in the Digital Age" and showcased Cox's ability to deliver reliable services with premier customer care.

From 1999 to 2005, Cox's customer base grew to six million. They extended customer care innovations online, which raised overall customer satisfaction to 80 percent.  Today, their customer satisfaction ratings have improved to almost 84 percent and 44 percent of their customers subscribe to bundled services.

Past inductees to the Hall of Fame include MTV's "I Want My MTV" and ESPN's "This is Sportscenter" campaigns. See if your favorite ads made the the Hall of Fame here.

As more TV viewers use digital video recorders (DVRs) to watch their favorite shows, networks and advertisers are beginning to look for ways to keep them from skipping over advertisements. According Mike Shaw, ABC's President of Advertising Sales, the network has held discussion on the use of technology that would disable the fast-forward button on DVRs, with the primary goal to allow TV commercials to run as intended.

While some industry experts fear taking away the fast-forward button would lead to consumer backlash, Shaw disagrees. "We're just training a new generation of viewers to skip commercials because they can," he contends. "I'm not sure that the driving reason to get a DVR in the first place is just to skip commercials. I don't fundamentally believe that. People can understand in order to have convenience and on-demand (options), that you can't skip commercials."

Shaw said it's crucial for ABC and other networks to hold these discussions now while DVR penetration is still in its early stages. DVRs are currently in approximately 10 percent of U.S. TV households.

Read more about Shaw's comments in the article ABC hopes to halt fast forwarding.

Qwest Communications and AT&T have asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for forbearance from certain rules being applied to their broadband services. Qwest said its request does not apply to the broadband services it offers as part of its Internet access service, while AT&T said their appeal addresses the non-TDM broadband services they and other Bell companies offer.

Verizon was granted the relief by the FCC in March, upsetting competitive carriers who feared Verizon would no longer make Universal Service Fund contributions from its business broadband services proceeds. However, Verizon said they would continue making payments after the forbearance, as did Quest and AT&T in their recent request. An AT&T spokesperson said the provider's main concern was relief from common carrier rules so it can determine its own rates, terms and conditions for wholesale customers.

Missouri Goveneor Matt Blut declared a state of emergency and granted a request by the mayor of St. Louis to send in the National Guard to evacuate people after storms knocked out power to nearly 500,000 homes and businesses in the area. With forecasters expecting another day of 100-degree heat, extending the heat wave that has killed at least 17 people across the country, 250 troops were dispatched to clear debris and transport people from hot homes to cooling centers, while utility crews raced to restore electricity. "We can't overemphasize the danger of this heat," Mayor Francis Slay said. "The longer the heat goes on and the power is out, the riskier it is."

Ameren spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said the utility called in every worker, every available contractor, and even asked other utility companies to send crews to St. Louis. "This is the worst damage in the history of the company," Gallagher said. The utility estimated it could take three to five days to fully restore power to the city. Read more about this breaking story at MSNBC.com.

With more workers objecting to the noisy beeps and ring tones from personal calls, cell phone use at work is being limited by many companies, USA Today recently reported   

They quoted a recent survey by staffing company Ranstad USA and the Society for Human Resource Management that reported 30 percent of employees cited cell phones ringing at work as their number one pet peeve at the office. The survey also found that that more than a third of companies contacted have put in place policies to address the issue.

Noise and distraction were listed as the most important reasons for the limits. More than half of workers surveyed said they get impatient or angry when a coworker stops a conversation because of an incoming wireless call, according to a Sprint survey quoted in the article. In addition, cell phones with the ability to take pictures or watch video clips are in danger of being banned or limited because of their effect on productivity.

USA Today also reported that lack of productivity and annoyance aren't the only reasons for a cell phone ban. Safety is can be a factor, as employers may be liable in an accident even if an employee is using his or her own phone and doing business outside normal working hours.

Don't forget that July is National Cell Phone Etiquette Month. Now is a great time to brush up on your cell phone do's and don'ts.

Last month, Stephanie reported that Sirius and XM may hault production of radios. Sirius is now reporting it has instructed some of its manufacturers to stop making radios that do not comply with current federal emissions and frequency rules. Rival XM Satellite Radio made a similar move related to models with FM transmitters, which allow consumers to play the satellite service on a traditional radio.

In a recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Sirius stated that the Federal Communications Commission was continuing its review of the products. The company believes its radios currently in production comply with applicable FCC rules, and reassured consumers that no health or safety issues are involved with the radios they have stopped producing. Sirius also said that factory-installed radios in new vehicles are not affected.

Golfer Ben Crenshaw recently signed an endorsement deal with Time Warner Cable to become its newest spokesperson. Crenshaw will promote Time Warner Cable high-speed Internet, cable and phone services through print and media ads and corporate outings for the next three years. A professional golfer for 33 years, Crenshaw won the Masters in 1984 and 1995 and captained the last winning U.S. Ryder Cup team in 1999.

In her testimony before the House Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization of the Committee on Government Reform, Joslyn Read, assistant vice president, regulatory affairs, for Hughes Network Systems, urged the federal government to provide economic support to encourage the adoption of broadband communications essential for teleworking and Continuity of Operations contingencies.

Testifying on behalf of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and Hughes, Read also stressed the importance of ensuring that employees within the Washington Metropolitan area and beyond have access to a high-speed broadband connection in order to enjoy all the benefits of teleworking. Read noted that because of the high cost of building land-based infrastructure in rural locations, satellite broadband technology is often the best and only option for gaining that access.

To learn more, check out the Hughes press release.

AT&T has officially launched Homezone, a new service that offers digital video recording, movies on demand, photo- and music-sharing, and Web-based remote access through AT&T and their satellite TV partner EchoStar Communications. Initially available in Ohio and San Antonio, Texas, a broader launch is planned for the coming months. According to AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook, Homezone is meant to be an alternative to AT&T's Web-based television service U-Verse, which runs on fiber optic networks, for customers who live in areas without fiber deployment. Homezone will be available at various prices depending on features such as long-distance calling, channels and Internet speed.

Instant messaging officially entered the business world yesterday when AOL unveiled its new IM service AIM Pro. Featuring security and online meeting functions aimed at corporate users, the  service is currently free for anyone to use. AIM Pro integrates with Microsoft Outlook's calendar and corporate directory and offers one-click access to WebEx voice and video conferencing and collaboration services. Users will also have the option to use their business e-mail addresses as their AIM screen names.

Safety-conscience IT managers will be happy to note that AIM Pro includes business-grade security, SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption and automatic antivirus file scanning. The tabbed Buddy List features new modules for people searches, listening to news-related podcasts, and access to Wall Street Journal finance, technology and business stories as well as stock quotes and market data from AOL Finance.

"Over 14 million people already use the AIM service as a daily business tool. We designed AIM Pro to be a complete instant messaging and desktop collaboration solution tailored specifically to their needs," said John McKinley, president, AOL Digital Services.

To learn more, read AOL's press release or download AIM Pro free of charge at www.aol.com/aimpro.

Services that let consumers make phone calls over the Internet are building momentum. According to Yankee Group research, the consumer market for voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling grew by more than 250 percent, with approximately 3 million people subscribing to a VoIP service last year. The trend should continue, with subscriber numbers expected to jump this year to a projected 8.4 million. By 2009, the Yankee Group predicts that there will be 28.5 million VoIP users in the United States.

VoIP pioneers such as Vonage and Skype have accounted for the majority of Internet telephony services in the past, but now other companies are entering the market. Time Warner signed up 270,000 digital phone subscribers in the first quarter of 2006, its biggest gain ever. Comcast, the largest cable provider in the United States, added 211,000 new phone customers during the same quarter, more than it had signed up during all of 2005. Even Internet companies such as AOL, Google, EarthLink and Yahoo are getting into the game with services that let PC users make calls not only between PCs but also from their computers to regular phones.

If you are thinking about trying VoIP, click here to see if WhiteFence has offers available in your area.

If you decide to go with a professional company to help you move, there are a few things you can do to make sure your experience is smooth and cost-effective.

First, it is important to try to make arrangements for your move well in advance, at least four to six weeks before the moving date. Choosing the best time to move can also save you money. Off-season is usually anything but June or July and any time other than the first and last of the month.

Next, make sure to research different movers to compare their services. Find out who the best movers are in your area by asking friends about their experiences and checking with the Better Business Bureau or other consumer organizations in your local area.

It is also a good idea to choose a company that participates in the American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA) Certified Mover and Van Line Program®. AMSA Certified Movers and Van Lines are companies that have voluntarily agreed to abide by a Code of Conduct that requires complete disclosure of moving information to consumers, written estimates of charges, timely service and prompt response to claims and complaints. They have also agreed to arbitrate disputes of up to $5,000 arising from loss or damage to the articles in your shipment.

Once you have compiled a list of movers, the next step is to inform them of the destination and timing of your move. Ask them about the types of services they offer. Make sure they explain their estimates in detail and give you a copy. In addition to brochures explaining their various services, moving companies should give you a copy of a consumer booklet entitled "Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move" and information regarding their participation in a Dispute Settlement Program. Both are requirements of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

Before you make your final choice, make sure you understand:

• The rates and charges that will apply
• The mover's liability for your belongings
• How pickup and delivery will work
• What claims protection you have

With this information you can carefully compare to see which mover best suits your needs and budget.

Is your home theater system a bit cramped? Sony has a solution for you. Sony will be releasing two packaged home theater solutions that will integrate a 32 inch, high definition LCD TV with a Sony home theater system that features an audio unit with a single-disc DVD/CD/SA-CD player and a digital amplifier and can slide up or down to hide or show the LCD. Both space-saving systems will be available in the fall from the SonyStyle online store. To read more about the systems, you can read the article Sony Introduces Space-Saving Home Theater Systems.

With the completion of the spin-off of Alltel Corporation's landline business merger with VALOR Communications Group Inc., Windstream Corp. today announced its formation as a public company, creating the largest telecommunications and entertainment services company focused on serving rural America. Windstream common stock begins trading July 18, 2006, on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WIN.

Headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, Windstream has 8,000 employees and offers voice, broadband and digital TV services in 16 states. The company has 55 retail stores and operates a directory publishing and communications product supply business. Windstream broadband service is expected to be available to approximately 80 percent of the company's customers by the end of the year, featuring speeds of up to 6.0 Mb.

Jeffery Gardner, former executive vice president and chief financial officer of Alltel, is president and CEO of the new company. "VALOR is a very good fit with the Alltel wireline business and the combined companies will add value for our shareholders and provide quality service for our customers," Gardner said.

Are you interested in all the new communication technologies but are worried they will be too complicated? AT&T Inc. has announced a new Web site designed to help consumers get the most out of the "Digital Lifestyle." New online tutorials, available at www.att.com/choice, invite consumers to a hands-on experience with communications and entertainment products and services offered by AT&T, including AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet, AT&T| DISH Network and Cingular Wireless.

The site will launch with demos focused around AT&T's most popular services and features. The company will add additional tutorials every few weeks. The tutorials, through 60-second live action video vignettes, will demonstrate how easy AT&T products and services are to use. Initially, consumers will learn easy tips and tricks for:

• Storing and sharing photos online
• Recording and viewing digital content on a digital video recorder
• Setting up and managing a wireless home network

WhiteFence now offers Cebridge Digital Cable and High-Speed Internet services for most of Louisiana and rural parts of Texas. Cebridge Connections serves more than 1.3 million customers across hundred of communities in more than 15 states. Cebridge's full line of TV and high-speed Internet services, created especially for residential customers, offers tons of features that can turn your home into entertainment central.

Verizon announced yesterday that FiOS can offer speeds that will be among the fastest in the nation. According to Verizon, their FiOS fiber-supported service can deliver up to 50 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream. To read more about this blazing fast service, you can read the article FiOS in Fast Lane with 50 Mbps Service.

Last week, EMBARQ launched EMBARQ Together Phone PaQ(SM), a service bundle that includes a new integrated voicemail service making it easier for customers to use their home and wireless phones to stay connected and keep informed.

A key feature this new bundle is EMBARQ(TM) One Voicemail. This allows customers who have both a home phone and wireless phone to retrieve all of their voicemail messages from one mailbox, eliminating the need to check multiple voicemail boxes. Customers are notified on both devices when they have a message and can listen to their messages on either.

In addition to EMBARQ(TM) One Voicemail, the EMBARQ Together Phone PaQ(SM) has several other distinctive features including free calling to the home phone from your wireless phone, a combined home phone and wireless bill and a single customer service number for both services. The most popular calling features currently on the market are also part of the bundle, including Caller ID, Call Waiting and Call Forwarding with the option to add picture mail, more text messaging and Internet access for an additional monthly charge.

Cox Communication customers can expect few changes in cable TV and high-speed Internet services during the change to Suddenlink. The only changes, according to Gene Regan, Suddenlink's director of corporate communications, will be the normal business changes such as new signs and new logos on bills and trucks. The e-mail domains for customers with high-speed Internet service will soon change as well, with customers having between 60 and 90 days during which old e-mail will be forwarded to the new account. If you are a Cox or Cebridge customer, be on the look out for a new logo on your cable bill beginning this month. 

Utility companies from California to New York are gearing up for the heat wave currently effecting most of the United States. Electricity demands have been pushed to record levels in Texas, California, Arizona and the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions.

"We are prepared for hot temperatures and high demand in the summer," said Dottie Roark, spokeswoman for Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which oversees the power grid for most of Texas. "We don't expect any problems." Commonwealth Edison Co., serving about 3.7 million customers in Chicago and northern Illinois, scheduled extra work crews that can respond quickly if problems arise. Like other utilities, Commonwealth is prepared to postpone scheduled maintenance if necessary.

Check out the Natural Gas and Electricity News section of the Home Services Guide for tips on how to conserve energy this summer to save money and lower the demand for electricity.

Fox Interactive Media announced last week that they are creating a multimedia campaign to spread advice regarding online safety. Through a partnership with the National PTA and Common Sense Media, they plan to air TV and Web ads, as well as create informational materials. Public-service announcements will feature Kiefer Sutherland, star of Fox's "24", and play on Fox-owned television networks, as well as Fox's online properties. Common Sense, a nonprofit organization that specializes in family-oriented reviews of movies, TV, games and Web sites, will publish an "Internet Survival Guide for Parents" to accompany the announcements. To read more about this new program, check out CNET's article Fox launches online-safety campaign.

BellSouth is featuring live Internet broadcasts of key speeches and other events from the 97th Annual NAACP Annual Convention, July 16-20. This year's convention marks BellSouth's ninth consecutive year bringing the convention to NAACP members and supporters worldwide. The Webcast features video and audio feeds, as well as a photo gallery of speakers and events surrounding the convention. Archived, on-demand video access of speeches and the photo gallery will be available following the broadcasts. To view the Webcast, visit www.naacpwebcast.com.

Bright House Networks Digital Cable, Digital Phone, and High-Speed Internet are now available in bundles through WhiteFence in Orlando, Florida.  Bright House currently serves more than 2 million customers in several large markets including Bakersfield, California; Birmingham, Alabama; Detroit, Michigan; Indianapolis, Indiana; Orlando, Florida and Tampa Bay, Florida. 

Cox Communications Inc., the largest cable telephone service provider in the nation, officially announced its launch of Cox Digital Telephone. Cox will begin offering the service in several markets soon, with availability in all their markets by the end of year. They also plan to continue to add telephone service in the communities they serve in early 2007. To learn more about this product launch, check out Cox's official news release.

DSL appears to be the service of choice for broadband users throughout the world. According to the latest figures from the DSL Forum, DSL subscriptions worldwide have grown 39 percent over the last year, surpassing the previous mark of 150 million. The United States, with 22.2 million, is second only to China in total new subscribers. In the past year, there were 5.6 million new DSL subscribers in the United States, a growth of 34 percent compared to 21.9 percent for cable broadband access. To learn more about this report, visit DSLForum.org.

Yesterday, the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) approved Time Warner Cable and Comcast's acquisition of Adelphia properties. The FCC seems to have appeased most of the critics of the deal by putting some conditions on  it, including an important condition governing competitor access to regional sports networks affiliated with the cable giants. To find out more about the deal and the FCC's approval of it, you can read the article Most Everyone Happy With FCC's Adelphia Decision.

For the first time, phone service offered by cable companies drew the highest customer-service ratings in five out of six U.S. regions in a J.D. Power and Associates study.

Cox Communications Inc., the only cable company to take top honors in just one region in last year's study, ranked highest the Northeast, West and Southwest, half of the six regions defined by J.D. Powers. Other top cable companies include Time Warner Inc., who lead the North Central region, and Bright House Networks, with the top spot in the Southeast. This year, Verizon Communications Inc. was the only traditional phone company ranked highest in one of its territories, leading the Mid-Atlantic region. Attributes used to rank the carriers included reliability, billing, customer service and promotions.

To see all the results of this survey, visit the J.D. Power Consumer Center.

Founded in 1989, Talk America is a communications provider offering local and long distance telephone services to residential and small business customers in the United States.  They currently service up to 1.5 million customers nationwide.  You can order their local and long distance telephone service in Georgia, Michigan and Ohio as well as bundle packages (including local phone service, long distance phone service and high-speed Internet) throughout Georgia and Michigan.

Road Runner, the high-speed broadband service provider owned by Time Warner Cable, topped the inaugural customer experience survey report "Net Promoter Industry Report 2006: Telecommunications©".Compiled by Satmetrix Systems Inc., an enterprise customer experience management company and co-developer of the Net Promoter® Score, the report identifies the best and the worst Net Promoter rankings within the U.S. telecommunications industry. Road Runner's Net Promoter Score of 56 percent was the highest among the 33 top U.S. telecommunications organizations the report ranked. The Net Promoter Score is based on actual customer feedback data and links a customer's experience to profitable growth. For more on this report, check out the Satmetrix press release.

Cebridge Connections, soon to be Suddenlink Communications, is one of the 10 largest cable operators in the United States. Recently, Cebridge announced that it will be using a VoIP system from Nortel to provide a suite of telephone and multimedia services to its customers. The system is comprised of network design, as well as integration, management and maintenance services from the Nortel Global Services portfolio. Slated to begin later this year, the project should be completed by the end of 2007. For more information, you can read the article Suddenlink, Nortel to Provide Cable VoIP Service.

AOL is considering offering its services for free to customers with a broadband Internet connection, according to a recent story in the Wall Street Journal. Under this new plan, AOL would stop charging subscription fees for services like e-mail and anti-virus protection for users with high-speed Internet access or a dial-up service from another provider, the WSJ source said. However, AOL dial-up users would still be required to pay for their service.

With RCN as your local phone service, you'll pay rates competitive with, or less than, your current provider. You can save up to 50 percent a month on your bill. RCN has great signal quality, affordable prices, a wide range of selections and a 24-hr customer service ready to assist you. RCN phone service is available in

• Philadelphia
• Chicago
• Lehigh Valley Area
• and more...

To order service from RCN or to compare their offer to your current provider, you can go to WhiteFence and enter your address.

AT&T announced today an agreement to carry all of Discovery Communications U.S linear TV network as part of the AT&T U-verse^sm TV channel lineup. Also, AT&T will provide Discovery Communications high-definition and on demand services.

The Discovery networks now available as part of AT&T U-verse TV include several channels, including:

• Discovery Channel
• TLC
• Animal Planet
• Travel Channel
• Discovery Health Channel
• Discovery Kids
• Discovery Times Channel
• The Science Channel
• Military Channel
• Discovery Home Channel
• BBC America
• FitTV

The agreement also includes distribution of Discovery's three U.S. Spanish-language networks — Discovery en Español, Discovery Kids en Español, Discovery Travel & Living (Viajar y Vivir) — as well as Discovery HD Theater, Discovery's 24-hour high-definition service and Discovery's on demand content.

The best way to save money on long distance service may be to enroll in a calling plan that fits your habits. Consider the following:

• How many calls you make a month
• How long you talk
• The time of day you usually make calls
• Where the calls are placed (local, domestic long distance or international)
• The rate per minute or per month
• Any monthly fee or minimum spending limit

A close look at your monthly bill will provide you with the information needed when choosing the right calling plan. You should request written material from companies and compare their rates to your calling patterns and make sure you fully review the details of a plan before you sign on.

If you order BellSouth services now, you can have your choice of a cash back offer, gift card or gas card. The amount that you get back corresponds to what service(s) you offer. You can get:

• $25 back on a BellSouth unlimited long distance phone service order
• $75 back on a Cingular service order
• $75 back on a BellSouth DSL high speed Internet service order
• $125 back on a DIRECTV service order

To find out if you qualify for these deals or if they are available in your area, you can go to WhiteFence and enter your address. BellSouth services are available across the gulf coast, namely in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

It may be easier than you think. You can save money and electricity by doing some simple things around your house. Just by setting the thermostat at 78 degrees or higher when the house is occupied, and at 85 degrees when vacant, you can save 1 to 2 percent per degree raised on cooling costs. You can save an additional 3 percent on cooling cost by keeping the door and vents closed in unused rooms. Another tip is to wash your clothes in cold water as much as possible. Just doing this can save 2 to 4 percent on energy costs. You can find out about several other energy-saving hints by reading the press release, Top 10 No-, Low-Cost Tips For Cool Energy Savings.

We've often made announcements when DIRECTV adds more markets where it offers local HD channels, but what exactly does that mean? It means you can get all your  favorite shows on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX and other major networks in high-definition with your DIRECTV^® HD Receiver, an HD television set and an off-air antenna.  Currently, local HD programming is available in 57 percent of U.S. homes.

DIRECTV's roll out of local HD channels is part of a nationwide expansion of HD programming that will culminate in 2007, when DIRECTV will have the ability to deliver more than 1,500 local HD channels and more than 150 national HD channels, establishing DIRECTV as a leading provider of HD programming. If you are interested in finding out more about DIRECTV in your area,  you can go to WhiteFence and enter your address.

In AT&T's continued effort to give back to the communities it serves, AT&T Michigan will be sponsoring the Concert of Colors, Metro-Detroit's 14^th Annual Diversity Festival. This will be the sixth year that AT&T sponsors this important Detroit community event.

Concert of Colors is a free three-day festival on July 14 to July 16 that is dedicated to bringing diverse communities and ethnic groups together through music. In addition, an outdoor street fair will feature food, arts and crafts and children's activities. Nearly 30 acts from India, France, New Orleans, and Detroit will take the stage, including Latin jazz superstar, Pancho Sanchez; Grammy-winning Alison Brown Quartet; the legendary Indigo Girls; and Detroit-based Amp Fiddler. You can read more about the festival in this AT&T press release.

I recently found an article on this subject that might help you in finding the best TV for you and your family. The author compares digital to analog, LCD to Plasma, and digital to HDTV. You can find the article at the LCDTV Web site - How To Choose The Right TV For You.

Did you know that when you move, you can deduct your expenses from your taxes? To qualify for the moving expense deduction, you must be moving to a new principal residence to work as an employee or as a self-employed individual at a new principal place of work. Also, you must meet both the distance and the time tests, unless you are a member of the armed forces and your move was due to a permanent change of station.

To meet the requirements of the distance test, your new job location must be at least 50 miles farther from your former residence than your old job location. The time test requires that as an employee, you must work full–time for at least 39 weeks during the 12 months right after you move. If you are self–employed, you must work full time for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months and for a total of at least 78 weeks during the first 24 months after you move. There are exceptions to the time test in case of death, disability and involuntary separation.

If you meet all of these qualifications, some of the expenses that you can deduct include (as listed by Atlas):

• The cost of transporting your property from your old residence to you new residence, including the actual cost of transportation or hauling from your old residence to your new one; the cost of packing, crating and unpacking; and storage in transit.
• The cost of shipping your automobile(s).
• The cost of transporting your household pets.
• The cost associated with connecting and disconnecting utilities because you are moving.
• The cost of moving your personal belongings from a place other than your old residence (such as a summer home or relative's home) may be deducted, to the extent that it does not exceed what it would have cost to move them from your old residence.
• The family trip to the new residence is considered a direct moving expense and is deductible. This includes lodging, but not meals.

To find out more details about deducting moving expenses, you can go to the IRS Web site.

Just as XM released their subscriber numbers yesterday, Sirius did as well. Sirius' subscriber base increased by 158 percent when compared to a year ago, bringing their total to 4,678,207 subscribers. The company added 600,460 net subscribers during the second quarter of 2006, or 64 percent above last year's second quarter net subscriber additions of approximately 366,000.

Today's homebuyers and apartment/condominium dwellers continue to look for a digital lifestyle and leading-edge communications and entertainment connections. Through the AT&T Smart Moves program, AT&T drives value to builders, developers, property owners and residents through fiber-based services and marketing support for bundled communications.

AT&T Smart Moves is a strategic marketing initiative between AT&T and single-family residential developers, regional or national single-family builders, real estate investment trusts, apartment ownership groups and apartment management groups. These programs help to deliver the full range of AT&T services to single family homes and apartments. You can go to AT&T site to find out more.

In their July 13 meeting, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected to vote on the Adelphia deal. Since the commissioners wouldn't have added it to the agenda if there weren't enough votes to okay the deal, it is expected that the FCC will approve the Adelphia deal at this time.

What we don't know is what conditions the FCC will place on the deal. You can check out this article to read about one of the possible conditions on the Adelphia deal that the FCC might add. It will definitely be something to look into on July 13.

BellSouth Foundation has awarded a $50,000 grant to TECH CORPS Georgia, Inc. to support high school students and their families in getting access to the technology they need to succeed. TECH CORPS Georgia (TCGA) is a nonprofit organization, based in Atlanta, that provides computers and training to children and families in lower-income communities and to the nonprofits that serve those communities.

XM Satellite Radio has added more than 398,000 new net subscribers during the second quarter of 2006 for a total of more than 6.89 million subscribers. Exclusive programming to launch on XM this September includes the much-anticipated Oprah & Friends channel, featuring regular segments by popular personalities from "The Oprah Winfrey Show," and an original weekly reality radio show with Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King.

EarthLink and Time Warner Cable announced today that they have reached a new agreement to provide EarthLink broadband online service on Time Warner Cable systems.

Under the new agreement, the parties will make available EarthLink broadband online service to the approximately 19 million homes passed by Time Warner Cable's broadband cable systems. This service area is expected to increase upon completion of Time Warner Cable's previously announced transactions with Adelphia and Comcast EarthLink has been offered by Time Warner Cable since November 2000.

If you have a disability, it may be especially hard for you to find an apartment home that can accommodate your needs. The National Accessible Apartment Clearinghouse (NAAC) maintains the only national database of apartment homes with features for people with disabilities, listing more than 80,000 units in 50 states. NAAC fulfills over 300 to 500 phone and/or e-mail requests per month from residents looking for accessible apartments. You can contact NAAC at 1-800-421-1221 or by e-mail at clearinghouse@naahq.com.

On July 12, CEA's Market Research Department is hosting a free Webcast that will compare home technologies that builders are offering with what homebuyers want in their new houses. The Webcast will unveil new consumer research and compare the results with data from the most recent technology survey with homebuilders in the United States. To find out more about the presentation, you can read the article Do Home Buyers Want New Home Technologies?

According to the St. Louis Business Journal, AT&T Inc. said Monday that it will work with the United Service Organizations (USO) to distribute an additional 10,000 free prepaid phone cards to U.S. military members overseas. This is the second batch of more than 30,000 phone cards, valued at $270,000, which AT&T will donate to U.S. service members just this year. The cards will be given to military personnel in Germany, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Japan and South Korea.

We often hear identity theft victims horrible stories of the crimes committed against them, but what about the perpetrators of these crimes? Why do they do it and what happens to them once they've been caught? Tom Zeller, Jr. wrote an article about one identity thief recently in the New York Times. In the article, Zeller attempts to answer these questions, at least in the case of Shiva Brent Sharma.

At the age of 20, Sharma had stolen over $150,000 through identity theft schemes. Sharma says the ease of identity theft, coupled with the thrill of getting away with it, are some of the reasons that he committed his crimes. Although he is currently in prison serving a two to four year sentence, Sharma says he is worried that the world of easy money might lure him back in. To find out more about Sharma, you should read the article Identity thief finds easy money hard to resist.

Consumers who purchased technology, such as home theater and monitored security systems for their new homes, exhibit high levels of satisfaction, according to research recently released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). According to the "New Home Buyers and Technology Purchases" study, overall satisfaction is above 75 percent for all the technologies tested: owners of home theater systems have the highest satisfaction rate at 89 percent. The study was presented by CEA's Director of Research Joe Bates at the Pacific Coast Builders Conference in San Francisco, California.

If you are looking into getting communication services for your business, you might want to look into Verizon. Verizon Business has earned top honors among six major providers in the large-business category in J.D. Power and Associates' annual survey of small, mid-size and large-business customers. The J.D. Power and Associates 2006 Major Provider Business Telecommunications Services Study determined that Verizon Business received the "Highest Customer Satisfaction With Large Enterprise Business Data Service Providers."

Verizon Business scored highest in six of the seven key performance factors used to measure satisfaction: performance and reliability; billing; cost of service; company image; sales representatives/account executives; offerings and promotions; and customer service. Moreover, in five of the seven factors, Verizon Business scored 15 index points above the second-ranked carrier in each factor.

Yes, you can call your service provider directly. You can also contact WhiteFence customer service at 1-866-839-5838.

Aiming to rev the engines of both NASCAR and Will Ferrell fans alike, Sprint is releasing a series of original commercials featuring Will Ferrell, popular comedian and star of this summer's NASCAR-themed film "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," promoting Sprint's exclusive mobile content from the movie.

As the title sponsor of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, Sprint is a leading promotional sponsor of the movie and the only sponsor creating original television ads and mobile content starring Ferrell. The first commercial debuted at the Pepsi 400, the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, July 1, on Fox.

Country music legend Willie Nelson will join XM to launch "Willie's Place" (XM 13), XM's traditional country music channel, formerly known as "Hank's Place." In his new role as "proprietor" of "Willie's Place," Nelson will provide creative direction for the channel, as well as contribute exclusive programming to "Willie's Place" and other XM commercial-free music channels.

"I've been a fan of XM and Hank's Place since the very beginning. They put a lot of thought and hard work into making the channel sound as good as it does, so I feel privileged to be a part of it," said Willie Nelson.

"Willie's Place" will begin broadcasting July 10.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee rejected a net neutrality amendment last week. Because of this, the amendment will not be added to the broadband bill that will be entering the Senate floor. Senator Olympia Snowe, one of the lawmakers that offered the amendment, predicted that without a net neutrality law, "large broadband companies will block or degrade Web content from competitors."

To read about the next steps in net neutrality legislation, you can read the article Senate Panel Narrowly Rejects Net Neutrality.