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Consumers who have been overcharged or ripped off by premium rate telephone service providers will find it more difficult to seek redress once a new communications Bill become law, the chairman of RegTel has warned.

At the launch of what is expected to be its final report before its functions are transferred to the telecommunications watchdog ComReg, RegTel’s chairman Fred Hayden expressed concern at the manner in which the Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan had introduced the Communications Regulation (Premium Rate Services) Bill 2009.

The Bill proposes an end to self-regulation by the industry, which will in future be subject to supervision by ComReg. It proposes substantial fines for abuses by operators of popular phone services such as ringtones, wallpapers, chatlines, competitions and information services.

“It is the Minister’s prerogative to bring about a reorganisation and legislative changes. But in the process the Minister has failed to listen to the board and staff of RegTel who have direct experience of regulating a difficult sector for the past 15 years,” Mr Hayden said.

He said the new Bill “does not include the power to order refunds in cases of wrongdoing, a power that RegTel now exercises, thereby providing a powerful means of deterring wrongdoing by service providers”.

He accepted that the new legislation – which enters its committee stage next week – includes “powerful sanctions” to deal with unauthorised services but pointed out that they failed to provide any redress for consumers.

Mr Hayden said that in RegTel’s experience, the aggrieved consumer “wants a refund now rather than fines on offenders sometime in the future”.

Under the Bill, premium rate service providers will require a licence. If the specified conditions are not met, the licence can be amended, suspended or revoked by ComReg.

Premium rate phone service generated 76 million text messages in the Republic last year, with mobile phone ring-tones, wallpapers, games and competitions and quizzes amongst the most popular services available.

A number of providers have been accused of taking advantage of vulnerable groups who have spent large sums after inadvertently subscribing to expensive services.

Over the past 10 years, €460,000 in refunds to consumers have been made via RegTel, according to the report. It notes a drop in the number of premium rate phone services delivered, with revenue down about 14 per cent and a drop of 7 per cent in the number of complaints and queries received through Regtel’s helpline.

Subscription services continue to generate most complaints, making up 91 per cent of calls received. In the report, the regulator Pat Breen blamed some of this on a few service providers acting in breach of RegTel’s Code of Practice, but also draws attention to consumer indifference to terms and conditions when signing up for services.

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RingCentral Office includes all of the features that have become standard for Internet phone services. They offer numbers in the U.S., Canada and the UK.
RingCentral offers two types of phones. The phone RingCentral provided to me is a Linksys (now owned by Cisco) SPA942. At first glance, it looks much like a modern business phone. But instead of plugging it into a phone jack, one connects it to the Internet using a standard RJ-45 network cable. If you only have one Internet connection, you can plug the phone into your internet connection, and then plug other devices into the phone. I was pleased with the phone. It’s relatively easy to operate, but strangely, it doesn’t support a headset, something I’ve gotten quite used to.

If you would prefer to use your existing phone equipment, RingCentral also offers an ATA adapter which connects the Internet to regular phones. Since most people aren’t technically-minded enough to want to fiddle with ATAs or configuration of phones, RingCentral ships their equipment pre-configured. All I had to do was plug in the power and the ethernet cable, and the phone was online and ready to use. RingCentral tells me that they provide their phones at or below wholesale cost; a little research confirmed that their equipment prices are quite low.

When you or your colleagues are out of the office, you can use the web site and Windows- or Mac-based softphone application to send, receive and manage calls and messages. One of the unusual features of the softphone app is the ability to view incoming calls and reply with a short message like “I’ll call you back in 10 minutes” without actually answering the phone call. There’s also integration with Outlook’s contact list.

For iPhone users, there’s a native application that provides easy access to voicemail (separate from the iPhone’s built-in voicemail) and faxes. You can also use the iPhone app to make calls showing the Caller ID from your business line — without displaying your iPhone’s telephone number. Similar native applications are being developed for other platforms; I gather that the BlackBerry is next on RingCentral’s list. I didn’t test RingCentral’s software, but I’ve gotten positive feedback from others who’ve used it.

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The Cuban Telephone Company, ETECSA, will install some five new facilities that will provide some 4,000 new telephone lines in Las Tunas in 2010.

The Cuban Telephone Company, ETECSA, will install some five new facilities that will provide some 4,000 new telephone lines in Las Tunas in 2010. The new facilities are part of a nationwide project to expand residential phone services in Cuba.

The new project in Las Tunas required the support of several different local entities and people to build the facilities. For example in Jobabo, a trench of some 960 meters had to be excavated to bury the fiber optic cable.

The fiber optic cable is one of the major advantages of these new facilities as it allows for faster and more expansive line installations while using considerable less copper cables.

In Jobabo, the whole community lent a hand to dig and bury the cable in sun and rain. There are many advantages of having the community participate because in addition to saving time and money, the community feels like they are and active part in solving their problems.

Some great news about Lufthansa! Hope they will interest you! So read below and leave your comments!

Lufthansa announced plans today for new onboard WiFi and phone services. Starting on routes between the U.S. and Europe in the next few months, the services are expected to be fully implemented by mid-2010, according to The Associated Press.

‘The German carrier’s goal is to leapfrog rivals by allowing passengers on international flights not only to make calls and send emails from 40,000 feet, but also to surf the Web and download videos at faster speeds than currently possible,” The Wall Street Journal writes. “Lufthansa hopes to gain an advantage in the increasingly competitive inflight-communications field by becoming the first carrier to offer high-speed connections optimized for the full range of handheld and Wi-Fi devices.”

Frequent fliers may remember that the German airline attempted to pave the way to in-flight WiFi three years ago, but was forced to end the program due to lack of demand. The program, a satellite-based broadband service–Connexion by Boeing–was pulled in 2006. This new system offered by Japan’s Panasonic Corps., FlyNet, will offer WiFi services through its satellite-based technology.

“Michael Lamberti, a Lufthansa spokesman, said the airline expected the cost of the service to be ‘in the same dimension’ as in the past,” The New York Times writes. The airline’s previous go at in-flight WiFi set passengers back $10 per hour or $27 for the entire duration of the flight. The WSJ reports that in-flight phone calls could cost as much as $3 a minute.

“The connectivity Lufthansa promises to deliver is faster and applies to more devices than options available elsewhere,” the WSJ reports. “Other airlines currently focus on voice and text messaging, with less capability for full-blown Internet access.”

Here are some news. Hope they will interest you. Waiting for your comments. Enjoy!

Suddenlink’s Enid customers can now receive caller ID on their TV screen.

Suddenlink announced the rollout of its new TV Caller ID service free of charge for customers who must have a minimum combination of Suddenlink Phone and Digital TV services to allow TV Caller ID to work.

The rollout began Monday for customers with the triple-play combination of Suddenlink digital video, phone and high-speed Internet services and will be completed by Oct. 9 for all customers with at least digital video and phone services.

When the phone rings, a banner pops up across the bottom of the TV screen to indicate who is calling. (Customers have the option to turn off this banner, if they don’t want it.)

“TV Caller ID is just another way Suddenlink keeps getting better, providing the latest in innovative products and technology for our customers’ benefit,” said system manager Angela Blair.

Suddenlink is using Integra5’s Converged Services Platform (i5 CSP) to offer the new TV Caller ID service. The i5 CSP helps video providers, video programmers and wireless operators deliver next-generation communications and social media experiences to multiple consumer devices.

One more useful article. Read carefully!

SAN MATEO, Calif.-RingCentral, a cloud computing-based business phone services provider, today announced that its VP of Business Development, Jay Blazensky, will present a conference session titled “The Sales Challenge: Marketing Hosted Services in a Recession” at this year’s VON Conference and Expo in South Beach on September 21 at 11:30 AM at Miami Beach Convention Center.

The session will address the challenges and opportunities of marketing cloud based business phone systems at a time when many businesses have limited capital investments budgets. Blazensky will discuss how hosted communications services fit business needs in the current economy, eliminating upfront capex costs, while delivering substantial opex savings.

RingCentral is at the forefront of hosted, communications services, providing cloud computing-based phone systems for small businesses. The company recently introduced RingCentral Office, the industry’s first complete, cloud computing-based business phone system with one low, flat, fixed monthly fee, no contracts and zero setup costs. RingCentral Office combines a hosted multi-extension business phone system with advanced voice and fax functionality, unlimited calling and full-featured phones that arrive pre-configured and ready for use. Small businesses can begin using the RingCentral Office phone system within minutes.

About RingCentral

RingCentral provides cloud computing based phone systems for small business. With top industry honors, including PC Magazine’s Editor’s Choice Award and Small Business Computing’s Excellence in Technology, RingCentral offers full-access to core small business phone services and helps improve productivity for tens of thousands of customers worldwide. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, RingCentral is privately held with backing from Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures and DAG Ventures.

About VON Conference

The VON Conference & Expo will showcase the best of the global IP communications world for service providers and large enterprises. Roundtables, keynotes, panels and Q&A sessions go beyond the pitch to examine the financial, operational, marketing and technological strategies, best practices and solutions for introducing innovative applications and products that resonate with users. With its unique community, and its focus on service providers, VON is the single most trusted source of knowledge and business connections for the advanced IP communications and network convergence industries.

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ROSCOMMON — Kirtland Community College student Jonathan Webb said he has been in a couple of situations where he has been on campus and needed to call home for a ride.

However, because of limited cell phone access, Webb said he was unable to do so. He believes that an increased ability to send text messages and call family members from campus would be beneficial.

“I’ve never had really good service out here,” said Webb, 20, of Grayling. “I think it would be a good idea.”

That situation may be changing in the months ahead. According to Dennis Mansfield, Kirtland’s director of public relations, the college has leased property to Global Tower Access of Boca Raton, Fla., who has constructed a tower on the property. The college is currently putting some infrastructure in place at the tower, he said.

Mansfield also said the cell tower company has an agreement with CenturyTel to provide cell phone service on the KCC campus, and expects other carriers to follow suit in the future.

“It kind of works out well for everyone,” Mansfield said. “Students now have coverage out here. This will provide coverage for about an eight-mile radius. At least it’s a start. We expect other carriers to rent space.”

He said the term of the lease is for 120 months, and began in March of this year, with Global Tower Access having the option to extend the lease for four successive periods of 60 months (five years) each. The college will receive $1,000 per month with a three percent annual increase, Mansfield said.

Mansfield said the college should have service sometime in September, and also said the college hopes to have some sort of community event this fall in honor of the tower being constructed.

Like Webb, a couple other KCC students believe improved cell phone coverage at the campus would be a good idea, as long as the phones are used wisely.

“It’s definitely a good idea,’ said Josh Robbins, 20, of West Branch. “I think they can be distracting. Some students have used them in class. If it’s used for the right purpose, it’s a great idea.”

KCC student Francesca Infante, 18, of Lovells, currently has AT&T as her cell phone provider, and said she does not get good coverage on campus.

“It really doesn’t affect me that much, because I’m in class,” she said. However, Infante said if she were in an emergency situation, then the lack of coverage would be a problem.

Nine months ago, the KCC Board of Trustees authorized school administrators to look into the possibility of improving its cell phone services. According to a Nov. 25, 2008 KCC press release, the KCC Board of Trustees, at its Nov. 20 meeting, voted to allow Tim Scherer, Kirtland’s director of institutional services, to begin looking into potential lease agreements with cell phone providers.

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Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – Telephone and internet connections were cut off in Kokang during gun battles between the Kokang Army and government troops, said residents and observers. Kokang clashes hit internet and phone services.

“Most internet connections for people in Northern Shan State Special Region (1) are from China. The telephone lines are also from China but some telephones in Ching Shwe Haw are from Burmese service providers. On August 24, internet and telephone connections were cut off,” a military observer on the China border Aung Kyaw Zaw said.

The internet connection is yet to be restored but some of the telephone connections have been restored now, according to residents.

Ethnic Kokang are generally Han Chinese and traditionally closer to China. The educated Kokang usually study in China and have their own websites. Coincidentally these websites became inaccessible as soon as clashes broke out.

Web censoring is rampant in China though surfers do not need to rely on the slow speed Burmese internet service.

A junta announcement said 31 soldiers of the Burmese Army and 11 from among Kokang troops were killed in the gun battles between Kokang and junta troops, which broke out on August 27. According to the Kokang, about 200 people including many civilians were killed.

The junta’s mouthpiece the ‘New Light of Myanmar’ reported that over 30,000 Kokang civilians fled to neighbouring China. Now about half of them have returned to their homes.

Hey! Found a very interesting article about fraud again. What can I do if there is so many fraud arround? So, read it for being ready and enjoy!

Sep 02, 2009 (The Hutchinson News – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — Sarah Otto became suspicious last month when she noticed a $15 spike in her local phone bill.

So, the 26-year-old Hutchinson resident called AT&T to inquire why she was being charged an extra $15 for “Enhanced Services” — and to find out what exactly those services were.

AT&T directed Otto to call the 800 number listed under “Enhanced Services” on her telephone bill. As it turned out, Enhanced Services was short for Enhanced Services Billing Inc., or ESBI, a San Antonio-based company that bills consumers for third-party vendors.

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In Otto’s case, ESBI began billing her on behalf of the company Residential Email.

After a series of frustrating calls to automated voice-messaging systems for both companies, Otto said, she finally reached a Residential Email representative.
“The lady I spoke to was somewhat rude and said the company sells e-mail accounts,” Otto said. “She said I got on the Internet, clicked on an ad, verified my maiden name, my mother’s maiden name and inputted all of this info into their system.

“They said I confirmed my information in an e-mail and they called and confirmed it with me, too. When I told them I was not authorized to make changes on the account, because it’s in my husband’s name, the lady said, ‘Oh, that’s right. It was your husband.’ ” Otto says none of that happened, though. Neither she nor her husband, Adam, signed up for Residential Email or confirmed the service in e-mail or on the phone.

And although the company has now offered them a refund, Otto believes she was a victim of “cramming,” in which a company illegally adds unauthorized charges for various services to a consumer’s local telephone bill.

Otto has since filed a complaint against ESBI and Residential Email with the Kansas Attorney General’s Office, as well as the Federal Trade Commission.

She also contacted AT&T for help.

“AT&T told me to get a confirmation number on the refund or (the company) might not do it,” Otto said. “I had to ask six times to get a confirmation number from that lady.

“They knew full well this is going on, and the woman at AT&T said this happens a lot and (third-party companies) count on people not checking their bill.” Marisa Giller, an AT&T spokeswoman based in St. Louis, acknowledged Enhanced Services, or ESBI, is one of AT&T’s largest third-party billers, but she said reports of cramming were not common.

Third-party vendors adhere to strict guidelines from AT&T, Giller said, with less than 1 percent of AT&T customers’ bills bringing cramming complaints. She did not know how many cramming complaints had been lodged in the Hutchinson area or in Kansas.

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office received 117 complaints about phone bill cramming in fiscal year 2009, according to Ashley Anstaett, an attorney general’s office spokeswoman.

Otto, however, isn’t the only local citizen with a cramming complaint. Cindy Boswell of Hutchinson also reported noticing a $15 increase in her phone bill in late July.

Boswell was also billed by ESBI, except she was billed for voicemail services she never signed up for through Intelicom in Henderson, Nev. She is still awaiting a refund from the company.

Her neighbors have had the same problem, Boswell said.

“My neighbor was told her husband signed up for the services, but her husband is dead,” Boswell said.

Both Otto and Boswell have had AT&T block third parties from their accounts, something Giller acknowledged customers can opt to do.

But Otto thinks the listing of “Enhanced Services” on her phone bill was deceiving, as it was listed under plans and services, service changes, repair services, Internet services and long-distance services. She didn’t expect “Enhanced Services” to be the name of a company.

“It’s very misleading and very clever on this third party’s part,” she said. “We thought it was an extra service put on our phone like Caller ID, not a third party out of Texas.” Digging deeper Frustrated by the deception, Otto did a little research of her own and discovered Enhanced Services Billing Inc., a subsidiary of New Century Equity Holdings Corp., had already been investigated by the Federal Trade Commission several years ago for deceptive practices that violated the FTC Act.

In August 2001, New Century, owned by Platinum Equity LLC, settled with the FTC and agreed to repay $350,000 to consumers.

ESBI was also required to provide notices to consumers that their bills may contain unauthorized charges for enhanced services. They were required to inform consumers how to obtain a refund, too.

The FTC’s complaint charged ESBI with falsely representing that consumers were to pay charges on their telephone bills for Web sites and other items they had not ordered or authorized others to order for them; and ESBI unfairly attempted to collect — or arrange for local phone companies to collect — payment of charges from consumers for unauthorized services.

ESBI, according to the FTC, served as a “billing aggregator,” acting as an intermediary between vendors and local phone companies.

“Once the charges are collected by the phone companies, the billing aggregators, after taking their fee, pass the revenues back to their client vendors,” according to an FTC news release on the 2001 settlement.

“Although billing aggregators’ services allow consumers to use their phone services as a payment mechanism, they are also susceptible to abuse if the billing aggregators fail to adequately police the practices of vendors who may engage in fraudulent billing.” FTC director of public affairs, Claudia Bourne-Farrell, said ESBI is under an FTC order and that the company is monitored by the FTC to ensure compliance.

When contacted by phone Tuesday, a spokeswoman for ESBI in San Antonio described the company as a “billing clearinghouse” that bills for numerous third-company vendors. She said the company assumes the charges are legit and authorized by consumers and does not look into the charges.