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Comments on news posted 2009-10-30 11:11:45: Earlier this week we noted how Verizon's quarterly subscriber additions for their fiber to the home FiOS service were lower than anticipated. The company added 191,000 new FiOS subs on the quarter, down from the 300,000 added in the second quarter. ..

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cableties
Premium Member
join:2005-01-27

cableties

Premium Member

HA!

Remeber those FioS HUMMERs? Yeah, wonder where the logic was in *that* marketing....
patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY

patcat88

Member

Re: HA!

said by cableties:

Remeber those FioS HUMMERs? Yeah, wonder where the logic was in *that* marketing....
Put anything on a hummer and sheep will flock to it like bugs to a bulb. Now how about some FIOS shades?

cdru
Go Colts
MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 recommendation

cdru to cableties

MVM

to cableties
said by cableties:

Remeber those FioS HUMMERs? Yeah, wonder where the logic was in *that* marketing....
You remembered it and your talking about it. Sounds like the marketing worked.

cableties
Premium Member
join:2005-01-27

cableties

Premium Member

Re: HA!

Yeah. I so wanted to buy a Hummer.
Mordhem
Love it, Hate it.
join:2003-07-10
Baltimore, MD

Mordhem

Member

Re: HA!

lmao same here!
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Not available to me

Can't get Fios at our $600k townhouses. Must be that cherry-picking.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Not available to me

said by Bobcat79:

Can't get Fios at our $600k townhouses. Must be that cherry-picking.
Verizon should buy out Embarq here. Embarq is totally useless since all they offer is 5Mbps DSL.

Mahalo
join:2000-12-20
united state

Mahalo

Member

Re: Not available to me

Embarq is now CenturyTel.

From the looks of it, VZ is looking to get out of the copper business »Frontier Shareholders Approve Verizon Deal [20] comments

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Not available to me

said by Mahalo:

Embarq is now CenturyTel.

From the looks of it, VZ is looking to get out of the copper business »Frontier Shareholders Approve Verizon Deal [20] comments
I know that Embarq is now centurytel (I got the mailers from them.)

I never said that VZ should get into the copper business, but get into the fiber business here. We are the fastest growing county in the state.

Mahalo
join:2000-12-20
united state

Mahalo

Member

Re: Not available to me

VZ only puts FiOS in where they are the LEC.

CT is the LEC where you are so VZ would have to buy the copper to put in the fiber.
ashworth7
join:2001-10-06
Pittsburgh, PA

ashworth7

Member

Re: Not available to me

VZ would have to rent the poles/right of way to offer service, where they're not the ILEC. I believe there is one area in Texas where ATT is the ILEC and VZ has a little FTTP. I don't think we'll see any of that soon, seeing that VZ has a lot more of their own territory to upgrade.

Guest100
@embarqhsd.net

Guest100 to Mahalo

Anon

to Mahalo
Correction not Century Tel but CenturyLInk

Jodokast96
Stupid people piss me off.
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
NJ

Jodokast96 to fifty nine

Premium Member

to fifty nine
That's better than the 3mb Verizon offers me.

Plattsburgh
@charter.com

Plattsburgh

Anon

Re: Not available to me

Verizon only offers 1.5meg DSL on my street. Charter offers 20meg. I get 5meg for $30. Why in the world would I ever go back to DSL when I could get 20 meg for $55 a month.
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Re: Not available to me

said by Plattsburgh :

Verizon only offers 1.5meg DSL on my street. Charter offers 20meg. I get 5meg for $30. Why in the world would I ever go back to DSL when I could get 20 meg for $55 a month.
Same reason I have 3 Mbps DSL for $32/mo instead of 15 Mbps cable for $45/mo. Money.
Expand your moderator at work
Mordhem
Love it, Hate it.
join:2003-07-10
Baltimore, MD

Mordhem to Plattsburgh

Member

to Plattsburgh
I am buying lawn chairs...... To watch the big ship come crashing down. Verizon does not know what to since they be a monopoly and just force people use their crappy network.
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Medford, NY

majortom1029 to Bobcat79

Member

to Bobcat79
That price means nothing. a 600k townhouse could be cheap compaired to a 3 million dollar mansion.

The fact that you live in a townhome is why you dont have it. I live in a two floor appartment and verizon wont give me fios either. nevermind the fact that my wall is an exterior one that is 20 feet from a fios fiber junction box.
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

1 edit

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Re: Not available to me

said by majortom1029:

That price means nothing. a 600k townhouse could be cheap compaired to a 3 million dollar mansion.

The fact that you live in a townhome is why you dont have it. I live in a two floor appartment and verizon wont give me fios either. nevermind the fact that my wall is an exterior one that is 20 feet from a fios fiber junction box.
Except that the $300k condos across the road from me do have Fios.
rody_44
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Quakertown, PA

rody_44

Premium Member

Re: Not available to me

The difference between a 300,000 dollar townhome and a 600,000 dollar townhome on the other side would be its a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to dig in the 300,000 dolaar ones yard. To boot the 300,000 dollar one will probably order more services.

fifty nine
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ

fifty nine

Member

Re: Not available to me

said by rody_44:

The difference between a 300,000 dollar townhome and a 600,000 dollar townhome on the other side would be its a hell of a lot cheaper and easier to dig in the 300,000 dolaar ones yard. To boot the 300,000 dollar one will probably order more services.
Not necessarily. In NJ it's weird. I know one guy who couldn't get FiOS even though across the street had it. It had to do with street boundaries.

Z80
1 point 77
Premium Member
join:2009-08-31
Amerika

Z80 to Bobcat79

Premium Member

to Bobcat79
Go figure, some horrible neighborhoods here in SoCal like Lake Smellsmore have it. Beaumont, CA a town you don't drive through with the windows down was one of the first around here to get FiOS TV too.

No cherry picking in this neck of the woods.
tmncali
join:2003-02-18
Fontana, CA

tmncali

Member

Re: Not available to me

I think alot of deployment went into areas with high repeat trouble tickets in the cooper network. That's why Quail Valley's trailer area got fiber in, to reduce the trouble tickets. IMO.

As for the TV, I think they wanted a small market area in case the system crashed or didn't fly.

Just my guess.

N3OGH
Yo Soy Col. "Bat" Guano
Premium Member
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs

N3OGH to Bobcat79

Premium Member

to Bobcat79
Sounds like you're on the ass end of the CO that doesn't have Fios, and the one across the street does have it.

Talk about wrong side of the tracks!
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

1 edit

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Re: Not available to me

said by N3OGH:

Sounds like you're on the ass end of the CO that doesn't have Fios, and the one across the street does have it.
Nope, we're all on the same CO. And areas on the same CO that are further away have it. Basically, Fios goes past our neighborhood, but we can't get it.

EDIT: Simplified diagram:


+----+ Fios Fios
| | avail avail
| CO |========================================
| | No Fios Fios
+----+ (me) avail


alchav
join:2002-05-17
Saint George, UT

alchav

Member

Re: Not available to me

said by Bobcat79:

said by N3OGH:

Sounds like you're on the ass end of the CO that doesn't have Fios, and the one across the street does have it.
Nope, we're all on the same CO. And areas on the same CO that are further away have it. Basically, Fios goes past our neighborhood, but we can't get it.

EDIT: Simplified diagram:


+----+ Fios Fios
| | avail avail
| CO |========================================
| | No Fios Fios
+----+ (me) avail


Well according to your diagram you should have FiOS, but for some reason you don't. It looks like you have Verizon DSL, so maybe you have new Copper there. If so it was a financial decision not to bring in FiOS. You could also have a Community that is feed differently, and was put on the back burner for later deployment. So if you want FiOS, the Community has to get together and ask Verizon what up.

Jim_F
Premium Member
join:2004-01-19
Caldwell, NJ

Jim_F to Bobcat79

Premium Member

to Bobcat79
I'm on the Board of our Condo Association in North Jersey, and we've been working with Verizon for almost 2 years to develop a plan to retrofit our NEW development for FIOS. Talk to your HOA Board or management company - they should have a reason why they haven't let Verizon into your development.

-JF
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Re: Not available to me

said by Jim_F:

Talk to your HOA Board or management company - they should have a reason why they haven't let Verizon into your development.
Because they're Cablevision customers, so they don't care.
navyblue99ss
join:2006-11-05
Derwood, MD

navyblue99ss to Bobcat79

Member

to Bobcat79
My question to you would be..... do you have a homeowners association? Reason I ask is because the association has to actively pursue verizon and ask them to install it. Our condos has fios all around us for 2 years. Finally somebody in the association got in touch with verizon and now we have fios.
said by Bobcat79:

said by N3OGH:

Sounds like you're on the ass end of the CO that doesn't have Fios, and the one across the street does have it.
Nope, we're all on the same CO. And areas on the same CO that are further away have it. Basically, Fios goes past our neighborhood, but we can't get it.

EDIT: Simplified diagram:


+----+ Fios Fios
| | avail avail
| CO |========================================
| | No Fios Fios
+----+ (me) avail


Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Re: Not available to me

said by navyblue99ss:

do you have a homeowners association?
Yes, and they don't care.

alchav
join:2002-05-17
Saint George, UT

alchav

Member

Re: Not available to me

said by Bobcat79:

said by navyblue99ss:

do you have a homeowners association?
Yes, and they don't care.
If your Association doesn't care, you won't get FiOS. If you want FiOS, you have to get in there and convince your HOA that FiOS will be good for everyone.
bostonkarl1
join:2003-07-09
Arlington, VA

1 edit

bostonkarl1 to Bobcat79

Member

to Bobcat79
Can't get FIOS here.

Wish there were a viable competitor to cable internet. Comcast has provided excellent service but it expensive.

Verizon DSL is a disaster in my neighborhood -- it is clear that the telco has made a conscience decision to let copper rot here. Blown off appointments -- 7 day wait for a tech to fix a POTS outage -- y'all know the routine.

•••••

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

PapaMidnight to Bobcat79

Member

to Bobcat79
said by Bobcat79:

Can't get Fios at our $600k townhouses. Must be that cherry-picking.
Got me beat by $300k at market value (of course, it was half that when purchased).

Phil
Rojo Sol
Premium Member
join:2001-06-11
Downers Grove, IL

Phil to Bobcat79

Premium Member

to Bobcat79
You should buy a condo across the street and make it your FiOS vacation home.
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Re: Not available to me

said by Phil:

You should buy a condo across the street and make it your FiOS vacation home.
Ha, ha. Funny thing is I used to live there and would have been able to get Fios if I didn't move here!

WA Resident
@genext.net

WA Resident to Bobcat79

Anon

to Bobcat79
Funny, you can't get Fios there but over here even goats, sheep and cows have access to fiber optics (along their pastures).

There's no DSL, Cable or Verizon's Fios but there sure is Fiber Optics from the county PUD (Public Utility Disctrict). This Fiber network like Verizon offers internet, TV programming and phone service. The top speeds from among several isp providers top at 100/100Mbps for residential customers.

Besides the fiber optic network the PUD also has a wide area covered by fixed wireless (which mostly covers wheatland).

"The DCCN is a high-speed, broadband network originally designed for Douglas County PUD’s electric needs. The current backbone, developed over the last several years, includes hundreds of miles of fiber-optic lines, connecting several towns throughout Douglas County. This network enables Douglas PUD to more safely and effectively monitor and control its electric system. An added benefit to our customer owners is the availability of high speed broadband services, such as Internet access, being made available to residents, government agencies and businesses in Douglas County."

»www.dccn.net/

Assault
join:2001-12-14
Garland, TX

Assault

Member

Stop raising prices $10 every year

I remember when their 5/2 package was $39.99 now their cheapest speed tier is $54.99 if you don't have a Vz landline or a bundle.

•••

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Fios video penetration 25%; Comcast 48%

Verizon may want to pause and consolidate because their penetration % for FIOS TV is only 25% and the industry they are competing against(Cable) is at 48%. Their profits can increase dramatically if they can improve that uptake rate. With improved profits they can then resume rollout to new areas.

•••
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

1 recommendation

tmc8080

Member

It would sell itself IF

1. Stop ALL AD BUYS, except wireless.
2. LOWER THE GOD DAMNED BROADBAND PRICE!!!!

Consumers KNOW a good deal when they see one, and word of mouth advertising is it's own reward.. put up 25/25 megabits for $34.95 a month, unbundled, no contract and you'll see how fast consumers dump their cable company's broadband!!!

If consumers in existing markets don't jump on that then you can blame the stupid consumer. My guess it will gain it's own momentum when mainstream media picks up Verizon's undercutting every single cable company across the country on pricing. Trying to make the cable company look like a dumb slob who's out to screw the consumer doesn't wash if your own service is overpriced and has multiple strings attached--bundling (your own product that your shoveling doesn't smell nice at the prices you sel it at).

Price suggestions:

25/25 megabits $34.95

50/35 (37.5?) megabits $49.95

100/75 (bpons have a node limitation of 75 up.. so it's about there) $69.99

All stand-alone, no bundling required, 2 week installation guarantee or your first month is free kind of deal. Oh wait, they just got around to firing a whole bunch of installers.. scratch that one. It's time to throw down a revamped gauntlet of speeds against cable to force their hand with docsis 3 investment.

All the false information of the early days were wasted in hype which had no follow through.. I heard Verizon was going to keep ramping up FIOS speeds to undercut the competition, most notably in cablevision's footprint.. and the reality is they squandered their good will from consumers by just matching their prices & speeds, then coming up with all kinds of restrictions and cherry picking who, what, how, when, and where the service would get installed.. and they self-sabotaged the service! No matter how great the bandwidth ended up being in QOS, you can't keep slapping the consumer in the face and just because you have a superior product and think they will automatically buy.. that's not reality. The same could be said by GM making SUV's and thinking everything's great.. they all of a sudden. $5 gasoline! Oh, NO! Consumer aren't buying, what will we do? It must be our advertising...
NO, you fool, it's you, it's all about the bad choices made from 2005-2009

••••

Bill Neilson
Premium Member
join:2009-07-08
Alexandria, VA

Bill Neilson

Premium Member

As a current Verizon DSL guy

It is depressing to read this...getting just 3mb download and boy is it painful....especially since before I was used to 4x-5x that.

My apartment is just sitting down and waiting for FiOS which according to our manager is a year and a half away at the earliest.

I enjoy living here though and I deal with it because of the location
ashman454
join:2004-03-10
Manassas, VA

1 recommendation

ashman454

Member

Blamming it on the ads? Are you kidding?

Okay seriously, I know they aren't Cherry picking because I live if not in the Ghetto, a stones throw from it so we can nix that mess. As for blaming it on crappy ads, I live in a Comcast served (holy crap that is laughable, couldn't get good service from them if my life depended on it), anyway, when Verizon's contractors came in, started digging, laying conduit and such, Comcast marketing people were carpeting the mail boxes and doors offering people lower rates if they signed 2 year agreements, mean while Verizon was sending out a crap load of mailers, but when someone like me see Verizon digging, gets the mailer from both companies but logs onto Verizon's site, I'm greeted with FiOS isn't available in my area yet. That right there is the biggest marketing failure. The competitors see Verizon moving into the area so they carpet bomb the area with mailers, lock the customers in for 2 years so when Verizon comes in to sell, everyone still has over a year left on there contract and as far as I know Verizon isn't going to or hasn't offered to pay the early termination fee for people.....which btw would be a great idea.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. I'm a DSL customer waiting for FiOS to be available....in my hood. Hopefully I won't have to wait too much longer because I would rather have nothing than have to deal with Comcast in my neighborhood again.
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Medford, NY

majortom1029

Member

wow

IF they would just start doing appartments i would order it.

Verizons problem is that they are giving big portions of their footprint to their cable competition. In my app i can only get cablevision because verizon refuses to wire it.

•••••

PoloDude
Premium Member
join:2006-03-29
Aiken, SC

PoloDude

Premium Member

NO Sh@#

WE ahve been screaming at them from the field, From the Bus offices. But they would listen to us.
Remember the ad with the FiOS kid? Oooo look at the light. VZ actually sent a company email out to explain the ad! 1st rule of comedy and advertising, if you have to explain it, YOU FAILED!
weaver0
join:2004-05-05
Macungie, PA

weaver0

Member

keep pullin'

new subscribers would have been 191,001 if they'd make it available to me.

mod_wastrel
anonome
join:2008-03-28

1 edit

mod_wastrel

Member

Yeah, it's just bad marketing...

then again, maybe it's due to not giving people what they want, but instead trying to force something on them that they don't want, namely, higher speeds at higher prices. For those that want more speed and will pay for it, fine; but there are still plenty of people who just want a connection that's reliable and "fast enough": 5/2 for $30, 10/? for $40. Bad marketing? or just not understanding the "market"? And then there's "TV"... who needs it? No one "needs" it. But again, it comes down to price. Yeah, there's plenty of "competition" in the marketing space for air time to attract customers' attention, but how about having some actual competition in price and product instead? What a concept.

bokamba
Premium Member
join:2002-04-05
Arlington, VA

bokamba

Premium Member

Not cheap enough yet

FiOS is available to my house, and Verizon mails us an ad every other week with their latest FiOS offer. We are waiting for the price to come down about $10 more per month.
ricklg
Premium Member
join:2004-03-07
Laurel, MD

ricklg

Premium Member

Re: Not cheap enough yet

You're lucky. I get a FIOS mailing about 3 times a week. I used to get phone calls about every 4 days. I finally answered one and asked if they could beat Comcast's price...silence.

I did get a chuckle from the script-reading lady when she told me that I could get my data at the speed of light. My response was, "ooo, speed of light" The phone calls ended then, but they've probably spent $10 or $20 mailing me stuff I haven't opened.

Verizon hasn't given me a reason to change from Comcast yet. A reduced price (not a teaser rate) would make me think a lot harder about switching.

optemino
join:2009-10-13
Patterson, CA

optemino

Member

FiOS

I WISH we had verizon fios were we are.... for that matter ANY FiOS, we have cruddy frontier in our neighborhood... and are you kidding me!? 45$ a month for a 3Mbps dl /512Kbps ul

to mention in the end a 5GB cap and a 2 yr contract?!
Now THATS ripping people off

scr*w the ad's, i'd gladly jump on the FiOS wagon if they offered

n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY

n2jtx

Member

FiOS Here

My area had FiOS installed during the summer of 2008 and they started pushing it in 2009. Unfortunately, there really is no real difference between Cablevision and FiOS when comparing the service bundles. If you are comparing strictly video, then FiOS would probably have the edge though there is no price advantage in the duopoly. However, throw in Internet and voice and you definitely do not have an advantage. With Cablevision you get socked for various fees and taxes such as the "Premium Outlet Fee". With Verizon voice, you get the FCC Line Charge and other nuisance fees associated with voice services. Plus, FiOS billing can be a crap shoot. Basically, toss a coin and pick a service. Either way you will pay a lot.
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Medford, NY

majortom1029

Member

Re: FiOS Here

With cablevision its very easy to get your price reduced though. I got Cablevision to renew my tripple play for 2 more years when i called after it ended.
Bobcat79
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04

Bobcat79

Premium Member

Re: FiOS Here

said by majortom1029:

With cablevision its very easy to get your price reduced though. I got Cablevision to renew my tripple play for 2 more years when i called after it ended.
Cablevision sucks donkey balls. They were charging me $54 per month for 45 channels. I disconnected my service.
OwlSaver
OwlSaver
Premium Member
join:2005-01-30
Berwyn, PA

OwlSaver

Premium Member

Can Congress Mandate this?

So, is it possible for the US Congress or States to mandate pricing approach? That is, they would have to quote a price per byte and could offer discounts for going over that amount? I could see this being applied to ISP and Cell changes. The price would not be set, just the way it works.

DaveDude
No Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey

DaveDude

Member

Re: Can Congress Mandate this?

Then watch Fios completely stop growing. Just look at rent controlled housing, its never maintained. Believe me people want less state and federal involvement more the ever. Look at the clunkers program, bailout etc. Motivate them to spend less money.
OwlSaver
OwlSaver
Premium Member
join:2005-01-30
Berwyn, PA

OwlSaver

Premium Member

Re: Can Congress Mandate this?

I am not recommending price controls. It is more like rational pricing. It seems to me that the pricing mechanism for cell phones (buy a chunk of minutes and pay a hefty fee if you go over) is not rational. It is a way to guarantee profits. It gets people to buy more minutes than they really need just to ensure that they do not go over. So, everyone's price per minute is actually variable.

In a purely competitive environment (like corn), the minutes would have an individual quoted price. There could be discounts for buying in volume but not extra charges.

In the US, Cell Service is dominated by two providers, Verizon and AT&T. So, the market operates like a duopoly. The remaining vendors try to compete using rational pricing, but they cannot offer the service that Verizon and AT&T do.

I would like to have just enough government and no more. Since there are some things that do not work on a market basis, we need the government to step in. I think my idea above was a minimal approach that was intended to make a market act rationally. But, I am open to alternatives that are less intrusive.
Springbok
join:2002-09-13
Leander, TX

1 edit

Springbok

Member

Just fix the website first

Until they fix their own online sites and improve the customer experience they will be perceived as clueless. No amount of advertising is going to fix that.

One day maybe they will figure out that there is a reason people will want to buy all this bandwidth.

Maybe one of those reasons is that the VZ site itself is where people will want to explore...for browsing, shopping, ordering, support etc
BlueBeetle
join:2009-02-06
Arnold, MD

BlueBeetle

Member

Stayed with Comcast...

Fios is available in my area and I've been dreaming of getting Fios for a long time, but in the end I decided to stick with Comcast (for TV and Internet) for the following reasons:

1) I decided to stick with Comcast TV instead of going to Fios TV because Comcast offered me two free DTA and an SD Set-top box for free. In addition, they still offered some analog channels after the digital switchover. As someone with a lot of analog equipment (2 SD Tivos, multiple computers with analog tuners, a DVD/Hard Disk recorder, VCR etc), Comcast allowed me to continue to use my current equipment and to gradually replace them over time instead of being instantly made unusable.

2) I switched to Comcast HSI from Verizon DSL because of Comcast's Self Install option. I wanted to go with Fios because I think its the superior technology but the convenience of self install made me go with Comcast. I could just buy my own cable modem at Best Buy and do a self install instead of having to take a day off from work so I could be home for a very intrusive and long installation of ONT and other equipment. In addition, it's easier to be able to use your own router with Comcast.

••••••

DumbVerizon
@optonline.net

DumbVerizon

Anon

Hilarious!!!

Crappy ad's???? Okay yeah. Um helllloooo, it's called "deployment" If you want more customers stop redlining. It's as simple as that. Not everybody in upper class communities wants your "me too" product either. Lot of them are rich old farts who just wanna watch television and the cable co or satellite dish will do.

clickwir
join:2001-06-21
Dickson City, PA

clickwir

Member

FIOS pizza boxes

I remember about 2 years ago, all the local pizza places (for months!) were using Verizon FIOS pizza boxes. All over it said "COMING SOON", "FASTER THAN CABLE", "CHEAPER THAN CABLE" etc etc.

That was 2 years ago. I bet in another 2 years we still won't have it.

Scranton, PA area.

IPPlanMan
Holy Cable Modem Batman
join:2000-09-20
Washington, DC

IPPlanMan

Member

Keep on building out in DC... Please!

All I know is that they'd better keep building out in DC...

Don't stop, Verizon.... Please!!!!
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