dslreports logo
 story category
BellSouth Scales Back Next-Gen Goals
Unaggressive plan gets even less so
Already far less aggressive than SBC and Verizon, BellSouth's next-gen plans have been scaled down further, reports Telephony Online. "Previously, BellSouth had planned to have fiber within 5000 feet of 75% of its customers at an average cost of $225 per home by 2007," says the article. The company has re-adjusted that goal to 50% of its customers at an average cost of $150 per home. The article also says BellSouth is tinkering with, but not yet sold on, IPTV.
view:
topics flat nest 

Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

Cheese

Premium Member

Hrm

Anyone surprised by this?

hamburglar
join:2002-04-29
united state

hamburglar

Member

Re: Hrm

Less aggressive than SBC? Is that possible?

Cheese
Premium Member
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL

Cheese

Premium Member

Re: Hrm

said by hamburglar:

Less aggressive than SBC? Is that possible?
Isn't anything possible these days?

imrf
Premium Member
join:2002-06-06
Utica, MI

imrf to hamburglar

Premium Member

to hamburglar
said by hamburglar:

Less aggressive than SBC? Is that possible?
So true. Watch SBC follow suit and scale their plans back even more.

Phoenix2088
join:2002-12-04
Strongsville, OH

Phoenix2088

Member

Re: Hrm

said by imrf:

said by hamburglar:

Less aggressive than SBC? Is that possible?
So true. Watch SBC follow suit and scale their plans back even more.
How can you scale back when the original plan was half-assed anyway?
divdiv4
join:2005-10-15
Tucson, AZ

divdiv4 to hamburglar

Member

to hamburglar
said by hamburglar:

Less aggressive than SBC? Is that possible?
Yes. Qwest.
47717768 (banned)
join:2003-12-08
Birmingham, AL

47717768 (banned) to hamburglar

Member

to hamburglar
said by hamburglar:

Less aggressive than SBC? Is that possible?
SBC does not offer DSL In my area so yes.

packetscan
Premium Member
join:2004-10-19
Bridgeport, CT

packetscan to Cheese

Premium Member

to Cheese
Hmmm
usual monopolistic rhetoric.

If you live in a bellsouth area and want better service you have to leave your home ( where competition doesn't exist).
You can not dispute that the entire us is not covered by high-speed internet. Excluding Direc TVs internet satellite service which in my mind is extremely over priced for the service offered. ( i sometimes watch the infomercial on direct tv about the "super fast always on internet connection". They talk it up a whole lot , but they fail to mention anything about the service actually offered and what caps might be imposed( cable doesn't that is for another day). Dsl at least says up to 1.5mb download and some even mention the upload in fine print. Back to the point. This is the prime reason why the FCC should be pushing for more competition rather than allowing these huge companies to form and own large percentages of markets. With this move everyone in a non compete bellsouth region will be screwed compared to the rest of the country. Yes There is Competition is some areas that is indisputably. However it's the not so lucky areas that will suffer.

/rant
brianiscool
join:2000-08-16
Tampa, FL

brianiscool to Cheese

Member

to Cheese
Thats cheap Bellsouth for you. lol

rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL

rachelsfx to Cheese

Member

to Cheese
Do they?

envoid
join:2002-12-21
Duluth, GA

envoid

Member

Too much spent?

Either it's from too much money to spend or way too hard to deploy it all. Either way I'm probably left waiting til the end of the project.

technick
Premium Member
join:2000-12-16
Wheat Ridge, CO

technick

Premium Member

Re: Too much spent?

Why should Bellsouth deploy it when they are making lots of $$ off what they have right now? Hell Bellsouth is not interested in innovation, and trying to be on the bleeding edge of technology, all they care about is how much money they can bank from customers...

jimmyc65
join:2001-06-22
Brookhaven, MS

jimmyc65

Member

Re: Too much spent?

Sad but true......:(
RJ44
join:2001-10-19
Nashville, TN

RJ44 to technick

Member

to technick
said by technick:

Hell Bellsouth is not interested in innovation, and trying to be on the bleeding edge of technology, all they care about is how much money they can bank from customers...
ROFL! They're a business, not a research facility. What do you expect them to be interested in if not profitability?
bmn
? ? ?

join:2001-03-15
hiatus

bmn

Re: Too much spent?

said by RJ44:
said by technick:

Hell Bellsouth is not interested in innovation, and trying to be on the bleeding edge of technology, all they care about is how much money they can bank from customers...
ROFL! They're a business, not a research facility. What do you expect them to be interested in if not profitability?
They are profitable... It would be nice if they reinvested a majority of those profits into an upgraded network... You know, invest in tomorrow. They want to compete in video, but with the solutions they are going with, its not going to happen unless they take a profit margin hit at some point. You can't eat you cake (have huge profit margins) and eat it too (build a next-gen network).
RJ44
join:2001-10-19
Nashville, TN

RJ44

Member

Re: Too much spent?

said by bmn:

said by RJ44:
said by technick:

Hell Bellsouth is not interested in innovation, and trying to be on the bleeding edge of technology, all they care about is how much money they can bank from customers...
ROFL! They're a business, not a research facility. What do you expect them to be interested in if not profitability?
They are profitable... It would be nice if they reinvested a majority of those profits into an upgraded network... You know, invest in tomorrow. They want to compete in video, but with the solutions they are going with, its not going to happen unless they take a profit margin hit at some point. You can't eat you cake (have huge profit margins) and eat it too (build a next-gen network).
From their 3rd quarter financial statement here:
»www.bellsouth.com/invest ··· ial.html
BellSouth has spent $2.465 Billion dollars through the 3rd quarter of this year on capital investments. This compares to $2.134 Billion on capital investments through the same period in 2004, an increase of 15.5%.

Check it out, you might even change your mind.

RJ
bmn
? ? ?

join:2001-03-15
hiatus

1 edit

bmn

Re: Too much spent?

said by RJ44:

From their 3rd quarter financial statement here:
»www.bellsouth.com/invest ··· ial.html
BellSouth has spent $2.465 Billion dollars through the 3rd quarter of this year on capital investments. This compares to $2.134 Billion on capital investments through the same period in 2004, an increase of 15.5%.

Check it out, you might even change your mind.

RJ
Okay... Interesting... I curious as to what the CAPEX are going toward though. Bellsouth is getting killed in the arena of the last mile network by Cox in this area (in every aspect except reliability). Verizon seems to be the only one really getting on the bus with trying to keep ahead of the MSOs with respect to their last mile network.

edit: fixed quote tags
Newegg4
Comcast steals modems
join:2004-11-14
Norcross, GA

Newegg4 to RJ44

Member

to RJ44
That 15.5% + another 10% was for fighting off muni broadband.
RJ44
join:2001-10-19
Nashville, TN

RJ44

Member

Re: Too much spent?

said by Newegg4:

That 15.5% + another 10% was for fighting off muni broadband.
No, that 10% would fall under Operating Expenses, not Capital
Zoder
join:2002-04-16
Miami, FL

Zoder to RJ44

Member

to RJ44
It's an improvement but that's still way down from 2000 and 2001 when they were spending over $5 billion a year on capex.

statecop
Premium Member
join:2002-09-16
Heflin, AL

statecop

Premium Member

5k

I hope so.....I am about 8-10k and I can only get the 3 MB service and currently must be within 5k to get the 6 MB service.

neosolace
Stay In It
join:2003-08-25
Verbena, AL

neosolace

Member

Re: 5k

Hell, I'd be happy if they'd just deploy ANYTHING here!

statecop
Premium Member
join:2002-09-16
Heflin, AL

statecop

Premium Member

Re: 5k

said by neosolace:

Hell, I'd be happy if they'd just deploy ANYTHING here!
I know what it is like. I lived in 56-Hell for to long. When I moved I told the realestate agent not to waste my time and his showing me a home without DSL AND Cable.
cjussery
join:2002-07-09
Hagan, GA

cjussery

Member

wow, what a surprise

bellsouth just keeps falling further behind while everyone else is moving forward. Can't wait for comcast to get to my area.
bogey7806
join:2004-03-19
Here

bogey7806

Member

Re: wow, what a surprise

Ever thought that having a substantial part of your service area destroyed might make have soemthign to do with the slowdown in deployment of new ttechnology?
RJ44
join:2001-10-19
Nashville, TN

RJ44

Member

Re: wow, what a surprise

said by bogey7806:

Ever thought that having a substantial part of your service area destroyed might make have soemthign to do with the slowdown in deployment of new ttechnology?
Doesn't count, sorry.

Fatal Vector
join:2005-11-26

1 edit

Fatal Vector

Member

Re: wow, what a surprise

It doesn't count? If you ran a large network and a huge chunk of it was essentially totally destroyed, what would you do?

You could look at it two ways. You could delay the deployment of new technology because you have to spend mega millions on buildings, switches, equipment of all types and replacing all the damaged/destroyed wiring and poles that were snapped like match sticks.

Or, since you have to replace this stuff anyway, you could include the upgrade to your network as you rebuild it, which, logically, would be the way to go (and probably, most of the equipment in these backwater areas was old as methusela to begin with). You still have to spend mega millions either way, which means that the likely outcome of the expendature will impact and delay the deployment to other parts of your network, if only for reasons of manpower and logistics to rebuild the destroyed part of your network.

I shudder to think of the sheer size of the problem, since vast areas of the network in THREE STATES were, essentially, TOTALLY DESTROYED. I dont think all the pat answers and snide comments quite cut it here, do you?
RJ44
join:2001-10-19
Nashville, TN

RJ44

Member

Re: wow, what a surprise

said by Fatal Vector:

It doesn't count?
I shudder to think of the sheer size of the problem, since vast areas of the network in THREE STATES were, essentially, TOTALLY DESTROYED. I dont think all the pat answers and snide comments quite cut it here, do you?
Ok, chill, I'm on your side. I think Bogey knows that was sarcasm, maybe I should have used a different smiley to make sure everyone knew.
tiger8623
join:2005-12-08
Slidell, LA

tiger8623 to Fatal Vector

Member

to Fatal Vector
Yep I am one in the area that was destroyed. All bellsouth could say was it would be fixed as soon as possible. Well it took 2 months. Was upset but cable still out after 100 days. Go figure. Quicker to replace with stock and not upgrade and wait for new and improved parts. Still a long time glad they chose to not go fiber. Who knows cable might have been first then lol. Those who have cable say unreliable at best. Oh I have sat. tv so I am the place for internet and tv in my area.
bogey7806
join:2004-03-19
Here

bogey7806

Member

Re: wow, what a surprise

Eden Isle, the Rigolets, or Bayou Liberty?

Odds are if you're Eden Isles ot Rigolets you got a temporary set up. They'll place new permanent better stuff in when they have the situation nominal.

jeez4
@dhcp.gnvl.sc.charter

jeez4 to cjussery

Anon

to cjussery
You think Bellsouth is behind in technology take a look at Charter Cable service.
the dozer
Premium Member
join:2004-04-12
Douglasville, GA

the dozer to cjussery

Premium Member

to cjussery
said by cjussery:

bellsouth just keeps falling further behind while everyone else is moving forward. Can't wait for comcast to get to my area.
Comcast isn't that great. With caps on d/l thats advertised as unlimited and slower latency than dsl...heck..I can't even reach certain web sites on comcast that I can with bellsouth.

jester121
Premium Member
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL

jester121

Premium Member

Typical...

It's much easier and gets more Wall Street headlines when you go into an acquisition feeding frenzy. Investing capital is so boring (to everyone who doesn't read bbr, anyhow)
w4ncr8
join:2000-10-27

1 edit

w4ncr8

Member

Re: Typical...

Backward south, does not suprise me that bellsouth does not deploy fiber to everyone, I am quite ticked off at bellsouth, their e-mail server has been off all day today, and down a lot lately, certainly not getting my moneys worth from their service---TONY--

hayabusa3303
Over 200 mph
Premium Member
join:2005-06-29
Florence, SC

hayabusa3303

Premium Member

Belly complain soon

With Cable running like digital phone it has to have a impact on bellsouth bottom line. Could be some of the reasoning behind for a unaggressive plan.

But fiber within 5000 ft of 75% of its customers? Who is smoking what at bellsouth but they need to return it to the nearest street corner where they got it. Because its bad.

They cant even finish dsl here, more unless with fiber

GreggE
Let me think..
Premium Member
join:2003-06-01
Mid Tenn

GreggE

Premium Member

Karma?

Is it just karma that Bellsouth would be my only other choice for broadband other than Charter. Bellsouth isn't available in my area, but they have just slowed down to Charter's aggressive campaign to assure they never will be.:p
Beans5
join:2005-07-16
united state

Beans5

Member

$150 for fiber

Dang that sucks. $150 for fiber and how much speed will BellSouth customers get. Her in VZ land we will get double,triple the speeds for $30 that BellSouth people will be getting for $150. Yes on Fiber

•••••

fiber_man
Things Happen For A Reason
Premium Member
join:2001-01-27
Port Saint Lucie, FL

fiber_man

Premium Member

My Two Cents

When three states take major hits from hurricanes. Think about how much time,manpower and equipment it takes to rebuild that much of the network.
I know they are deploying fiber in New Orleans and other areas affected by the hurricanes instead of just replacing the copper. The vendors are also behind manufacturing the equipment to use the fiber. People from here are on loan from 6 months to over a year helping to rebuild the gulf coast.
jdracer47
join:2005-10-16
Auburn, PA

jdracer47

Member

Typical Short-sightedness

BellSouth is going to realize at some point that Copper land lines are dying. They will probably squeeze every penny out that they can, then sell to Verizon or ATT. I really feel for the BellSouth consumers, I live in an Ex/GTE area that has been ignored for DSL by Verizon as well.

in the boonies
@bellsouth.net

in the boonies

Anon

Re: Typical Short-sightedness

Why not get your local muni to provide you guys with better internet speeds rather than complain that Bellsouth won't provide it. Oh that's right, the muni won't touch you either because you aren't in the cream area. Same thing will happen here in Lafayette, La. If you ain't in the metro area you can forget about the muni serving you. Just want the cream
JohnSJ
join:2004-08-14
Lafayette, LA

JohnSJ

Member

Re: Typical Short-sightedness

Re Lafayette's situation

Don't go spreading your ignorance here...

BellSouth openly said during the referendum fight here that they planned on serving 80% of the people with their "next gen" DSL and wanted a subsidy. (ANOTHER subsidy) to cover more (though even then they wouldn't promise more) (You'll recall this is you are from Lafayette and not BR.)

The Lafayette Utility System will only serve the metro area because that is all it can serve--that is the extent of their footprint and why the referendum was city-only. However, they are going to offer service to every single house and business in the city. Neither BellSouth nor Cox does so now nor do they have any intention of doing so.

If you live outside the city, talk to your Mayor or council rep. (They're laying fiber to every school in the parish. It will get close to you...Maybe if you ask nice they'll consider annexation or a deal.) It's gonna be great...100 meg between subscribers and 20% cheaper than what you are paying for the triple play now.

rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL

rachelsfx

Member

Hurricances

Don't they count?
sirozha
join:2001-11-18
Kennesaw, GA

sirozha

Member

Who needs fiber within 5000 feet for $225?

Would you personally pay $225 to get a fiber line within 5000 feet of your residence? I would not. In fact, I would rather ISPs lowered their monthly charges instead of constantly raising the bandwidth and creeping up the monthly bills.

I had a privilege to work for Sprint ION, which was the first foray into an integrated VoIP/broadband service from Sprint back in 1999 - 2000. As far as I know, Sprint invested 6 billion dollars in that venture. The most customers we had was 3,500. That comes out to be about 1.7 million dollars per customer. Sprint was charging customers about $90 per month at that point. The technology didn't work right, and eventually, Sprint had to close down the project and send all ION customers disconnect notices. Sprint was in a bad financial shape after that, having borrowed heavily for that project, and getting nothing in return. Sprint PCS and FON stock dropped like a rock from something over $100 per share in 2000 to less than $5 for PCS and $10 for FON per share in 2002. Investors lost billions of dollars on this. Sprint CEO had to resign. I along with thousands was laid off. The consumers got nothing from it either. The mistake was that Sprint came out with this idea way too early in the game. Had Sprint invested more frugally in that project by limiting it to, say, one city, they would have been on top of the game now, having had six-years' experience in commercially providing VoIP, fax over IP, and DSL in one package. So, I can't blame BellSouth for going very conservatively on fiber deployment to end customers. I don't really think customers need more bandwidth at this point. What customers need is a more reliable service at a cheaper price. That's my 2 cents worth.
tiger8623
join:2005-12-08
Slidell, LA

tiger8623

Member

Bellsouth

I have been with bellsouth for years. First I had dial up then I went for broadband. Bellsouth didn't offer dsl in area so I was with Charter Cable. No problems until word got out and Cable slowed to a crawl. Several calls with poor customer support. Moved and then went to bellsouth. I tried the 1.5mb service and since I was on end of line service was terrible. Called customer support they tried everything to get it right even with 3 calls a day. Sent tech out and guess what I was too far for reliable service. He suggested dsl lite and problem solved. Then the hurricane. Well here's my take. Cheaper and quicker to replace torn up parts with parts in stock than upgrade and wait on equipment. Phone and internet back up and cable still out even after 100 days. Thank you Bellsouth.

Varlik
Without Honor You Will Never Be Free
Premium Member
join:2002-01-06
Anderson, SC

1 edit

Varlik

Premium Member

It's all about the bottom line.

Good Old BellSloth you've got to love them.:D If they put it off long enough maybe all this fiber to the premises and curb will just go away. Guess they felt their share holders wouldn't understand why they were affecting the bottom line by deploying fiber. Sad thing is it will be the share holders who will not understand why BellSloth is so far behind Verison and SBC a few years from now and dump them.