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Cincinnati Bell Asks FCC to Ignore LAS Withdrawal Opposition
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Telecom service provider Cincinnati Bell Inc. is planning to discontinue offering Local Area Service (LAS) in the Butler, Falmouth, Glencoe, Warsaw and Williamstown exchanges within the Kentucky portion of the telco’s operating area.
To this end, the telco faced opposition by Matt Huck, CEO of Truth & Facts Never Lie. Huck even claimed that the shutdown of the POTS service would leave consumers with only VoIP and wireless services. And we all know, Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIPs) and Wireless are neither safe nor reliable replacements.
Hence, Cincinnati Bell is defending its discontinuation request. The company has asked the telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to disregard the opposition and ignore other comments made by Huck regarding CBT’s application because they do not have any direct linkage to CBT’s discontinuation request.
Individuals of the Kentucky region are concerned that the telco will shut down the traditional plain old telephone service (POTS). To this end, Cincinnati Bell mentioned that both LAS and the alternative Extended Area Service (EAS) are included under POTS services provided by the company. But the company is planning to discontinue only the LAS limited area calling plan.
Customers impacted by this change will continue to get access to CBT's POTS service, and avail the extended local calling area under the EAS plan. The telco’s EAS plan provides local customers with unlimited local calling throughout the Cincinnati Bell serving area using the same technology as the LAS plan.
Notably, the opposition was filed by Huck on Dec 27, 2016 whereas the last date to comment and give feedback on the proposal of discontinuation was Dec 8, 2016.
Rejection Issues
CBT isn’t the only telco facing opposition over their service discontinuance requests from consumers and industry groups citing concerns over the eventual shutdown of POTS services.
CenturyLink Inc. and WindstreamHoldings, Inc. also faced similar issues from consumers and businesses regarding their requests to shut down Frame Relay and small to medium-sized business (SMB) digital subscriber line (DSL) services. CenturyLink faced opposition from two individuals who cited concerns over the availability of landline voice service and the supposed radio frequency radiation harm caused by wireless phone usage.
In spite of such rejections, the price performance of Cincinnati Bell looks really impressive over the past one year. The stock witnessed growth of 38.18% compared with the Zacks categorized Diversified Comm Services industry’s gain of 2.57% over the same time period.
In Dec 2016, U.S. telecom behemoth, AT&T Inc. (T - Free Report) sought permission from FCC to shut down the 13 legacy TDM (Time-division multiplexing) services of its wholly owned subsidiary – Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Southwestern Bell Telephone Company operates in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and parts of Illinois. The service is expected to shut down effective Feb 28, 2017, subject to FCC approval. The decision to terminate these services stems from lack of demand. Moreover, AT&T currently has no subscriptions to these services and has witnessed no demand for the same over the past two years.
In Nov 2016, telecommunications and data service firm Windstream Holdings announced plans to discontinue the DSL service it offers to small and SMBs and residential customers in CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) territories across 25 states. Currently, 300 customers avail of the service.
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Cincinnati Bell Asks FCC to Ignore LAS Withdrawal Opposition
Telecom service provider Cincinnati Bell Inc. is planning to discontinue offering Local Area Service (LAS) in the Butler, Falmouth, Glencoe, Warsaw and Williamstown exchanges within the Kentucky portion of the telco’s operating area.
To this end, the telco faced opposition by Matt Huck, CEO of Truth & Facts Never Lie. Huck even claimed that the shutdown of the POTS service would leave consumers with only VoIP and wireless services. And we all know, Voice over Internet Protocols (VoIPs) and Wireless are neither safe nor reliable replacements.
Hence, Cincinnati Bell is defending its discontinuation request. The company has asked the telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to disregard the opposition and ignore other comments made by Huck regarding CBT’s application because they do not have any direct linkage to CBT’s discontinuation request.
Individuals of the Kentucky region are concerned that the telco will shut down the traditional plain old telephone service (POTS). To this end, Cincinnati Bell mentioned that both LAS and the alternative Extended Area Service (EAS) are included under POTS services provided by the company. But the company is planning to discontinue only the LAS limited area calling plan.
Customers impacted by this change will continue to get access to CBT's POTS service, and avail the extended local calling area under the EAS plan. The telco’s EAS plan provides local customers with unlimited local calling throughout the Cincinnati Bell serving area using the same technology as the LAS plan.
Notably, the opposition was filed by Huck on Dec 27, 2016 whereas the last date to comment and give feedback on the proposal of discontinuation was Dec 8, 2016.
Rejection Issues
CBT isn’t the only telco facing opposition over their service discontinuance requests from consumers and industry groups citing concerns over the eventual shutdown of POTS services.
CenturyLink Inc. and Windstream Holdings, Inc. also faced similar issues from consumers and businesses regarding their requests to shut down Frame Relay and small to medium-sized business (SMB) digital subscriber line (DSL) services. CenturyLink faced opposition from two individuals who cited concerns over the availability of landline voice service and the supposed radio frequency radiation harm caused by wireless phone usage.
In spite of such rejections, the price performance of Cincinnati Bell looks really impressive over the past one year. The stock witnessed growth of 38.18% compared with the Zacks categorized Diversified Comm Services industry’s gain of 2.57% over the same time period.
Hence, Cincinnati Bell currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Similar Discontinuations
In Dec 2016, U.S. telecom behemoth, AT&T Inc. (T - Free Report) sought permission from FCC to shut down the 13 legacy TDM (Time-division multiplexing) services of its wholly owned subsidiary – Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. Southwestern Bell Telephone Company operates in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and parts of Illinois. The service is expected to shut down effective Feb 28, 2017, subject to FCC approval. The decision to terminate these services stems from lack of demand. Moreover, AT&T currently has no subscriptions to these services and has witnessed no demand for the same over the past two years.
In Nov 2016, telecommunications and data service firm Windstream Holdings announced plans to discontinue the DSL service it offers to small and SMBs and residential customers in CLEC (competitive local exchange carrier) territories across 25 states. Currently, 300 customers avail of the service.
Zacks' Top 10 Stocks for 2017
In addition to the stocks discussed above, would you like to know about our 10 finest buy-and-hold tickers for the entirety of 2017?
Who wouldn't? As of early December, the 2016 Top 10 produced 5 double-digit winners including oil and natural gas giant Pioneer Natural Resources which racked up a stellar +50% gain. The new list is painstakingly hand-picked from 4,400 companies covered by the Zacks Rank. Be among the very first to see it>>