[NCLUG] DSL Availability

[Michael Dwyer]

Sean Reifschneider wrote:
> 
> >I can tell you that Qwest is a leader in a new technology, that expands
> 
> I've heard a rumor that Qwest was intentionally avoiding putting the DSLAMs
> in these remote boxes because if they started doing it they then had to
> allow the other CLECs to put equipment there as well, and they didn't want
> to do that.

Gah... that whole industry is soooo strange.  You know that 10-day rule
the CSR mentioned?  It is interesting the wierd things that they cannot
tell you.  I was standing in the Leadville switch building talking
directly to a US West (at the time) tech.  He was not supposed to tell
me where copper was rare.  Because of this strange fear that the lack of
phone service would manipulate land prices (Uhh... DUH!), they refuse to
tell you ahead of time if you can get a phone line.  Unless you twist
arms, you cannot get them to tell you if there will be a phone available
at your house until you actually try to order it.

This is why people were getting so screwed by them.  They would buy a
house out in Vail, or Leadville, or any of these mountain towns, only to
find out later that there was no copper left in their neighborhood.  And
their demand does not seem to equate to US West's supply.  If there are
thirty residences without service in a neighborhood, there is still no
rush to put in a trunk... they're left just waiting until some planner
in some cubicle somewhere decides that this place would be a nice place
to lay some cable...

Now you've got the same thing with DSL.  You cannot test an area for DSL
until you've already bought the line and committed to it.  Its kind of
strange.  The records at a realty office clearly state the water and
sewer situation at a property.  But it is almost impossible to find out
if telecom is available?  That's just wierd.

You know the phrase "let the cat out of the bag"?  I guess it comes from
the practice of buying a piglet in a burlap sack from a market, and
taking it home only to find that there was actually a cat in the bag
instead of a piglet.  Do you see a parallel, here?  Qwest is handing out
bags of "Telecom Service", but its not till you get home that you
discover that inside the bag is 1970s technology and you're stuck with
it.

Well, the cat's out of the bag.  The telco industry is freakish.  I'm
always watching for other options.  That's why I keep bringing up this
Sprint Broadband ( http://www.sprintbroadband.com/ )  and things like
CWX ( http://www.cwx.net/ ).  Qwest doesn't provide service and doesn't
really TRY to, either.  I'm all over any reasonable way to get the
service through someone else.  Have you heard of stories like this:
http://www.fcw.com/civic/articles/1996/CIVIC_111896_9.asp ?  I'm a
member of a market research panel, and if the recent questions I've been
receiving have been any evidence, lots of electric companies are looking
into this.  

Okay, not enough of a stretch?  How about this one:
http://www.dutchwater.com/

Hell yeah.  Sign me up, damnit!