Steve Mehs
04-21-03, 05:08 PM
At the end of the week, the Federal Communications Commission will take comments on DirecTV's service to Hawaii and Alaska, and whether its offerings to the far West states meet the commission's geographic service rules.
State level officials, retailers and others in Alaska and Hawaii have complained that DirecTV is not providing adequate service to the two states, as well as programming that's comparable with offerings delivered to consumers on the U.S. mainland. DirecTV has repeatedly said it believes it's in compliance with FCC rules. The company said it will formally respond to the complaints by the FCC's Thursday, April 24, deadline.
There is one Alaska company making noise at the FCC on DirecTV's service to the state. Anchorage-based retailer Microcom told the FCC that when a consumer eyes a DirecTV system and service, "a consumer’s only choice is to buy a package for which they will not receive all the programming."
In addition, the latest generation of DirecTV receivers doesn’t have Alaska zip codes, which are needed in the set-up database for determining elevation and azimuth during the installation of a dish, Microcom said. And many of DirecTV’s published consumer toll-free numbers are not accessible from Alaska's area code 907, the retailer added.
In its complaints sent to the FCC, Hawaii state officials said DirecTV's programming packages for Hawaii exclude nine of the 10 largest cable programming networks that DirecTV makes available on the mainland. Furthermore, DirecTV's programming offerings in Hawaii exclude eight of the 10 highest rated cable programming networks, state officials said.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com) (Used with Permission)
State level officials, retailers and others in Alaska and Hawaii have complained that DirecTV is not providing adequate service to the two states, as well as programming that's comparable with offerings delivered to consumers on the U.S. mainland. DirecTV has repeatedly said it believes it's in compliance with FCC rules. The company said it will formally respond to the complaints by the FCC's Thursday, April 24, deadline.
There is one Alaska company making noise at the FCC on DirecTV's service to the state. Anchorage-based retailer Microcom told the FCC that when a consumer eyes a DirecTV system and service, "a consumer’s only choice is to buy a package for which they will not receive all the programming."
In addition, the latest generation of DirecTV receivers doesn’t have Alaska zip codes, which are needed in the set-up database for determining elevation and azimuth during the installation of a dish, Microcom said. And many of DirecTV’s published consumer toll-free numbers are not accessible from Alaska's area code 907, the retailer added.
In its complaints sent to the FCC, Hawaii state officials said DirecTV's programming packages for Hawaii exclude nine of the 10 largest cable programming networks that DirecTV makes available on the mainland. Furthermore, DirecTV's programming offerings in Hawaii exclude eight of the 10 highest rated cable programming networks, state officials said.
From SkyReport (http://www.skyreport.com) (Used with Permission)