Kevin Martin, the chairman of the FCC, has made it his business to try to cut the costs that customers are charged when they cancel their service before the end of a contract. According to The New York Times, "Mr. Martin's plan would require that fees be related to the actual cost of the phones. A fee for a $50 phone would be higher than for a $5 phone." It would also take into account how many months a customer had left on a contract.

The cellular companies, including Sprint (NYSE: S), spend a lot of money on their poor customer service. They ought to have a chance to get some of that back when a customer walks. It probably also costs the firms money to reconnect all of those dropped calls.

The cellular companies do have initial costs to set-up service and billing when a new customer comes on board. The Martin plan does not appear to take that into account.

Just because the service is no good does not mean that the cellular provider is not out a lot of money to provide it.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com

FCC plan to lower cellphone termination fees may not be fair originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Cramer on BloggingStocks: Worried about the satellite radio merger

Cramer on BloggingStocks: Worried about the satellite radio merger originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Media owners have been chomping at the bit to be able to own both a TV station and a newspaper in the same city. Two major deal makers - Samuel Zell, a Chicago investor who is leading the charge to take the Tribune Company (NYSE: TRB) private, and Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) who has tried for years to change the rule so he can continue to control both the New York Post and the Fox television station in New York -- hope it happens soon. If the rules change for Zell, he'll be able to own TV stations and newspapers in five cities - New York, Los Angeles, Hartford and the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area.

Well they may get their wish if Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has anything to say about it, according to the New York Times. The Times reports that Martin plans to repeal the decades-old media rule forbidding companies from owning both a newspaper and a TV or radio station in the same city. Right now an $8.2 billion buyout of the Tribune Company is hanging in the balance. Zell wants to take the company from a public to a privately held company by its employees, but the rule is in the way of completing the deal.

Continue reading Rupert Murdoch may get to own TV stations and newspapers in same city

Rupert Murdoch may get to own TV stations and newspapers in same city originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 18 Oct 2007 08:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.