 tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI | reply to iansltx
Re: Sue first and get a partner. said by iansltx:What's so bad about a wireless provider having their own nationwide backbone/long distance system? If I remember correctly, wasn't Sprint the first to offer a cellular plan with no long distance charges?
What was wrong with a long distance provider having it's own wireless division? Oh wait, Sprint did. They were a LD and local land line provider before they scooped up PCS. Then, Sprint PCS was always in the red till access to Sprints backbone was provided, then more access charges to the LD side were seen to get that last mile to the cell site, whereas, less charges for PCS. It really didn't balance out. Wireless pretty much took over the show and started causing LD to bleed off profits due to write offs to providing access to it's own Wireless division. It wasn't just one big happy company. When everything "merged" in like early 2000's, we started seeing less money being spent on that "backbone". Don't kid yourself. That back bone is being held together on a shoestring budget and the money is getting even tighter.  |
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
 ·Verizon Online DSL
 ·RoadRunner Cable
·Comcast
| I'm aware...SprintLink in some cases relies on direct-buried fiber (so old-fashioned). This is why Sprint has pretty much stopped trying to sell connections to its backbone (at least aggressively), focusing on higher-margin wireless services. Which is fine, because backbone access (unless you're at a location few or no other backbone providers reach without a tail circuit) is an intensely competitive market, between Level3, Cogent, XO, Hurricane Electric, Highwinds, etc.
The competitive environment is why T-Mobile doesn't have its own national backbone...it's cheaper just to pick up Level3, AT&T or whoever at each of their major switch centers (Dallas, Denver, Orlando, Charlotte, etc.). Heck, Verizon, who owns alter.net, still opts for other Internet egress paths in some markets (e.g. in Denver they're all Level3 last time I did a traceroute on my LTE iPad, whereas in Atlanta and DFW they use alter.net though things tend to get peered off pretty quickly). |
