[svlug] DSL Considered Harmful

[Karsten M. Self]

on Thu, Aug 16, 2001 at 10:09:57AM -0700, Wayne Earl (wayne at qconcepts.net) wrote:
> 
> I am a very, very unhappy DSL customer.

<chapters 11 and 13 deleted>

> Does anyone know of a DSL isp that is not going to go out of business in
> the next six months? I need static ips with the ability to run servers,
> so business SDSL is probabily in order here.

On the other side of this issue, there's been increasing coverage over
the past six months of the business climate in which CLECs and 3rd party
DSL providers are operating, leading to talk of a second round of telcom
trustbusting, this time aimed at the Baby Bells.

SBC/PacBell [1] in particular has a fairly illustrative recent history
of making third-party DSL implementations difficult.

Suggestions:  there's a political side to this game as well.  Phone
companies are subject to state and federal regulation, you can contact
state and national representatives, as well as file complaints with
regulatory bodies (CA PUC, FCC) and attorneys general.

You're trying to protect a competitive market in which you are a
consumer.



The other side is that the telcoms may just succeed in poisoning the
waters to the extent that nobody wants to play anymore.  I'm getting
pings from my Sprint, my long distance provider [2], for wireless
broadband, up to 1.5 mbps down, 128 up.  Stories of informal wireless
networks springing up in populated areas (yesterday's Slashdot story of
the Greenwich Village net in NYC) are more common.  DSL's not the only
game in town, and if the telco's keep pinching it, the alternatives will
become more attractive and developed.

I've stuck with dialup access for a number of reasons, one being the
unsteady economy (no need to toss a few hundred into a hole I'll be
leaving shortly), partly for various horror stories I was hearing.
Partly because my dialup access pretty much works and fits my needs.

--------------------
Notes:

1.  "The phone is once again your fiend."

2.  Well, actually, my long distance provider before I got slammed by
    Talk America.  Whodat, you ask?  The company doing business in 17
    states, and at least 10 states's AG offices for their slamming
    practices.  Talk of revoking their operating license in Florida,
    with over 1400 complaints registered as of May.  Formerly known as
    "Talk.com", they rebranded this spring, then booted their CEO.  The
    silver lining is that the company's losses have been mounting all
    year, leading to the (please, let there be a God) possible outcome
    that they'll go bust before too long.

    Note that I'm pretty much convinced that all TelComs are crooks,
    PacBell and AT&T top my shitlist, MCI hasn't pissed me off too much,
    and Sprint has, to date, behaved themselves.  But it could just be
    the old railroader in me.

-- 
Karsten M. Self <kmself at ix.netcom.com>          http://kmself.home.netcom.com/
 What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand?             There is no K5 cabal
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