| reply to vzofni
Re: biased post 1. I haven't noticed an anti-Verizon bias on BBR but even if there were one why do you care so much? Are you on Verizon's dime Yes I am, however you will not find one negative comment that I've made about a competitor, I only try to clarify some issues and provide information about some things that Verizon does.
2. To the poster that said cable companies provide battery backup, can you clarify if it is a battery backup at the customer's home to keep the phones running or is it to just keep the cable plant going? I really am curious because I wasn't aware that cable companies provided a battery backup at the customer premise similar to Verizon. I thought if a customer lost power, the cable modem was knocked out (if no UPS) and therefore no phone service. Does cable install a battery backup that keeps the voice portion of the cable modem going? I do know cable puts in battery backups for their own outside plant but I honestly didn't know (and still haven't seen one) for the customer's home, however, my knowledge is limited to just the cable companies in my area.
3. Many CLECs got a free ride by making false claims to the FCC and living off the fines (those companies could have never kept afloat on a legit business model), they also get a free ride by not having the costs associated with technicians, vehicles, insurance, fuel costs, tools, etc. What the CLECs pay Verizon is nowhere near what it would cost the CLEC itself to have all that overhead, so in that sense they get a free ride. (Hence why the Supreme Court shot down the FCC line sharing rules 3 times in favor of the ILECs). I'm not saying Verizon is 100% pure, because they're not, but most people consider them to be the devil without knowing all the facts. If the CLECs weren't getting a free ride, how come none of them were interested in any of the access lines Verizon is selling? Because they're not profitable, so if Verizon's not making a profit on those lines, how could they be profitting from the CLECs?
4. The whole telco monopoly claim is overused. Certain things are just natural monopolies. Cable is one of them. Just as telco gets competition from voip, cellphones, e-mail, instant messages. Cable gets competition from satellite, terrestial broadcast, iptv, and telcotv. The economics of the market simply don't allow many companies to be profitable by being overbuilders, hence no incumbent treads too much on another incumbents turf. The only real source of competition comes from other technologies that can effectively satisfy users needs. What percentage of the U.S. has a choice of two gas heat providers? (That have their own infrastructure) But you do have a choice between oil heat vs. gas heat. Where can you find two electric providers? (Both with their own infrastructure). But you can choose solar power. 2 Water companies? But you can choose to have well water. 2 sewer companies? But you can have septic. The point is that competition in certain things can only come from different technologies, and not necessarily from another provider "sharing" infrastructure that the other one built. Its like telling UPS to let FEDEX use UPS trucks and they only have to pay for the gas. A business model like that just doesn't work, and I wouldn't expect UPS to just welcome FEDEX to use their trucks, hence I wouldn't expect any company, Verizon included, to just be overwhelmed with joy at letting another company "lease" their lines at below retail rates. That's like the government telling me that I have to rent a room in my house (even if I don't want to), and I can't charge more than a certain amount. The free market is better at providing competition than the government is. Why is their competition in cellphones? Because the government kept their nose out of it. Why is there competition on the Internet? Because the government kept their nose out of it.
I've said all I wanted to say, its just my opinion, you are entitled to yours, sorry if I bored anyone with the post, feel free to disagree and express yourself, but I probably won't reply to any more comments because I think its ok to agree to disagree. |
