Re: [PLUG] FYI - FIOS/DCAnet

["William H. Magill" <magill@mcgillsociety.org>]

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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magill@mcgillsociety.org
magill@acm.org
magill@mac.com
whmagill@gmail.com


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