Analysis & commentary on America's troubled transition from analog telephone service to digital advanced telecommunications and associated infrastructure deficits.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The harsh reality of surburban broadband
Here's a piece in ZD Net by Jason Perlow titled The harsh reality of suburban broadband that aptly illustrates the point. Perlow is fortunate that he at least even has broadband access via his cable provider. There are some suburban residents and people living in metro areas who aren't able to obtain any wireline broadband service at all short of ordering up a costly T-1 circuit from their telco.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
California Broadband Task Force availability maps leave much to be desired
While the underlying data may be based on a given address, it did not produce maps of similar granularity. The wireline broadband availabilty maps produced by the task force cover such large geographical areas as to be practically useless. There are no reference points such as identification of major highways and towns, nor can a viewer zoom in to view what's available in his or her own neighborhood.
Instead of making useless maps our public policy should incentivize rapid broadband deployment given that much of the nation is years behind where it should be when it comes to broadband services.
Monday, June 16, 2008
AT&T's Web site engages prospective broadband customers in circular shell game
Then earlier this year, the DSL availability check produced a new message, sans the dubious invitation to go suck a satellite:
You may qualify for AT&T U-verse High Speed Internet and TV. AT&T U-verse is a bundled service of 100% digital high-speed Internet with TV that provides you the ultimate home entertainment experience.
If DSL becomes available at my location, Contact Me
I inquired with AT&T's U-Verse folks to see if I qualified for U-Verse. It should be available in 1-2 months, I was advised in an email. When I noticed no VRADs were being installed to deliver U-Verse's VDSL-based service, I asked about the 1 to 2 month timeframe.
That resulted in another email from Ma Bell:
Although service was estimated back in April to be available 1-2 months, it was just an estimation. Unfortunately, we are not provided with enough accurate information to be “positive” on the feedback we provide.
In the meantime, the latest from AT&T's Web site is I "may" qualify for U-Verse. Bottom line, no DSL and no U-Verse. As usual, the ever equivocal Ma Bell says maybe and that's final. She's all dressed up with nothing tangible to sell.
Update 6/30/08: Ma Bell has changed her mind -- again. Now I no longer "may qualify" for U-Verse as an alternative since DSL isn't offered. It's back to "Go suck a satellite." No wonder some wags have aptly dubbed U-Verse "Re-Verse:"
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Among the benefits AT&T touts of satellite is "Wide Footprint" because it can reach people even in remote locations. In my case, remote means two miles from a major U.S. highway with buried fiber cable plant along a frontage road 1.5 miles from my location. Gee, and here I thought I must be residing somewhere in the Arctic Circle.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
U.S. broadband: Desperate ideas of an industry that resists change
Mainstream DSL speeds aren’t enough to support family broadband networks and new services such as multimedia streaming and I don’t even want to talk about the quality and reliability of the DSL service in my hometown. Broadband providers already are the most significant roadblock between consumers and new applications and now we are hearing that connections will see delays and/or extra charges when you take advantage of new high-bandwidth services.
Let’s be clear: There is zero entrepreneurial spirit and zero social responsibility left in today’s U.S. telecommunication industry. This industry is not about products and consumer trends anymore. It is about protecting a revenue base without exploring and providing new and existing services to customers at prices that avoid new divides between the rich and the poor.
Any industry naturally resists change. Change fosters uncertainty and business hates uncertainty. The broadband telecommunications industry by its very nature lacks robust competition. It is monopolistic and at best, duopolistic. The barriers to entry (the cost of overbuilding new physical plant, regulatory hurdles) are high and discourage new players from entering the market. Without these new players entering the market and creating change by offering superior products and services, there is no incentive for the incumbents to improve their offerings. This is why the broadband telecommunications industry behaves as if it doesn’t believe in its future. There isn’t really a future when its fundamental perspective is preserving the status quo.
We are increasingly likely to see government intervention in the broadband telecommunications industry in the next several years if it becomes public policy to regard modern telecommunications — which now encompass broadband Internet — as vital infrastructure and a natural monopoly as occurred with basic telephone service decades ago.
Friday, June 13, 2008
TheStreet.com: AT&T mulls surcharge for high bandwidth DSL customers
"Broadband use is surging," Coe says. "Based on current trends, total bandwidth in the AT&T network will increase by four times over the next three years."
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Survey results show speedy broadband a threshold advanced IP service
Survey participants were asked to rank several advanced communications services on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the most attractive to customers. High-speed data speeds received more rankings of 5 than any other service. Nearly 40 percent of the respondents ranked data rates as a top draw. About one-fourth of participants ranked HDTV service as a 5. Digital phone service received the fewest top rankings. Only 9.2 percent of participants ranked it at 5.
The results of the survey by Pike & Fisher Broadband Advisory Services were released today at Pike & Fisher's Broadband Policy Summit IV.
The results are hardly unexpected considering the U.S. is still playing catch up with other industrialized nations on broadband access and throughput speeds, with too many Americans still relegated to early 1990s era dialup. They show a solid broadband offering with robust bandwidth is a threshold service consumers want first and foremost ahead other advanced IP services.