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| reply to mouseferatu
FAIRPOINT=VERIZON ? re: "In Verizon's defense, they can no longer see my account in their system, so it's a mess."
That's funny, I'm getting a Fairpoint bill now and I can still manage my account through Verizon.com or Verizon.net. Verizon is even trying to sell me services that were free when they first sold me on DSL... things like roaming remote dialup and "premium tech support" have been stripped from my package without notice, and must now be purchased separately (for a stiff monthly fee). I've also been told that technically Verizon did not sell anything to Fairpoint, despite what they say in the papers. Apparently, what really happened is that they MERGED with Verizon: Verizon shareholders got Fairpoint stock, and Fairpoint shareholders got Verizon stock. So I guess you could say that Fairpoint -IS- Verizon, to the extent that the people who own Verizon now own Fairpoint. Bad choice of name too, I suppose... on the street it will undoubtedly be known as UNFAIRpoint.
According to some, this whole thing was just a shell game designed to excuse Verizon from complying with some regulatory provisions which apply to monopolies of a certain size. Another aspect of the deal is that small states were pressuring Verizon to provide DSL to rural areas in response to widespread public complaints and they did not want to do this. In the long run, that might be a blessing though: maybe some new, super efficient ultrawideband technologies will come along and supersede the existing broadband monopolies. Some of the state legislators are pushing for 100% statewide cellular internet coverage, but evidence is mounting that cell phone and cell tower radiation is a significant long-term health hazard. I don't want to be part of some grand high-power microwave experiment: cellular internet performance sucks, but boosting the power even more just to make it approach the speed of entry level DSL will be worse. I sure hope another reasonably-priced (and safe) terrestrial option emerges... heck, I moved here to get AWAY from the cell towers and now they want to put them everywhere. And the same people who whine about windmills seem to think that's okay.  | | |
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