Allis In WonderlandOne Man's Search For a Provider ( old news - 08:23AM Sunday Jul 16 2006) tags: coverage · business"I'm shopping for a provider because my friends upstairs, the ones with the wireless access I've been sharing, are moving. The gall." Boston Globe columnist Sam Allis writes, "They leave the Observer with an appalling pair of options: Comcast, the muscle - bound monolith that charges nosebleed fees, or dial-up service, which allows me to complete my shopping run at Roche Brothers before the screen changes." It's Sunday, it's quick and it's funny. And, sadly, his observations from searching for an ISP ring all too true. With mega-mergers, legislation supposedly drafted to provide consumer-choice, and American ingenuity at work, why is it so difficult to find true options, let alone competitive pricing in some major markets? "Internet providers: A pox on all your houses," opines Allis, adding that "the end of my story is plumb weird." The start of his journey is like going Through the Looking Glass too.
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 moonpuppy
join:2000-08-21
Glen Burnie, MD
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| Sadly, nothing will come of this..... I have seen many news articles about high speed service. I remember one in the Washington Post years ago about the new DSL service from Verizon. The reporter was treated to a full day of techs that couldn't get her service up and running followed by the usual apology with lack of resolution. It was not until she called Verizon and explained that she was a reporter for The Washington Post that she got the cream of the crop techs and the head engineer for the area working to get her online.
This brings up a valuable point. Not all of us have a grand soapbox to get things done. (Sorry, an internet blog means nothing if not read widely.) What would have happened if this reporter was only an ordinary person?
The arguments are the same:
- fees being too high vs. fees equaling the cost or what the customer will bear
- lack of service areas vs. return on investment for the provider
- lack of customer service vs. costs of customer service
- consumers vs. business
Now, you will get the cable and telco fanboys to argue over whose service is better, whose speed is faster, whose ISP is the better value, etc. The fact still remains that consumers are not that much in power and are at the mercy of a few companies that see competition as a curse and consumers as a cost. Until we get good competition going, consumers will still get the short end of the stick. | |
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rachelsfx
join:2004-09-27
Pensacola, FL | Re: Sadly, nothing will come of this..... Why doesn't this idiot get the ISP his upstairs neighbors had? Why? TOO CHEAP!
-Rach | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
 ·Comcast
| Hate to sound negative.. Besides Verizon, it just feels that all the other broadband providers are yanking our chains. They want to tell their customers they're the best, but don't want to invest into the right equipment. Bring me FTTH/FTTP services + speeds and I'll be a loyal customer.
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YourIP.US - Quickly Locate Your IP! | |
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quetwo
That VoIP Guy
Premium
join:2004-09-04
East Lansing, MI
| Re: Hate to sound negative.. said by Rob  :Besides Verizon, it just feels that all the other broadband providers are yanking our chains. They want to tell their customers they're the best, but don't want to invest into the right equipment. Bring me FTTH/FTTP services + speeds and I'll be a loyal customer. I don't think SBC, er... I mean the new AT&T want to be the best, I think their mantra is 'good enough'. | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| Re: Hate to sound negative.. said by quetwo :said by Rob :Besides Verizon, it just feels that all the other broadband providers are yanking our chains. They want to tell their customers they're the best, but don't want to invest into the right equipment. Bring me FTTH/FTTP services + speeds and I'll be a loyal customer. I don't think SBC, er... I mean the new AT&T want to be the best, I think their mantra is 'good enough'. haha, so true.
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YourIP.US - Quickly Locate Your IP! | |
| | | ross
join:2000-08-16
·Digizip
| said by quetwo :said by Rob :Besides Verizon, it just feels that all the other broadband providers are yanking our chains. They want to tell their customers they're the best, but don't want to invest into the right equipment. Bring me FTTH/FTTP services + speeds and I'll be a loyal customer. I don't think SBC, er... I mean the new AT&T want to be the best, I think their mantra is 'good enough'. more like "we get by"... | |
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Rogue Wolf
Ate The Last Of The Pumpkin Pie
join:2003-08-12
Troy, NY
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Hate to sound negative.. said by ross :said by quetwo :I don't think SBC, er... I mean the new AT&T want to be the best, I think their mantra is 'good enough'. more like "we get by"... I'm sure they'd rather it be "We're all you can get, so shut up and take it". 
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Network failure. Hit any user to continue.
Confound a politician... think for yourself! | |
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Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast
| Re: Hate to sound negative.. said by GOLFnSUN :said by Rob :Besides Verizon, it just feels that all the other broadband providers are yanking our chains. They want to tell their customers they're the best, but don't want to invest into the right equipment. Bring me FTTH/FTTP services + speeds and I'll be a loyal customer. I don't think you would then become a loyal customer because you would then just start complaining about the price or the fact that the movie download took 10 mins instead of 2 mins. 6 months after you had FTTP you would have something new to complain about. Maybe others would, but I wouldn't.
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YourIP.US - Quickly Locate Your IP! | |
| | | keyboard5684
join:2001-08-01
Youngsville, PA
 ·Teliax VOIP
 ·WestPAnet Inc.
·WestPAnet Inc. CA..
| Re: Admitted Internet Aceess thief only had 3 choices - boo hoo He never said thief. It appears he knows the people he was sharing internet access with, he knows who they are specifically and that they are moving out.
3 choices? The article really said 1 choice. Verizon only became a choice after PR teams found out he was a reporter. Satelite is not a choice but I just do not feel like arguing that point unless someone else does.
Well, do you have some info that says "the poor kids WILL get broadband"? Is he off in anyway that broadband companies pick and choose where they server by density AND by overall income levels of the area?
So, 1 choice was what the article was about. Thief would be a shaky line to walk on. | |
| | | bcunningh
join:2005-04-01
Seattle, WA
| Re: Admitted Internet Aceess thief only had 3 choices - boo hoo said by keyboard5684 :3 choices? The article really said 1 choice. Verizon only became a choice after PR teams found out he was a reporter. Choice 1: Comcast
Choice 2: RCN (they told him he could only get dial-up from them)
Choice 3: Satelite
Choice 4: Verizon (aparently they can get him DSL but I wonder how fast it will be with him that far from the CO.)
said by keyboard5684 :Satelite is not a choice but I just do not feel like arguing that point unless someone else does. Satelite is a choice. Just because you don't like it doesn't make it not a choice. If you used logic then Comcast wouldn't have been a choice for the reporter. | |
| | | | keyboard5684
join:2001-08-01
Youngsville, PA
·Teliax VOIP
·WestPAnet Inc.
·WestPAnet Inc. CA..
| Re: Admitted Internet Aceess thief only had 3 choices - boo hoo Choices of broadband, you even said 3 choices of broadband in your post, now its 4?
RCN is not broadband, they will only offer him dial-up.
Verizon told him "no", they could not provide service.
Again, he would not have this option if someone there did not catch on and decide to specifically "extend" service to him.
So throughout the article, till the end, he had valid reason to complain about Verizon. I too have been told I could not get Verizon DSL at my business which is 1200 ft from the CO. However at my house, 17,000 ft I could same CO.
Maybe this is another discussion but is satellite really broadband? Have you ever had satellite? I have in several locations and cannot say it was broadband. In 3 different sites I never got over 256/46, and that was max. Latency is part of the argument as well. Plus, a lot of places like apartment complexes or managed communities will not allow a dish, period. | |
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roamer1
sticking it out at you
join:2001-03-24
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
| Re: Admitted Internet Aceess thief only had 3 choices - boo hoo said by keyboard5684 :Plus, a lot of places like apartment complexes or managed communities will not allow a dish, period. »www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html 
-SC
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"it seems like all you ever buy is Abercrombie and cell phones" --a friend | |
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battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000
| Greed smothers choices I am sure I'll catch hell for this.. This greed stuff has two sides to it. The ISP wants to make money. The cowsumer wants faster and faster for cheaper and cheaper, and for no care what-so-ever for what it costs to get it to them.
So the super deep pocketed Bells and CableCos deliver to a certain point to make government happy. Meanwhile your mom and pop ISPs that got this whole internet thing rolling can't keep up because the government isn't forking over cash to them like they do the Bells. The Cowsumer leaves the mom and pop ISPs because they can save a whole $2/mo. The mom and pops eventually die out. The cowsumer has been saving their $2/mo until now. The Bells and CableCos go up $1 here and $1 there and before you know it that $2/mo you saved is gone with the mom and pop.
Now the mom and pops are gone and your back to a duopoly. | |
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wmcbrine
Touched by His Noodly Appendage
join:2002-12-30
Laurel, MD
3 edits | Re: Greed smothers choices Catch hell? No, sounds dead right to me. Only, I wouldn't put it down to "greed", exactly... you just can't expect people to keep paying a premium for no benefit, other than the vague good feeling of not supporting the local duopolies. And you can't expect third-party providers to be able to compete with the phonecos, when they're also their customers.
I was on Covad DSL for several years... paying $50 for 1500/128. I finally switched to Verizon once they deployed Fios here -- $35 for 5000/2000. I'm not crazy about bankrolling people who want to destroy the Internet as we know it, but I can't match the price/performance ratio elsewhere. What to do?
P.S. The sad thing, though, is the people who don't know any better. Like my young neighbor, who thought that if I wasn't on Comcast, then I must be on Verizon (I was on Covad at the time). I'd even say, "Covad", and she'd say "Comcast?". (Of course, she also knew about AOL, and had been their customer.) | |
| 
Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN | What did they have? What ISP were they sharing? | |
| t604
join:2004-09-05
Edmonton, AB | the information was across the street... how come the writer didn't ask his buddy what he had in the first place? | |
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battleop
join:2005-09-28
00000
| Re: the information was across the street... I think the writer's point is that he is a cheap ass and he has been either leaching on his friend's access (with or without permission) or splitting the bill. Now that he has to get his own access he is now bitching about the price compared to what he has been paying. | |
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Fatal Vector
join:2005-11-26
| Re: the information was across the street...
It looked to me more like a tongue in cheek commentary on the hassles of getting broadband service. It's obvious his "friends" (as he describes them) whom he was sharing access with had cable, since he had a hassle at first getting DSL.
I thought it was quite revealing and such, myself. Nice how the media is starting to pay attention, especially now with things starting to heat up between cable and DSL. | |
| 
anonpisser
@optonline.net | why was this a sunday story? This should have been front page Monday morning.
Here's to BBR helping to shovel the issue under the rug | |
| | joebear29
join:2003-07-20
Alabaster, AL | Re: why was this a sunday story? Because it's not a real news story, just somebody whining about a problem that is everyone here is already aware of?
What do you want, a Drudge style siren? | |
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Bobcat
Volvo sucks donkey balls
Premium
join:2001-02-04
Bedminster, NJ |  What a whiner
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rovernet
Premium
join:2004-02-11
Richardson, TX | One more self-glorified "journalist" I guess he needed to turn-up his work to the newspaper and ran out topics, he decided to whine instead of coming up with some decent article.
Wonder if he also writes for the New York Times. | |
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don1p2
join:2004-06-11
Boston, MA
| Re: One more self-glorified "journalist" said by rovernet :I guess he needed to turn-up his work to the newspaper and ran out topics, he decided to whine instead of coming up with some decent article. Wonder if he also writes for the New York Times. Actually, he does. The Boston Globe is owned by....you guessed it...The NYT. | |
| twitchyx
join:2003-06-29
Plano, TX | blah Front page? This isn't news, it's not even interesting. What's his point, that Verizon and Comcast are in the business of making money and that having internet access is expensive?
The internet is not water. You can live without it. | |
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richk_1957
If ..Then..Else
Premium
join:2001-04-11
Minas Tirith
| Re: blah said by twitchyx :The internet is not water. You can live without it. Depends. Some people's jobs require it [well, it may not be in the job description, but he may need an internet connection to get to work] | |
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Admitted Internet Access thief only had 3 choices - boo hoo
