William H. Magill on 24 Aug 2005 06:59:57 -0000


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Re: [PLUG] FYI - FIOS/DCAnet


On 23 Aug, 2005, at 13:22, Tim W. intoned:
I was phone solicited by Verizon this morning to hook up to FIOS. First
month free, Free installation and router, I think it was around $30 for
5Mb and $42 for 15Mb/month. I politely declined for now and then contacted
DCAnet, my current DSL provider. They do not have an agreement with
Verizon yet on ISP'ing with FIOS. They are looking into it and hope to
soon. So I will wait.

At least at this point, VZ is only taking 100% resellers of the VZ service -- no branding or alternate backhauls or even value-adds. They also won't be splitting off the ISP and video services so the current DSL model seems unlikely at this point. On the bright side, they have already signed agreements with some television networks and are still planning on delivering a-la-carte television services over FIOS by the end of 2005.

And since the recent Supreme Court decision, I wouldn't hold my breath for any change in policy anytime in the future.


Sadly, because of that decision, I expect that within 3-5 years, (as the various existing ISP contract expire), DSL will go the same way. Already prices are climbing as the RBOCS are no longer required to offer "discounts" to competitors.

If you want "current DSL like" data service, you will be stuck with the RBOC or CLEC version only.

The future does not look good for anybody except the "dumb consumer." The "pro-sumer" is despised by both Cable providers and RBOC alike -- they expect too much (i.e. good service), know too much (i.e. how to complain), and pay too little. Even the "Business consumer" is likely to find that unless they go "top-drawer" their options for connectivity will be extremely limited. And with the "Terms and Conditions" posted on web sites with no notification of the customer necessary, the customer won't even know they have been screwed until something stops working and are told -- we don't offer that service anymore.

The days of "free" (i.e. cheap) bits are over, and as "content" becomes king, the pressure will continue to mount to "find new sources of revenue" to pay for it.

T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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