cableties
Premium
join:2005-01-27 | Ahem...
"...FairPoint made significant financial concessions aimed at reducing the company's debt load after acquisition..."
Translation:
"Pink slips, renegotiate your employment contracts, lower salaries, work weekends, benefits are optional" |
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Jodokast96
R.I.P Bassman442
Premium
join:2005-11-23
Erial, NJ | So far one state has rejected the plan (for now) and another has forced them to make pretty big concessions. Did I miss any others? I wonder if instead of outright rejecting it, they are trying to force them to give it up on their own. |
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astokes
join:2000-08-11
Bangor, ME
| They say they will lock the prices for the 768 dsl, what about other speed tiers? Looking at their website doesent fill me with hope, the speeds and prices are just terrible. They are allready in some small towns in Maine and have been for years, im glad in in a city where other DSL companies are avaiable to me e. GWI and Midmaine.
»www.fairpoint.com/telco/646fpne/···/dsl.php |
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JohnA
Premium
join:2003-09-16
Pittsburgh, PA
| reply to Jodokast96
said by Jodokast96  : I wonder if instead of outright rejecting it, they are trying to force them to give it up on their own. If that's how they feel they should just reject it out of hand. At $15 for a phone line, with maintenance done by union employees, their service will turn to crap within a year.
Call Verizon back in and give them statewide TV franchises with density/time build out requirements. NH started all this by refusing to even discuss a statewide franchise, not once but several times. They never heard of NJ, or what. |
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whiteyonenh
join:2004-08-09
Keene, NH
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to astokes
said by astokes :They say they will lock the prices for the 768 dsl, what about other speed tiers? Looking at their website doesent fill me with hope, the speeds and prices are just terrible. They are allready in some small towns in Maine and have been for years, im glad in in a city where other DSL companies are avaiable to me e. GWI and Midmaine. » www.fairpoint.com/telco/646fpne/···/dsl.php Thats something that has me worried as well. Who is going to stay with Fairpoint DSL if they are able to get something else. I get 10mbit down, and 1mbit up from Time Warner for $55 a month. Why anyone would pay $80 for 1.5mbit down and 1mbit up DSL is beyond me.
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droobie
Premium
join:2007-10-09
Bangor, ME
| reply to astokes
The scary thing is there are no guarantees that Fairpoint would allow CLECS to stay in the COs. They could also make it extremely expensive/cost prohibitive to do business in those COs.
The quality of Fairpoint's DSL service in their native network is horrible. From what I've heard, they basically rent their infrastructure and don't own any of it. It's all handled outside.
A friend of mine had Fairpoint DSL in the Litchfield/Sabattus area and it would constantly go down and was a disaster. |
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droobie
Premium
join:2007-10-09
Bangor, ME
| reply to whiteyonenh
People with cable options probably wouldn't get DSL anyway. However, cable is hurting in several rural Verizon markets. For instance, the amount of satellite dishes in St. Johnsbury VT HAS to be scary for Charter Cable. Charter isn't working terribly hard at HD in that area either. The satellite guys pluck those customers off every day.
DSL can be done properly (and faster) than it generally is done by the telco. New technologies are constantly coming for DSL (especially in Australia where DSL is a big player). However, Fairpoint and Verizon are back in the ADSL1 game and don't seem to have an interest in upgrading. The only saving grace is CLECs like Great Works Internet.
Also - Verizon won't qualify people past 10000 feet for speeds higher than 1500/384. They will, however, charge you the 3000/768 price for that 1500/384. Admittedly, it's cheaper than Fairpoint's 1.5/512 service, but it's still stupid since it's technologically possible. I have a strong 3584/868 lock at 15000 feet using a 2Wire brand modem with echo cancelling. |
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SND2005
Premium
join:2001-09-15
Im Over Here
 ·CWLab
| said by droobie :People with cable options probably wouldn't get DSL anyway. However, cable is hurting in several rural Verizon markets. For instance, the amount of satellite dishes in St. Johnsbury VT HAS to be scary for Charter Cable. Charter isn't working terribly hard at HD in that area either. The satellite guys pluck those customers off every day. DSL can be done properly (and faster) than it generally is done by the telco. New technologies are constantly coming for DSL (especially in Australia where DSL is a big player). However, Fairpoint and Verizon are back in the ADSL1 game and don't seem to have an interest in upgrading. The only saving grace is CLECs like Great Works Internet. Also - Verizon won't qualify people past 10000 feet for speeds higher than 1500/384. They will, however, charge you the 3000/768 price for that 1500/384. Admittedly, it's cheaper than Fairpoint's 1.5/512 service, but it's still stupid since it's technologically possible. I have a strong 3584/868 lock at 15000 feet using a 2Wire brand modem with echo cancelling. Having grew up in the Bangor area I would take the same stance. But then folks in that area don't really have to worry. You can live about anywhere around there and get *something*.
Of course- in Charleston where my family lives- they are 2 utility poles away from cable and a good connection is 24 kbps.
Thats ridiculous to say the least.
For these folks the Fairpoint option sounds very nice. I can only imagine what Dover Foxcroft and the Moosehead lake region offers...(or doesn't..) |
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droobie
Premium
join:2007-10-09
Bangor, ME
| Those people you speak of are often served by a CO that is in the next town over and are already out of range for a viable DSL option. Verizon is not that proactive about adding remote COs and Fairpoint won't have enough money to do it (they're usually a few hundred grand+ each after all is said and done).
Charleston has their own CO (DSL equipped even), but I don't know the ratio of serviced phone lines / DSL qualified lines there. I do agree that they would have potential to lose out in a Fairpoint universe.
Dover and Moosehead area I think have some cable options, but DSL is probably pretty scarce (again, distance thing). Cell coverage is pretty dreadful in that area too, especially for what a tourist trap it is. There's probably a fair deal of satellite Internet and dial-up going on out there.
DSL is an answer for those who can already get it, but unless the distance limitation gets solved (and some companies have come up with pretty cool ideas, but like I said VZ and FP are back in ADSL1 days), those people will probably still be underserved for the next 3-5 years. |
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