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story category Qwest: Build it or Get Out of the Way
Qwest grumbles about Seattle study praising fiber
(old news - 05:39PM Monday Jun 06 2005)
tags: Fiber · municipal
Seattle recently conducted a study to determine its best broadband option if it wanted to stay competitive; that option was to deploy fiber to homes and businesses within ten years (by itself, if need be). Yet Qwest, who has no solid next-gen deployment plans, and is suing Utah community fiber planners who got tired of waiting, is angry Seattle isn't taking them seriously. Earlier this year Qwest told the city they had no plans to offer speeds faster than 7Mbps, now they're quick to point out they are running some limited VDSL trials in Denver.

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Forums » Qwest: Build it or Get Out of the Way
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oliphant
I Have 8 Boobies
Premium
join:2004-11-26
Corona, CA


1 edit

ABSOLUTELY!

The concept is simple: Deploy or get the F out of the way. And to the whiner telcos and cable operators, too Fing bad. If you guys didn't suck so much there wouldn't be the demand for muni-broadband that there is. As for the myth of unfair competition, what about private hospitals, private schools, private security firms, UPS, Fedex, DHL...all of these compete directly with gov't and do just fine.

--
Life is good without the headache of Comcrap HSI

FTCXtreme

join:2005-03-14
New Braintree, MA

Re: ABSOLUTELY!

Oliphant you beat me to the punch by a minute cheating bastard.
supertbone

join:2002-04-04
Pleasant Grove, UT

You are so right! In my city, the public hospital is trying to torpedo a private hospital's development of a new regional medical center. They are trying to use eminent domain to take the land away from the new hospital, even though they have no active plans to improve their services. They are afraid the new hospital will take away their customers. Which is funny because the public hospital is reducing their services while the community around them grows larger by the day.
flushls

join:2004-11-02
Joyce, WA
QWEST should get out of the way they do not even have a good current generation deployment plan.

Flushls

invite verizon

@verizon.n

You can always invite verizon to sponge up what's left of qwest after the mci/verizon merger... they're deploying fttp to homes at a record pace... no other company in history has deployed a communications network as fast as verizon's doing now in over 150 communities already..

kamm

join:2001-02-14
Brooklyn, NY
·T-Mobile US

said by oliphant See Profile:

The concept is simple: Deploy or get the F out of the way. And to the whiner telcos and cable operators, too Fing bad. If you guys didn't suck so much there wouldn't be the demand for muni-broadband that there is. As for the myth of unfair competition, what about private hospitals, private schools, private security firms, UPS, Fedex, DHL...all of these compete directly with gov't and do just fine.

Corporate greed at its best. Don't take it too seriously - sh*theads like Qwest will adopt or die eventually.

FTCXtreme

join:2005-03-14
New Braintree, MA

Amen...

Yeah thats the way to tell them. We need to tell Verizon the same god damn thing.

sbrook
Premium,Mod
join:2001-12-14
H0H 0H0
·Rogers Hi-Speed

Host:
Rogers
Bell Canada

Re: Amen...

QWest (formerly USWest) was terrible in Colorado. In new development areas of Colorado Springs, within city limits, back in 2000, they were installing Digital Subscriber Loop systems (fibre to the neighbourhood) that multiplexed all the neighbourhood phones onto fibre to the exchange. The equipment they were installing multiplexed using 2 bits too few to enable dialup users to get 56kbps, let alone DSL! The fastest you could get using their systems on dial up was 26.4kbps. This was brand new deployment. They couldn't upgrade the mux and line cards to newer ones because they had several years worth of these systems in stock or ordered!

Meanwhile cable was just laying its fibre to the nodes in 2000. USWest was left in the dust when cable internet hit town.

SpitefulCrow
Insert Witty Tag Here
Premium
join:2003-06-04
Berkeley, CA

Qwest should get stuffed.

And that's about all I have to say.
This looks like another case of "We're too lazy to build fiber... What's that you say? Municipal deployment? No! We're testing faster copper!" from a telco. Verizon's the only company truly thinking about fiber networks. Too bad it can't build everywhere.

inteller
Sociopaths always win.

join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

Hell downtown is pretty well covered.

L3 and Wiltel manhole covers everywhere downtown....I guess they are talking about business outside of Seattle proper.
seederjed

join:2005-02-28
Snellville, GA

Qwest battles big money

Wonder how involved the technology/internet companies are involved in this "study". MS, Amazon, etc.....
interesting article about Seattle in general:
»www.eurunion.org/partner/seattle.htm

john Qwest

join:2002-05-24
Fishkill, NY
·Optimum Online

Build it or Get Out of the Way

Seattle's study on broadband is correct although Qwest does not have the market revenue it once had, deployment will always be about a new revenue stream. We have no companies working on fiber to the masses as the ramp up cost are still prohibitive and revenue realization over the long haul can not be left to hope in business.
Until then, the cable industry will be as close as we get to a true hi speed broadband internet service.

Qwest has not forgotten to hide the light, until you are will to pay as much for broadband as they charge big business.

JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:

Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation

The full report of the Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation is on Seattle's website (pdf):
»www.seattle.gov/cable/docs/SeaBTF.pdf

a

@qwest.net

Re: Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation

everyone has the answers but all i read are complaints. i guess that is the only thing the general public is REALLY good at.
moonpuppy

join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL

A few interesting points:

"Two thirds of Seattle citizens think cable service and high speed internet service is too expensive."

Considering the economy and the limited income of younger people, this could be an issue. How much would fiber cost?

Another point brought up was the arrival of Click! to Tacoma and the reduction of cable prices (about 35% less!)

Also mentioned was the Philadelphia UTOPIA project.

What concerns me is the heavy mention of HDTV and 2 way HDTV linkups. One scenario is a child, recovering from surgery, using a 2 way hookup to keep up with his class. Where is the camera going to come from and will this family be a subscriber to the HDTV tier.

I see where they are going with this and I support it. But, don't count your tax revenues before they hatch.

What I wonder is whether or not Comcast has a franchise agreement. If they do, when it comes up for renewal, either get firm dates for FTTH (with sizable penalties for non-deployment (remember Verizon/PA?)) or let someone else come in (with the same conditions for deployment.)

JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:
·LINGO
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·surpasshosting
·Verizon FIOS

Re: Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation

Comcast was granted a 5 year extension in King County this past December:
»seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/203···e14.html

An article from Red Nova offered this criticism of the deal:
"Jeff Sterling, who helped King County negotiate its existing franchise agreement with Comcast predecessor AT&T Broadband, said the new agreement would reward the cable company for failing to meet its peering obligation under the existing contract."

I don't know about elementary schools in Seattle, but here in Montgomery County MD, I think most of our schools have video equipment and CC television. I have no idea how prepared we'd be to implement an interactive classroom though.
moonpuppy

join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
·Verizon Online DSL

Re: Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation

said by JTRockville See Profile:

I don't know about elementary schools in Seattle, but here in Montgomery County MD, I think most of our schools have video equipment and CC television. I have no idea how prepared we'd be to implement an interactive classroom though.
The classrooms wouldn't be the problem. The student at home would be the issue.

I can see how Comcast got a bit of stuff here and there.

My guess is that Qwest won't do anything cause they are the phone company and Comcast can bully anyone it wants. Time for a muni project.
garner11

join:2004-08-01
Concord, NH
said by moonpuppy:
Also mentioned was the Philadelphia UTOPIA project.
UTOPIA is a fiber project in Utah. The Philadelphia project you mention is a wireless project in a Pennsylvania.

JTRockville
Data Ho
Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-28
Rockville, MD
clubs:
·LINGO
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·surpasshosting
·Verizon FIOS

Re: Task Force on Telecommunications Innovation

The task force mentioned both UTOPIA and Philly Wi-Fi, as well as a few others:

quote:
Other cities’ involvement in the provision of broadband

The Task Force heard presentations about other cities’ broadband strategies, investments and services, and learned that a number of major cities are deploying, or planning, advanced broadband networks. Philadelphia is actively pursuing development of a citywide municipal Wi-Fi network. UTOPIA, a consortium of 14 suburban Salt Lake City, Utah, cities, is funding and building an FTTP network that will serve up to 160,000 subscribers. Tacoma’s municipal electric utility, Tacoma Power, installed, operates, and provides some retail services over a hybrid fi ber-coax network. (After Click! entered the market, Comcast’s rates in Tacoma went down. Today the cost of Comcast’s most popular service tier is 35 percent lower in Tacoma than in Seattle.) Spokane is developing a Wi-Fi network that will support the city government’s mobile workforce and others. Chelan Public Utility District is building a fiber-optic network that is available to retail service providers to offer services to the public. In March 2005, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved a $300,000 feasibility study for implementation of a municipally-run broadband/Internet project. Tokyo and cities in South Korea have invested heavily in public fi ber-optic networks. Amsterdam is building a public network.
Asmodeus

join:2004-05-26
Spring Valley, CA

why can't qwest just die already...?

enough with the unfair competitive advantage whining and get off your asses... put up or shut up, qwest...

phxmark
What Country Are We Living In?

join:2000-12-27
Glendale, AZ

Re: why can't qwest just die already...?

Qwest is slowly dying in my neighborhood. 4 our of every 10 homes in my neighborhood have switched their telephone services from Qwest to COX digital telephone and Internet.
Chewyrobbo

join:2005-04-12
Tacoma, WA

Qwest is a horrible ILEC

I totally think qwest is one of the worst ILEC. It seems Qwest always has the highest prices and the lowest upgrades they are still quite behind on 3mbps residential DSL. Also Qwest claims to offer its own wireless service, but its actually licensed spectrum from Sprint and its at a higher premimum. I want to see some change here in Seattle, we keep feeling the backlash of Qwest executives who chose to steal rather than do their jobs.
Underplay

join:2003-10-19
Tacoma, WA

Bullshit

What is truly bullshit is how they divide "territories" up and Verizon cannot compete with Qwest because of these shitty laws.

Qwest in tacoma has high prices, shitty speeds, and high pings. Im sick of them taking advantage of us and i hope to god they will get there asses handed to them by Seattle.
Forums » Qwest: Build it or Get Out of the Way


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