Policymakers have long said they were doing what they could to ease the pocketbook pain of average Americans. Now, a new administration has the chance to take real action that will help prevent higher cell phone bills while also connecting more Americans and keeping our communications infrastructure competitive with China.
Blog Archives
President’s Message for 2024
Change is always good and sometimes necessary.
Telco Retirees is committed to representing you and keeping you updated in all matters of importance to AT&T retirees. We will be doing it in a different way.
The Board has decided to move from our monthly renewal to an annual membership notification. This will allow us to streamline our costs and continue to serve our retirees. You will receive a request for a membership contribution/donation along with mail-in instructions. This will come by email or USPS mail. If you are receiving this message, Telco Retirees considers you an existing member. A contribution is appreciated but not necessary to continue your membership and continue receiving newsletters and current information. Our association with NRLN is strong and you will continue to receive legislative updates directly from them. We have canceled Pay Pal and everything will be mail-in. This will make it easier for you to continue to participate in our organization. Financial hardships, Lifetime membership and just general memory issues, all come into play in updating your membership. We appreciate the years of support you have provided for Telco Retirees and we want to reciprocate. We are not going away, just operating at a Senior pace. In your newsletters and mailings and the website (under the Board tab), you will see the names, area of expertise, email, and number for all of us. We are available to help in any way we can. No question is too small, if it is something you need to know.
Norma has resigned as secretary after many years of service. She will be missed by all of us. Her record keeping skills were superb. She always reminded us what we did say—not what we remember saying. Judi Morris and I will act as President, Secretary/Treasurer. Two of us could not compare to Norma but we will do our best.
One other change we made was, sadly after 9 years of service, eliminating the position of Elena, our membership agent. She was always the reminder voice you received. We thank her for her service.
Our Annual Meeting took place by Teleconference this year. There were members that were not comfortable using zoom or did not have a computer. This gives everyone an opportunity to join. It was very successful. Our biggest problem is getting the time differences. It is usually stated in Pacific time and then in Eastern Standard.
Please read the article on Athene to get more information on Pension transitions and your pension.
John’s article on Healthcare also holds many important facts that are time critical.
Looking for to a Healthy future,
Jane Banfield
Verizon, AT&T tell courts: FCC can’t punish us for selling user location data
Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile are continuing their fight against fines for selling user location data, with two of the big three carriers submitting new court briefs arguing that the Federal Communications Commission can’t punish them.
AT&T Retirees Allowed to Combine Athene Pension Transfer Suits
A Massachusetts federal court consolidated two class actions filed by AT&T Inc. retirees challenging the company’s move to de-risk $8 billion in pension assets with a subsidiary of private equity giant Apollo Global Management.
The “central question at the core” of each lawsuit is the same, and all parties “stand to gain meaningful benefits through consolidation,” Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts said Nov. 8.
He ordered the combination of Piercy v. AT&T Inc. and Schloss v. AT&T Inc., naming Zuckerman Spaeder LLP and Schlichter Bogard LLP as co-lead counsels.
AT&T and FirstNet will spend $8 billion on first responder network
By Marin Wolf, The Dallas Morning News – February 13, 2024
Anational public safety communications network will receive an $8 billion investment over the next 10 years to expand 5G capabilities and mission-critical services, the First Responder Network Authority and AT&T announced Tuesday.
The First Responder Network Authority, known as FirstNet, plans to invest $6.3 billion through its network contract with Dallas telecommunications giant AT&T, the official partner of the independent authority. The group anticipates an additional $2 billion for ongoing investments in public safety coverage enhancements.
AT&T: Your Landline Is Not Going Away But It Needs An Upgrade
By Joey Solitro, Kiplinger’s – February 12, 2024
AT&T’s recent request to end its obligations to provide service for traditional landlines in several California regions does not mean the company is walking away from providing landline service, a company spokesperson recently told Kiplinger.
It is, however, part of the telecom giant’s broad-based effort to switch customers away from “outdated technologies” such as copper-based phone lines to more modern services such as fiber or wireless technology, the spokesperson said in an email.
“Don’t let them drop us!” Landline users protest AT&T copper retirement plan
By Jon Brodkin, ARS Technica – February 6, 2024
AT&T’s application to end its landline phone obligations in California is drawing protest from residents as state officials consider whether to let AT&T off the hook.
AT&T filed an application to end its Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligation in March 2023. The first of several public hearings on the application is being held today by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which is considering AT&T’s request. An evidentiary hearing has been scheduled for April, and a proposed decision is expected in September.
Zoom Meeting
Modernizing Communications for the Air and Space Forces
“Uncle Sam” called, and we answered: big time.
A few years ago, the U.S. Department of the Air Force initiated a formalized program, Enterprise Information Technology-as-a-Service (EITaaS), to upgrade or replace legacy communications technologies with commercially provided networking capabilities, service delivery, and cybersecurity enhancements across selected bases operated by the Air and Space Forces. This is a generational reinvention of technology and operations to help the Air and Space Forces modernize and improve how they deliver their mission with commercially provided technologies and services.
For 147 Years and Counting, AT&T is at the Forefront of Innovation
The idea was to transmit speech over electrical wires. On March 7, 1876, 147 years ago today, Alexander Graham Bell was granted patent #174765, and the telephone was born. His invention was a significant improvement over the telegraph and the culmination of his life’s work as a scientist and as a teacher of the deaf.
It was also the beginning of AT&T. For 147 years, inventors, visionaries and service-minded employees have walked our halls, each playing a role in technology’s constant evolution and changing the world. And that spirit of purposeful creation still drives us today.
