dynodbPremium,VIP
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN | Any bets? Let's see, how long will it be before this project fails?
Given the record of other such municipal projects, I give it 21 months.
Infallible predictions:
1. It will cost at least twice as much as projected to deploy.
2. It will cost at least 50% more than projected to operate.
3. The service will still suck. |
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| There are reasons why Bellsouth/AT&T didn't want to spend the money to support the buildout of the complete city. There wasn't money to be made to return the investment made. Let's also realize that if both AT&T and Cox decide to pull out of Lafayette and the project is not up to par and fails then you have no options at all or the other extreme is that both competitors decide to price there services lower than LUS to simply kill the project then who wins after that? Surely not the tax payers.
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| reply to dynodb
said by dynodb:Let's see, how long will it be before this project fails? Given the record of other such municipal projects, I give it 21 months. Infallible predictions: 1. It will cost at least twice as much as projected to deploy. 2. It will cost at least 50% more than projected to operate. 3. The service will still suck. I understand why Lafayette did this, but I agree with you. The competition with AT&T and Comcast is a good thing, but history has shown that incumbent providers usually improve the quality and price of what they offer to crush newcomers. While AT&T and Comcast can offer huge discounts or free service during the first few months,I doubt the city of Lafayette will be able to match it. It's the same effect Wal-Mart has on businesses they compete with, economies of scale. Things like customer service, tech support, employee benefits and salaries, television programming, and maintenance add up pretty quick.
But I think they are seriously underestimating the impact that two large competitors can have on their business model.The large corporations are trying to kill off independent ISPs in Utah this way. |
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| reply to cajun4x4
That's a lot of "ifs". The facts show that neither corporation wanted to do this & now the gov't there is... |
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 morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | reply to soothsayer15
What they need to do is sell it as the alternative to big corporate players---money stays in the community and isn't siphoned off to San Antonio for AT&T or Comcast headquarters. In general, people prefer local over big out of town businesses. Of course, Lafayette also has to provide a superior product. |
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