joncrane
join:2005-04-02
Kensington, MD | reply to nasadude
Re: will Montgomery county MD ever get fibered?
Ok I got one for ya:
FDIC
membership is voluntary so you can't say they're a monopoly like the SEC or the FCC. |
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SaltiDawg
join:2005-10-17
Rockville, MD
2 edits | reply to PoloDude
said by PoloDude  :right the SEC and the FCC are both regulatory agencies neither of which can the private sector get involved with. The Federal reserve is the same thing but it is technically a corporation.(hard not to make a profit when you print the money  ... PoloDude,
The above makes no sense to me at all. In any event, the Government groups exist generally to provide a service hopefully in an efficient or cost-effective manner. Private industry generally provides goods or services generally for a profit, or at least for enough income to cover expenses.
With your perspective the IRS would seem to be a money-making operation. Actually it provides services such as collection of taxes and enforcement of tax laws and regulations. I guess we should keep the IRS and do away with DOD.  |
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PoloDude
Premium,VIP
join:2006-03-29
East Northport, NY
 ·Verizon FIOS
| how bout we get rid of the IRS as it is a huge waste of money with regulations that they cant even interpret correctly (IRS hot line last year was wrong about 30% last year according to one report i read)go to a flat tax or sales tax and yes also trim down the DOD
Remember the whole point was that as a rule government agencies do not have to worry about a bottom line. when is the last time your taxes went down? |
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SaltiDawg
join:2005-10-17
Rockville, MD
| said by PoloDude :how bout we get rid of the IRS as it is a huge waste of money with regulations that they cant even interpret correctly You just keep changing the subject looking to get a rise out of people with rediculous assertions. I'm not playin'.
Ploink. |
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dark pheonix
@comcast.net
| reply to nasadude
i gave up and got comcast. the tech showed up late and we had to reschedule before that, and the service wasnt even available by the time he left. i had to call tech support a couple days later on Monday to get the prob fixed. But as soon as the thing was up and running, its fine. Sure, upload sucks and the pings could definitely be better, but its a hell of a lot better than dial-up, which is our only other option for internet access. |
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JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:
 ·LINGO
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·surpasshosting
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to joncrane
Did anyone go to Rockville's meeting? Did they vote in favor of "encouraging Verizon to install FTTP"?
Exactly how to they plan to "encourage" Verizon to install FTTP anyway? From what I understand, Verizon doesn't need encouragement - they want to install FTTP. The only thing Verizon needs is permission from Rockville for the upgrade. The document linked to in the agenda item indicates that Rockville isn't stopping Verizon from installing FTTP, which is rather curious since Verizon has already installed FTTP in a sizable portion of Montgomery County - parts that don't offer "protection" from Verizon. Why is an extra agreement necessary in Rockville?
Was this clarified in the meeting? |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| said by JTRockville :Did anyone go to Rockville's meeting? Did they vote in favor of "encouraging Verizon to install FTTP"? Exactly how to they plan to "encourage" Verizon to install FTTP anyway? From what I understand, Verizon doesn't need encouragement - they want to install FTTP. The only thing Verizon needs is permission from Rockville for the upgrade. The document linked to in the agenda item indicates that Rockville isn't stopping Verizon from installing FTTP, which is rather curious since Verizon has already installed FTTP in a sizable portion of Montgomery County - parts that don't offer "protection" from Verizon. Why is an extra agreement necessary in Rockville? Was this clarified in the meeting? I went to the meeting and, as soon as I'm done getting tortured by my taxes, plan to write up the, um, experience with some of the more lurid details.
But in short, yes, they voted as they promised they would but they spent most of their time demonizing Verizon. If I had been a Verizon VP, I'd have walked out and swore never to return. |
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joncrane
join:2005-04-02
Kensington, MD | I'm just getting ready for the torture myself. Looking forward to your writeup. |
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tonton-h4xx0rz
@verizon.net
| i live in the borderline of potomac and bethedsa ( montgomery mall) and i have fios 15/2 its really good but the router they provide sucks :S its a DLINK and dlink are the worse  |
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JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs: | reply to DonLibes
I wish I could have witnessed the torture first hand, but I'm out of town for Spring Break.
I look forward to reading about it, even though your initial assessment sounds disappointing. |
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BarneyBadAss
Badasses Fight For Freedom
Premium
join:2004-05-07
00001
·Verizon FIOS
| said by JTRockville :I look forward to reading about it, even though your initial assessment sounds disappointing. And this should surprise us? Hmmmmm.....
--
---Barney |
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JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:
·LINGO
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·surpasshosting
·Verizon FIOS
| Well, I thought by now the City of Rockville might have been shamed into backing off. I was hoping 2006 might be the year I finally get network services from Verizon. But my hopes are pretty much dashed now.
Maybe I should look more seriously into filing a lawsuit. |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19 | reply to nasadude
Can anyone attend the MC advisory meeting tomorrow (Wednesday) evening and take notes? I cannot make it. More info including the date/time/location are in my blog's most recent entry. |
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G-boy
@air.org | reply to nasadude
I live in Germantown, MD. I just sign up Verizon Fios today. The installation date will be April 26. Can't wait to cancel Comcast internet. They suck. |
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JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:
·LINGO
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·surpasshosting
·Verizon FIOS
| reply to DonLibes
I went. I was the only citizen who showed up. Is that par for the course?
If I had to boil the whole thing down to one sentence, it would be this:
Verizon will be invited to attend the June 21 advisory meeting, at which time they hope to report that they've already filed an application for a television franchise.
I'll provide the gory details of the meeting as soon as I get a chance to type them up. |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| said by JTRockville :I went. I was the only citizen who showed up. Is that par for the course? If I had to boil the whole thing down to one sentence, it would be this: Verizon will be invited to attend the June 21 advisory meeting, at which time they hope to report that they've already filed an application for a television franchise.I'll provide the gory details of the meeting as soon as I get a chance to type them up. Sounds positive. Am I misinterpreting you? On the other hand, if the Cable Office is predicting something 2 months out that should've happened a year ago, I'm not going to hold my breath. |
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JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:
·LINGO
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·surpasshosting
·Verizon FIOS
| Yes, it was the most positive news I'd heard about Verizon's FTTP plans in quite a long time. But I'm skeptical as well - I won't believe it until I see spools of orange conduit rolling down the street.
At any rate, here's my version of what happened at the meeting:
Federal Franchise vs Local Franchise
Margie and Jane opened the meeting with discussions about the Federal level video franchise. They noted that hardly anything that's happened so far at the Federal level was revenue-neutral to the locals, so a Federal franchise would most likely mean a loss of revenue for Montgomery County. Fees collected in MCMD are currently 5% Franchise Fee + 3% PEG support, but most Federal proposals are considering 5% FF + 1% PEG. It was pointed out that revenue might also be lost because prices may drop once effective competition is introduced. Someone suggested that consumption always rises, so just because prices may be lower, people may purchase more, so revenue won't be adversely impacted. Then someone else pointed out that increased consumption may come in the form of internet streams or other online video sources which don't provide revenue to the county. No one mentioned customers could potentially return from satellite services, which would positively impact county revenue. Jane said that even with all the talk of a Federal video franchise bill, negotiations with Verizon were progressing. There is a 5 hour meeting scheduled for Friday to go over all the points of agreement and disagreement. Everyone was hopeful that Verizon's game plan might be to settle with us before any Federal franchise legislation was signed, because general consensus was that Federal legislation would not be passed before the elections in November. Jane did indicate some adverse effects that federal legislation would have on our local ROW management - for example, we would no longer be able to inspection for service quality and verification of buildout plans. She noted that if enforcement of these issues had to come from FCC then there probably wouldn't be any.
Who Can Understand the Budget?
The budget was reviewed. Questions were raised during the last TAC meeting, but no one could remember what they were. Some clarification was given about the shuffling of money from somewhere else to county cable 6 so that administration costs for the channel are more accurately reflected. Resolved: A letter regarding TAC's budget recommendations will be sent prior to next week's deadline.
In a Word: Unresponsive
Both Comcast's and RCN's response to the TAC letter regarding their compliance with federal close captioning rules was unresponsive. One of the members who is familiar with the rules said that all first-run programming must be captioned, and 30% of pre-run programming must be captioned, but that isn't the reply another member got by phoning Comcast. It was noted that Food network is always captioned at the gym, but never at home. Jane pointed out that since this is a federal rule, enforcement must be done at the federal level. Resolved: A new letter from TAC to the cable office will be drafted that will provide examples of non-compliance, and will ask the cable office to request evidence of compliance from Comcast and RCN.
The Brochure Saga Continues
The county's lawyer is unable to attend May's meeting, but Praisner was available and she can possibly untangle some of the legal issues regarding distribution of the brochure. Comcast puts out their own brochure, and their privacy policy, which was included in last month's bill. Jane pointed out that for the last 3 years the cable office has not approved Comcast's policy, which doesn't stop them from implementing it, but their stance may assist someone who lodges a complaint.
Comcast Will Attend May 17 Meeting
RCN will be invited too. Some questions planned for Comcast are as follows:
1)Comcast complaints have fallen, what changed?
2)How can we get PEG information on digital guide so that shows can be TiVO'd and "info" button has something to display.
Verizon Invited to Attend June 21 Meeting
Verizon will be invited to attend the June 21 advisory meeting, at which time they hope to report that they've already filed an application for a television franchise.
More PEG Exposure Please
For some reason, the Washington Post is no longer listing our PEGs in their TV Guide, even though they used to. Someone suggested that the Gazette may be willing to provide listings as a community service. Someone else pointed out that PEGs are offered on DirecTV in Connecticut.
That's about it. I'm sure I glossed over or missed some issues, so my apologies in advance for not being a more proficient note taker. |
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DonLibes
Premium,ExMod 2001
join:2003-01-19
| said by JTRockville :... Jane said that even with all the talk of a Federal video franchise bill, negotiations with Verizon were progressing. There is a 5 hour meeting scheduled for Friday to go over all the points of agreement and disagreement. So have they officially filed for a franchise? Or is this just more pre-filing negotation?
5 hours doesn't sound promising at all. But from that recent FCC filing, we knew they were miles apart. Was the announcement of this marathon meeting really all that Jane said on the matter? |
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JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:
·LINGO
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·surpasshosting
·Verizon FIOS
| I'm pretty sure Verizon has not officially filed an application for a television franchise yet. Everyone seemed satisfied with the tidbit that negotiations were "progressing" (which is indeed good news, albeit vague). To my recollection, no one asked any direct questions of Jane regarding the progress or expected time frame.
Much more time was spent discussing (speculating) about legislation at the federal level and the impact it (and competition) would have on county revenue. |
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cbrain
join:2000-05-21
Silver Spring, MD
·VoicePulse for Bus..
·Verizon FIOS
 ·Comcast
·Future Nine Corpor..
·VoiceStick
·Packet8
| said by JTRockville :... Much more time was spent discussing (speculating) about legislation at the federal level and the impact it (and competition) would have on county revenue. Did anyone show interest in providing the best possible service or options to the paying customer? |
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