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Archive for the 'ORANGE COUNTY' Tag

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Reasons why you can’t order Verizon FiOS TV

April 5th, 2010, 11:36 am by

Last week, Verizon gave Orange County the most detailed information to date on where its elusive FiOS TV and Internet is offered.

The company listed 19 zip codes in area cities that may qualify for the fiber-optic services that boasts Internet speeds of 50 megabits per second and a slate of the most HD channels nationwide. But as I mentioned in the original post, this doesn’t mean that EVERYONE who lives in those zip codes can order FiOS TV and Internet service. Jon Davies, with Verizon, offered the zip codes to help readers, not frustrate them.

“I was hoping it would help readers get a better sense of where we are — I didn’t mean to cause frustration! But, as you know, the biggest challenge we’ve always had with FiOS is making it available to everyone who wants it,” Davies said.

So, to help clarify availability in those zip codes, I’m listing reasons why you may not be able to order FiOS for your home.

1.  You live on the wrong side of the zip code. Zip codes don’t conform to the boundaries of Verizon’s footprint so some customers in these areas may be AT&T customers. Verizon is targeting its existing wired telephone base first before it expands outside its territory. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Internet • Video & TV • • • | 20 Comments »

AT&T U-verse TV non-update update for Orange County

March 31st, 2010, 11:30 am by

Readers searching for an alternative TV service have been asking for months: Any updates on the AT&T U-verse roll out?

It’s been 8 months since last summer’s series detailing the company’s decision to stop pursuing 7 Orange County cities, including Cypress, Dana Point, Irvine, Lake Forest, Newport Beach, San Clemente and Tustin. AT&T ran into roadblocks with the city governments to install large utility boxes above ground. The cities wanted underground structures. AT&T decided it wasn’t worth the time or money.

So, what’s happened since? AT&T just got back to me with an answer and you’re probably not going to like it.

“No updates to report on the OC cities,” said Katie Keating, with AT&T.

More on the U-verse impasse

> More on U-verse Impasse<

Keep in mind, U-verse has expanded tremendously in the past year. According to the company’s 2009 earnings report, it doubled the number of U-verse customers to 2.1 million and it still plans to make the service available to 30 million by the end of next year.

AT&T continues to market to new customers in Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Stanton, Villa Park, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.

But like the other newish TV service, Verizon FiOS, there have been no expansions into new cities. This week, the Associated Press reported Verizon is winding down FiOS expansion. We already knew this was happening in Orange County last year and the company confirmed as much just a few months ago.  If you can’t get FiOS today, you probably won’t be getting it for a very, very long time. Sounds like the same is true with U-verse, at least for the 7 cities previously mentioned.

There is still some hope that Orange County cities will get fiber Internet, if not TV service. Google’s recent pitch to help out cities build fiber networks did attract some local attention. Fullerton, Mission Viejo and Anaheim all made a bid (read earlier story: “Orange County doesn’t go crazy for Google’s 1 gbps fiber Internet“).

More on U-verse:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • | 25 Comments »

Orange County doesn’t go crazy for Google’s 1 gbps fiber Internet

March 26th, 2010, 3:48 pm by

Today’s the last day for cities to make a bid to get Google behind them in building a city-wide  fiber-Internet service delivering up to 1 gigabit-per-second download speeds.

As of this 10 a.m., Google said it received 600 community responses and 190,000 responses from individuals by way of cities renaming themselves, great YouTube videos, public rallies and hundreds of grassroots Facebook groups. Funny stuff.

Quite a handful hail from Orange County. An updated count will be available later today.

The 1 Gbps speed is up to 100 times faster than what many consumers get. One gigabit is 1,024 megabits, so compare it with your own service. Most cable and DSL users get about 3 megabits per second for about $20 to $30 a month.

This is also no small investment because it requires city permits and digging up the streets to lay fiber-optic cables and all the way up to a customer’s house. No wonder the company got 600 bids from cities.

“We’re thrilled to see this kind of excitement, and we want to humbly thank each and every community and individual for taking the time to participate. This enthusiasm is much bigger than Google and our experimental network. If one message has come through loud and clear, it’s this: people across the country are hungry for better and faster Internet access,” James Kelly, the product’s manager wrote on the official Google Blog.

Google now plans to review the requests and consult with city officials. The winning communities should know by the end of the year.

Here’s my unofficial list of area cities that want Google fiber:

If I left anyone out, let me know or comment below.

I didn’t spot anything from some usual suspects, like Irvine, Huntington Beach or Santa Ana. But there was one Orange County city that is definitely not interested. Laguna Beach voted against pursuing Google (read the Register story: Laguna Beach won’t apply for Google broadband).

Previously on Google:

Posted in: Internet • • • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

AT&T confirms wireless ‘disruption’ today

March 25th, 2010, 5:05 pm by

FYI: For Orange County AT&T mobile users who had unusually spotty service today, it’s all been fixed, the company said.

“Due to an equipment issue earlier this afternoon, some area AT&T customers may have experienced wireless service disruption. AT&T technicians resolved the issue at approximately 3:45 p.m. PT. We apologize for any inconvenience to our customers,” said the company.

I’m not an iPhone or AT&T customer, but I heard that some people had major issues with 3G Internet today. If issues continue, let me know.

More on cell phone service:

Posted in: Cell phones • iPhone • • • • | 13 Comments »

What happened to Cox Cable’s mobile phone service?

March 24th, 2010, 7:12 am by

March is almost over and the “unbelievably fair” mobile phone service from Cox Communications has failed to make its debut in Orange County, which was one of three regions nationwide picked for the cable TV provider’s mobile debut.

The launch has been delayed indefinitely, said Lana Ong, the spokesperson for the local Cox operation.

“We didn’t launch Cox Wireless widely to the public on March 8 because we are taking a very deliberate approach to introduce new products and services to the marketplace to ensure an experience that customers expect from Cox,” she replied.

She continues, “We realize many customers were looking forward to it however, the most important thing to note is Cox is putting the final touches on the Cox Wireless experience. Holding true to our customers is our number one priority and Cox Wireless will be here soon.  We’re asking that interested customers visit unbelievablyfair.com if they want to be the first to learn more about Cox Wireless – and don’t renew that contract!”

That’s a tough request, even for people who can’t wait to ditch their own wireless provider.

At this point, all we know is that Cox was building a mobile-phone network that uses Sprint’s CDMA 3G network. It would do away with overage fees, vanishing minutes and other consumer outrages. You don’t have to be a Cox TV subscriber. The company even produced commercials about it, which it’ll have to reshoot since they tout a March launch.

Orange County was one of three regions picked to be the first to get service. Hampton Roads, Va. and Omaha, Neb. were the other two areas.

Omaha, however, did launch, Ong said.

“While we don’t have a set date yet for our official wireless launch to the public, our Omaha system launched Cox Wireless in limited availability earlier this month,” she said.

In the mid 1990s, Cox tapped Omaha as a city it planned to launched cellular service using existing its fiber-optic cable network, according to a story in the Omaha World Herald. The service was pitched as something that would cost half the price of existing cellular service. The effort was later dropped.

Related stories:

Posted in: Cell phones • Video & TV • • • • • • • | 27 Comments »

Time Warner Cable adding new HD sports channel, plus 2 more

March 17th, 2010, 5:45 pm by

No, the NFL channel isn’t coming to Time Warner Cable. Now that that’s out of the way, there is a new HD sports channel just around the corner for Orange County and Los Angeles customers.

Called iN Demand Sports HD, the new sports channel will feature baseball and hockey games and be part of the existing MLB Extra Inning pacakge and NHL Center Ice package. iN Demand calls the channel GAME2 and for Time Warner customers, it will be available on channel 731 beginning April 19.

iN Demand is a network owned by several cable companies, including Time Warner and Cox.

“iN Demand calls it GAME2. This channel will be added to our lineup in order to further expand the HD game offerings as part of NHL CENTER ICE and MLB EXTRA INNINGS. This will bring a significant increase to the number of HD games available in these packages,” said Time Warner spokesman Darryl Ryan.

The addition of the HD sports channel brings the number to 4 HD channels that Time Warner offers from iN Demand. The others include HD PPV on channel 431, and seasonal sports packages on 732 and 733.

Time Warner also announced that two foreign-language channels, plus two radio channels will be added to the lineup beginning April 19. Those are: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • • • • • | 20 Comments »

AT&T U-verse enables caller ID on TV for O.C., L.A.

March 16th, 2010, 1:53 pm by

AT&T said today that Orange County and Los Angeles customers can now get Caller ID on their TV.

The new feature pops up a message in a corner of the TV screen for 6 seconds so viewers can decide whether the caller is worth interrupting the TV program. Customers must subscribe to both AT&T U-verse TV and U-verse Voice telephone service to get this to work.

On-screen caller ID isn’t new.  AT&T first launched the feature last November in other parts of the country. Cable companies have offered it for several years to customers who order the two related services. Verizon added it for FiOS users in Orange County in December.

The on-screen caller ID is free and it starts working automatically. The feature also pops up a message for new voice mail.

Interestingly, AT&T tosses out a statistic on how many customers are paying for Voice service: More than 67 percent of new customers for a total of 1 million, as of January.

U-verse service is only available in certain parts of certain Orange County cities. Here is the updated list of local cities: Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Stanton, Villa Park, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.

More on AT&T U-verse:

Posted in: Video & TV • • • • • • • | 8 Comments »

Local BBB’s biggest complaint getter: DirecTV

March 15th, 2010, 9:04 am by

When it comes to TV or mobile phone service, consumers aren’t shy about saying what they don’t like. That’s not only true here on this blog, which made me refocus the content to cover TV and mobile heavily last year, but to the local Better Business Bureau.

The Better Business Bureau of the Southland reports that mobile phone service and TV service were the two categories with the most complaints last year (see bottom chart). But by far the top offender? DirecTV, based in El Segundo. The satellite TV service received 15,367 complaints, well above second place Federal Loan Modification Center in Northridge, which had 858 complaints.

The BBB said that DirecTV issues are related to billing disputes, early cancellation fees, inadequate disclosure about the cost of service and the inability to contact the company.

Southland BBB’s 10 companies with most complaints
  1. DirecTV – El Segundo (15,367 complaints)
  2. Federal Loan Modification Center – Northridge (858 complaints)
  3. Auto One Warranty Specialists – Irvine (686 complaints)
  4. Acaiburn.com – Ontario (633 complaints)
  5. IvoryBrites – Burbank (604 complaints)
  6. Dealer Cost Car Audio – Santa Ana (524 complaints)
  7. Acai Nutraburst – Corona (463 complaints)
  8. Specialty Merchandise Corporation – Simi Valley(380)
  9. dazzlesmilepro.com – Ontario (367 complaints)
  10. Cellular Blowout – Agoura Hills (366 complaints)

The organization — the go-to site for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties,– also pointed out that DirecTV has faced government scrutiny for violating the Telemarketing Sales Rule and the Washington state Consumer Protection Act for “false or unfair use of the word “free,” among other issues.

The BBB named DirecTV its top 2009 Pluto Award recipient, which calls out the area Orange County and Los Angeles businesses that use “underhanded business practices and ambiguous advertising to augment their riches and defraud the American public of billions of dollars each year.”

“DirecTV is a well-known satellite service provider, and its number of complaints might not be quite so striking if you took its complaints-to-customers ratio into consideration. Nevertheless, its practices and rating prompt us to urge extreme caution in doing business with DirecTV,” warned the BBB.

DirecTV spokesperson Jade-lin Ekstedt acknowledged the issue and said that the company is working on improving the poor rating. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in: Cell phones • Video & TV • • • • • • • • • • | 38 Comments »

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