dslreports logo
 story category
Craig Moffett: Network Upgrades Are For Ninnies
Analyst thinks meager Qwest plan is the poster child for next-gen

As noted this morning, cable Wall Street analyst Craig Moffett traditionally loves him some cable while slamming FiOS wherever possible. This morning, he ignited a geek firestorm by stating Verizon's investment returns in FiOS won't be justified, and by his estimate, the telco will be headed for a $6 billion hangover from a project he thinks isn't worth the trouble. The author of the NY Times piece, Saul Hansell, offers more criticism from Moffett in his NY Times blog. Moffett takes a moment to wax poetic on the superiority of cable plant before even calling the cable industry's network upgrades "wasted":

quote:

Lest he be criticized for having a soft spot in his heart for cable companies, Mr. Moffett argues that the cable industry collectively wasted the $100 billion it spent on upgrading its networks.
Who does Moffett think is doing the best next-generation ROI job of all the telcos? Qwest.
quote:
Qwest, which doesn’t have a cellphone business to fund any capital expenditures, is the only phone company that has come up with what Mr. Moffett defines as the right answer: do nothing. "Qwest decided there is no return to any of this stuff, so let’s run the business for cash," he said.
While Verizon shells out $23 billion to run FiOS to nearly half their footprint, Qwest is only spending $300 million to run copper-based ADSL2+ service to two million customers by the end of this year. Qwest now offers their Qwest Connect Quantum (20Mbps/896kbps) and Qwest Connect Titanium (12Mbps/896kbps) tiers to one million living units in eighteen different markets. It's not an ambitious project by any stretch of the imagination, upstream speeds are paltry, and the meager investment reflects Qwest's desire to stay lean for a potential sale.

As you might expect, the folks at Verizon don't much care for Moffett's analysis. In a blog post, Verizon's Peter Thonis insists the company's return on FiOS will exceed their cost of capital, but concedes you need to take the long view to see the real benefit of the project (which is obvious to most). He notes they're on pace for the costs per home connected to be $650 by 2010, and their average revenue per subscriber is $130. According to Thonis, Moffett's viewpoint is "myopic" and doesn't reflect future vision:
quote:
When we looked at FiOS, we looked not only at what was financially prudent today, but also where communications and entertainment technology was headed tomorrow -- and 10 years from now. We looked at how customer demands would change and grow. We even considered how regulators and policymakers might come to value the great potential of broadband to provide an economic stimulus to the U.S. economy, and perhaps even some solutions to our health care and environmental concerns.
Granted, returns on Verizon's investment are going to take short term patience, but is there really any question whether Qwest or Verizon is going to be in a better competitive position over the next decade? During the next five years DOCSIS 3.0 cable upgrades are going to start eating Qwest for dinner (assuming Verizon doesn't gobble up Qwest first), driving cable stock upward in Qwest markets. Think maybe that's what Moffett's interested in?
view:
topics flat nest 

maartena
Elmo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA

1 recommendation

maartena

Premium Member

QWest will sell itself to the highest bidder.

At some point in time, QWest realized that it cannot compete without a cellular phone network (AT&T and Verizon are losing hundreds of land-line customers a day to cellular only - which THEY don't mind), and without a good broadband strategy.

They will milk the DSL and land-line market as long as they can, and they you will see talks with AT&T or Verizon for a "merger".

dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium Member
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ

dvd536

Premium Member

Re: QWest will sell itself to the highest bidder.

Qwest just needs to DIE and let verizon take over.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: QWest will sell itself to the highest bidder.

So what they can sell off most of the network to someone else like Fairpoint and let everyone on here bitch some more on how much of a horrible company FP is?

If you don't like Qwest don't use them.

PGHammer
join:2003-06-09
Accokeek, MD

PGHammer

Member

Re: QWest will sell itself to the highest bidder.

said by hottboiinnc4:

So what they can sell off most of the network to someone else like Fairpoint and let everyone on here bitch some more on how much of a horrible company FP is?

If you don't like Qwest don't use them.
You have to have an option, and for the majority of Qwest's landline customer base, there *is* no real option, and they know it.

supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL

supergirl to maartena

Member

to maartena
VZ isn't that stupid, and, despite AT&T being as dumb as a turnip, they ain't either. BellSouth was a far better company on its own.

I think Sprint should buy Qwest. Then, Sprint can have the distintion of destroying not only Nextel but a landline company as well. Not that Qwest needs much help. Qwest has some lousy cash flow. My stockbroker calls Qwest a moneypit. She calls them "Qwest for Failure."

Her names for some companies:

AT&T - The result of the Empire crossed with an idiot.
Microsoft - Boys with bad toys.
Vonage - Citron's new scam.
GM - General Mayhem.

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

Cheese

Premium Member

Re: QWest will sell itself to the highest bidder.

said by supergirl:

VZ isn't that stupid, and, despite AT&T being as dumb as a turnip, they ain't either. BellSouth was a far better company on its own.

I think Sprint should buy Qwest. Then, Sprint can have the distintion of destroying not only Nextel but a landline company as well. Not that Qwest needs much help. Qwest has some lousy cash flow. My stockbroker calls Qwest a moneypit. She calls them "Qwest for Failure."

Her names for some companies:

AT&T - The result of the Empire crossed with an idiot.
Microsoft - Boys with bad toys.
Vonage - Citron's new scam.
GM - General Mayhem.
Your stock broker sounds like an idiot...

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

......

This makes me kind of mad because all i can get is dialup and I would love to have some kind of faster internet too. They are probably going to go over their existing areas that already have high speed internet.

L337
Premium Member
join:2005-03-10
Chicago, IL

L337

Premium Member

Re: ......

Have you ever heard of T-Mobile Internet Data line?

Duramax08
To The Moon
Premium Member
join:2008-08-03
San Antonio, TX

Duramax08

Premium Member

Re: ......

Yes and im planning to get it soon. I made a post on one of the forums about the speed but no one has told me nothing.

KoolMoe
Aw Man
Premium Member
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD

KoolMoe

Premium Member

Re: ......

So someone has told you something?
LouisMI
join:2008-06-20
Tecumseh, MI

LouisMI

Member

Re: ......

that would be, everyone has told him something, if no-one has told him nothing.


mod_wastrel
anonome
join:2008-03-28

mod_wastrel

Member

One...

Is he still on dial-up?
Two... How does he feel about the telegraph?

cableties
Premium Member
join:2005-01-27

cableties

Premium Member

Re: One...

What? (Static) Huh? (more static) I can't hear .... you... over these WWII-era oxidizing copper trunk lines....

mod_wastrel
anonome
join:2008-03-28

mod_wastrel

Member

Re: One...

Qwest's motto: ".-- .... . -. .. -. -.. --- ..- -... - --..-- -.. --- -. --- - .... .. -. --. .-.-.-"


RipTides
join:2002-05-25
Dallas, GA

RipTides

Member

Re: One...

"WHENINDOUBT, DONOTHING."

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

hayabusa3303

Premium Member

Funny

While he talks about faster speeds on cable with Docsis 3.0 but what good is it if they cap or meter it to death. Of course its going to be faster NO one is online.
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Medford, NY

majortom1029

Member

Re: Funny

Not all of them will do that. cablevision got rid of its caps.

Xela18954
join:2000-10-06
Richboro, PA

1 recommendation

Xela18954

Member

Typical Wall Street Myopia

Wall Street cannot see beyond their next martini let alone a future of broadband. These analysts would love to have a situation where a company does not spend a cent on anything and just milk existing customers. That makes for really good balance sheets and certainly makes these analysts happy.

Moffett favors cable stocks so it is no surprise that he wants telco alternatives to fail. When I had FIOS installed I was told by VZ techs that they have a hard time keeping up with new installs because people dropping cable like a bad dream. Comcast loses hundreds customers per day in Philadelphia area to FIOS. Every house on my block switched. Everyone I know who can get FIOS got it. That speaks for itself. Verizon's cost might be a bit higher now, but they will come down and in a longer run they'd be a far better position for the next-generation communications services.
MrSpock29
join:2008-02-09
Hammonton, NJ

MrSpock29

Member

Re: Typical Wall Street Myopia

said by Xela18954:

Wall Street cannot see beyond their next martini let alone a future of broadband. These analysts would love to have a situation where a company does not spend a cent on anything and just milk existing customers. That makes for really good balance sheets and certainly makes these analysts happy.

Moffett favors cable stocks so it is no surprise that he wants telco alternatives to fail. When I had FIOS installed I was told by VZ techs that they have a hard time keeping up with new installs because people dropping cable like a bad dream. Comcast loses hundreds customers per day in Philadelphia area to FIOS. Every house on my block switched. Everyone I know who can get FIOS got it. That speaks for itself. Verizon's cost might be a bit higher now, but they will come down and in a longer run they'd be a far better position for the next-generation communications services.
well, not all analysts are this (I'm trying to be polite) horrible, however, there is a saying:

"In a bull market, who needs analysts, in a bear market, they'll kill you".

He must love his rotary phone.
SilentMan
join:2002-07-15
New York, NY

SilentMan

Member

Re: Typical Wall Street Myopia

said by MrSpock29:

"In a bull market, who needs analysts, in a bear market, they'll kill you".

He must love his rotary phone.
And he must be quiet comfortable lighting his house with gas
MrSpock29
join:2008-02-09
Hammonton, NJ

MrSpock29

Member

Re: Typical Wall Street Myopia

said by SilentMan:

said by MrSpock29:

"In a bull market, who needs analysts, in a bear market, they'll kill you".

He must love his rotary phone.
And he must be quiet comfortable lighting his house with gas
lol, my first thought was, he would only be able to light it one time
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

1 recommendation

Kearnstd to Xela18954

Premium Member

to Xela18954
the typical US investor cant see beyond the end of the current quarter. its why analysts and investors dont like major plant upgrades because they cause a big hit this quarter even if the gain is huge in 10 years.
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4 to Xela18954

Member

to Xela18954
Interesting you say everyone on your street dropped Comcast. Proof? Just because you seen VZ installing something doesnt mean they left Comcast for everything.

Also you can't say how many people Comcast is losing. But i'm sure the ones they are losing each day they're glad to get rid of.

And also techs are paid to say things like that. They're paid to promot their own product and make it seem like everyone is switching. Its their job!

Xela18954
join:2000-10-06
Richboro, PA

Xela18954

Member

Re: Typical Wall Street Myopia

said by hottboiinnc4:

Interesting you say everyone on your street dropped Comcast. Proof? Just because you seen VZ installing something doesnt mean they left Comcast for everything.
Well, I make a statement that people on my block dropped Comcast to FIOS is due to the fact that every house on my block has an ONT and I talk to my neighbors and they tell me they have FIOS.
Also you can't say how many people Comcast is losing. But i'm sure the ones they are losing each day they're glad to get rid of.
What makes you think that Comcast is glad to get rid off certain customers. I used to be a Comcast triple play customer with one of their top packages with HD DVR and 2 SD STBs, the Blast! HSI package as well as their phone service. I was paying almost $200/month for my service. A lot of people who drop Comcast are just like me, i.e. higher revenue customers. If Comcast is glad to lose customers like me then its VZ gain.
And also techs are paid to say things like that. They're paid to promot their own product and make it seem like everyone is switching. Its their job!
That's interesting. But where I live, almost everyone IS switching.

rec9140
Provoice just DO it
join:2003-07-29
Mulberry, FL

rec9140

Member

Analysts....shoot them like all the lawyers..

I hereby award Mr. Moffett the Jester Analyst of the Year Award for totally having no clue about technology.

Thanks for proving mine and several posters point in a recent news thread how analysts have no clue what they are talking about except how to make money for themselves.

Thank you thank you, thank you.

Now some body find this idiot and turn all his little toys off. No cell phone, no internet, no pc's. He can go back to an adding machine and a ticker tape.
backness
join:2005-07-08
K2P OW2

1 recommendation

backness

Member

Re: Analysts....shoot them like all the lawyers..

Gee and the phone companies have only been milking this copper for almost 100 years in some areas,

This guy is a donkey, the fiber is a sunk cost to be recouped over the next 100 years or at minimum 30.
jmallory
join:2005-11-02
Essexville, MI

jmallory

Member

Re: Analysts....shoot them like all the lawyers..

said by backness:

Gee and the phone companies have only been milking this copper for almost 100 years in some areas,

This guy is a donkey, the fiber is a sunk cost to be recouped over the next 100 years or at minimum 30.
While that copper may be 100 years old. The CO that actually makes all that copper do something useful has changed a lot in the past 20 years.

I really don't understand some of the preoccupation which is probably one of the least exciting parts of a network.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

Thank God idiots like him don't make decisions....

Ban this idiot from using computers or cellphones or anything remotely advanced. He's obviously happy with the luddite philosophy.
KrK

KrK

Premium Member

World's Biggest Douche....

... and the winner is.....

Craig Moffett!

»/r0/do ··· fett.jpg

danclan
join:2005-11-01
Midlothian, VA

danclan

Member

Re: World's Biggest Douche....

its these typical short sighted assessments that led the cable co's to the hybrid fiber coax plants in the first place. Comcast had the chance to convert to all fiber but didnt.

The biggest richest men think long term 5+ years. Fios and Verizon are primed for that time frame. As are ANY full FTTH providers.

Its only a matter of time before Comcast and others will have to deploy FTTH. They may come up with some magic bullet in the mean time but they are just biding time.
dynodb
Premium Member
join:2004-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

dynodb

Premium Member

Re: World's Biggest Douche....

said by danclan:

Its only a matter of time before Comcast and others will have to deploy FTTH. They may come up with some magic bullet in the mean time but they are just biding time.
That may be true, but if so- letting someone else be the guinea pig and work out the bugs isn't necessarily a bad thing. The longer you wait, the lower the deployment costs become (as Verizon has witnessed). Waiting until there's a high demand also decreases the time it takes to get a return on your investment.

Remember- about 75% of people who could get FiOS... don't.

Who's smarter- the one who rushed out and installed Windows Vista on the day it was released, or the one who waited a bit to see how it worked out?

••••••
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Medford, NY

majortom1029 to danclan

Member

to danclan
I think your very misinformed about the capacity of hfc. The docsis specs state about 270mbps can be done via docsis 3 . So that gives cable companies a lot of headroom for now. YEs eventuallly they will have to switch but by the time they have to they will have even more fiber run and will just have to replace the last mile.

Heck cisco has equipment now that can do both ftth and docsis 3. Cable companies are in a better position then you think.

RARPSL
join:1999-12-08
Suffern, NY

RARPSL

Member

Re: World's Biggest Douche....

said by majortom1029:

I think your very misinformed about the capacity of hfc. The docsis specs state about 270mbps can be done via docsis 3 . So that gives cable companies a lot of headroom for now.
So long as each DOCSIS 3.0 customer has their own node. Once you place more than one customer on the node, you must share that 270mps and the average speed goes down. With FIOS, you have a DEDICATED connection to the CO and thus you get full "Last Mile" speeds and the choke point is in the CO which has a much larger pipe to share with the customers/users (ie: You do not get slowed down by someone who is sharing your node's bandwidth.
majortom1029
join:2006-10-19
Medford, NY

majortom1029

Member

Re: World's Biggest Douche....

Also this is what i am getting with optimum online boost.



So when cablevision goes docsis 3 i think up 270 (wont reach that for a while) cablevision atleast would compete pretty well with fios and they have been up till this point.

Verizons network needed an upgrade more then cables network does. The cable companies will be able to compete with fios. Offer similiar speeds at a cheaper price.Yes they will eventually go all fiber but it will be easier for the cable companies to do that.

alchav
join:2002-05-17
Saint George, UT

alchav to danclan

Member

to danclan
said by danclan:

its these typical short sighted assessments that led the cable co's to the hybrid fiber coax plants in the first place. Comcast had the chance to convert to all fiber but didn't.

The biggest richest men think long term 5+ years. Fios and Verizon are primed for that time frame. As are ANY full FTTH providers.

Its only a matter of time before Comcast and others will have to deploy FTTH. They may come up with some magic bullet in the mean time but they are just biding time.
You are absolutely right, but there is no "Magic Bullet." FTTH is the future, and I said this a long time ago, Verizon is the clear winner. It might cost them money now, but in the long run Verizon will be way ahead of who ever is in second place. Even AT&T's U-Verse is having trouble right now. If these Companies don't wake up soon most will fail and never catch up.
deviationer
join:2005-01-01
Portland, OR

deviationer to KrK

Member

to KrK
HAHAHAHAH

Mchart
First There.
join:2004-01-21
Kaneohe, HI

Mchart to KrK

Member

to KrK
said by KrK:

... and the winner is.....

Craig Moffett!

»/r0/do ··· fett.jpg
Yeah, he looks pretty douche-i-fied. The hair, the fake smile, and the expensive suit that doesn't seem to fit. Douche'.

Nightshade
Premium Member
join:2002-05-26
Salem, OR

Nightshade

Premium Member

Re: World's Biggest Douche....

The perfect picture to throw darts at.
rifleman69
join:2006-04-12
Beaverton, OR

rifleman69 to Mchart

Member

to Mchart
said by Mchart:

said by KrK:

... and the winner is.....

Craig Moffett!

»/r0/do ··· fett.jpg
Yeah, he looks pretty douche-i-fied. The hair, the fake smile, and the expensive suit that doesn't seem to fit. Douche'.
What a douche!

Doctor Four
My other vehicle is a TARDIS
Premium Member
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX

1 edit

Doctor Four to KrK

Premium Member

to KrK
This fool should join Senator Ted "Tubes" Stevens.

They'd make an excellent comedy team (albeit an unwitting one).

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium Member
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK

KrK

Premium Member

Wait... we have a challenger!



This is getting tough!
mobbo
join:2005-04-13
Denton, TX

mobbo

Member

Will be buying Verizon stock now.

Thanks, Craig, for the stock tip. I will be sure to buy stock in a company that has a product people will MOVE HOUSES for and is future proof.

WiseOldBear
Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Premium Member
join:2001-11-25
Litchfield Park, AZ
Motorola MB8600
Synology RT2600ac

1 recommendation

WiseOldBear

Premium Member

Analysts Should be Sent to Gitmo

If we really want to deal with terrorism in the modern world, we should collect all the "analysts" transport them to Gitmo and leave them there to fend for themselves.

Most of these arrogant, airhead piss ants have never held a real job doing anything to produce real goods or service. They shoot off their mouths and the sheep follow.
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

To young to remember Cable's woes in the mid 90's.

I guess that when the cable industry was having it's clock cleaned by the direct broadcast satellite industry in the mid 90's. Mr. Moffett was still rolling over in his crib crapping his diaper. Cable customers were given the choice of 55 channels of poor quality cable service versus well over 100 channels of Direct Broadcast Satellite service. The cable industry soon lost so many customers that they supported development of digital cable and upgraded their networks to support 750MHz bandwidth. If Mr. Moffett will pull his head out of his anus he will realize that Verizon is ready to clean the clocks of any cable companies that are in the same market as Verizon's FiOS. If all of the Telephone Companies would upgrade their networks to fiber the cable industry would have their broadband customers leave in droves when they tried to employ caps.
jmallory
join:2005-11-02
Essexville, MI

jmallory

Member

Re: To young to remember Cable's woes in the mid 90's.

I don't know if I would use the term "cleaned their clocks" I was on a small street of 20 homes and I know I was the only one that switched to DBS service in the mid 90s.

1. The costs of connecting two TV sets (and two was the limit as multiswitches hadn't been put on the market yet) was close to $1500 for the good Sony system (the RCAs were crap at that point). We still had to keep basic cable for some of the other sets in the house (and to get locals)

2. Once the multiswitches were available..we could drop cable completely (once Spot Beams were deployed and we could get the local channels) but it was still rather expensive ($300) to hook up each additional TV (and we were still limited to 4 at the time but that was OK, we had 4 sets).

But back then, DBS service was a high-end product it wasn't necessarily sold to be a replacement for people with Basic cable but did represent some value to people who were into movies and sports and could live with some of the limitations early on. Actually, I think DirecTV and Dish would do well to go back to this mode of operation instead of trying to be "Cable Companies in the Sky" but that is another post.

So in my middle-class neighborhood, DBS had a penetration rate of 1 in 20. Actually when Americast came through the neighborhood they had much better luck as they got half the neighborhood to switch as it was standard cable service.

no_one
@PHNX.QWEST.NET

no_one

Anon

Knows nothing

He just wants to outsource it to China. It would be cheaper and pure profit.
Now to figure out how to do that?
He probably went to some high class university. Made friends with in crowd. Has no dreams for anyone but himself. Makes nothing, destroys stuff if it makes him money. Profit is the only priority of the day. Once one industry is destroyed always the next to play with. Doesn't have to know anything about them or their customers.
All he needs is an expensive suit.

Video Guy
@verizon.net

Video Guy

Anon

ROIC and Let's Play "Hide the Pea with Expenses!"

Keep in mind that Moffitt's argument is not whether FiOS was a good idea for customers (especially the tech-loving ones on forums like this). Clearly, it was/is. (I have it and like it.) He's arguing that using the cold calculating method of return on invested capital, FiOS was not the highest and best use of Verizon's money.

If you believe Moffitt's calculations are correct, Verizon will have lots of customers loving their fast fiber service (and hating their customer service and billing?), but Verizon will be worth *less* in terms of overall enterprise value (they move $23 Billion into capex and only $17 Billion into the present value of the return on that investment). What's the highest and best use of the investable dollars? Wireless and business services.

The most insightful point made in either the article or the blog was the following:

"Verizon is replacing expenses, which show up on its quarterly profit and loss statements, with capital spending, which appears on its balance sheet." from the Blog (»bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2 ··· pay-off/).

This means they are converting things that usually get expensed as operating expenses into capital expenses, which artificially pumps up net income compared to prior periods.

If you unwind all that capitalization pro forma you would see a much, much different cash flow picture for Verizon and their stock would probably be lower.

Illegal? No. The financial treatments are probably just fine under GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles). But the mirage is there, nonetheless. People naturally compare performance over time and most casual investors and even some analysts gloss those kinds of details. And things look rosier than they really are if you just look at the numbers as stated in their audited financials. A smart analyst unwinds those differences between periods and takes another look.

In the end, Verizon will be fine. Wireless and Business revenues will hide many sins (including a labor liability that is and will continue to hang around their necks).

AT&T and Echostar? They need to worry. A lot.

•••
russotto
join:2000-10-05
West Orange, NJ

russotto

Member

If you want a Return On Investment...

...you need to make an investment. Qwest essentially hasn't. Back in the bad old days, certainly, you could run athe phone company that way. Negligible growth, flat but basically guaranteed returns. That world is gone.
mobbo
join:2005-04-13
Denton, TX

mobbo

Member

Examples...

of companies that didn't adapt and make investments to "future-proof":

AOL
Earthlink
Netzero
Insert Huge 1990's dial-up company here

Irun Man
Premium Member
join:2002-10-18
Millsboro, DE

Irun Man

Premium Member

a Quest buyout? That'll be the day

I have my doubts about Verizon EVER considering a merger with Quest. With copper connections on th continual decline and VZ selling off unprofitable markets (i.e. New England to Fairpoint), they'd be better off just overbuilding in Quest territories.

DBS penetration in my community is about 40%, mainly due to Time Warner Cable being so expensive (TG we don't have Comcast here).
hottboiinnc4
ME
join:2003-10-15
Cleveland, OH

hottboiinnc4

Member

Re: a Quest buyout? That'll be the day

Qwest is more rural than any of the ILECs. VZ could only rebuild the major cities as anything else would be too costly. but if that was the case they would have already done it. Instead they'll only keep their over build in Texas and stay within their own foot print.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

without merit.

The New York Times has no real credibility anymore (editorial or reporting). They do gangbusters in advertising... if you like that sort of thing. Do you own research before you reach conclusions about the state of each telco or cable provider (before you try enter into a discussion about the merits of any company's competitiveness in their footprint).

That said, MOST of us as BBR members know who's at the top & bottom of the industry and why. Telecom is a capital intensive business. Every several decades you have to upgrade your infrastructure either piecemeal or all at once. Government & customers won't leave it to companies to keep milking decades old technology until it rusts on the vine. At least, not without bringing them to task in the court of public opinion-- which could lead to regulation, or opening the footprint to competition. Perhaps people in the southwest U.S. like to have the lowest capacity broadband network in the country.. that could explain why the infrastructure is not anywhere near those in major metro areas outside the southwest.

The future is here (post 2000) and it only becomes more advanced, frenzied, populated, polluted and violent as we go along. There are those who for whatever reason try to sway public opinion against the grain.. and you must treat them with the same astro turf sock puppet grain of salt you would as a car salesman in the era of $5 gasoline (with dirty looks for not having electric, natural gas or hydrogen vehicles to sell).

ctceo
Premium Member
join:2001-04-26
South Bend, IN

1 edit

ctceo

Premium Member

Ninnies, Hahaha

I haven't heard that term since my late grandma used it. I needed a laugh Thanks.
Core0000
Premium Member
join:2008-05-04
Somerset, KY

Core0000

Premium Member

Verizon...

Verizon, just like they said, are looking down the road at the future. There planning ahead. I know we don't get to hear about this much, because mainly bad news and bad investments and normally not anything that's positive gets passed around all that much.

When I think of companies that will be leading the future. As far as Telcos go, Verizon is definitely one that pops up in my mind first.

There willing to give the market what it wants. And when you do this, you succeed. (Its quite hard to fail)

Anyways, I look forward to Verizon's growth. Mainly because all the other telcos will go . "OH! They can make a profit with fiber, OH! the customers do actually want higher download speeds.. " And will hopefully start upgrading there infrastructure.(Windstream is doing this, surprisingly enough, I am hoping they are having amazing results in Lexington, KY)

I don't want to get off track. But Wal-mart. People always complain about how huge Wal-mart is. How they run off mom and pop businesses. While this to some degree on a matter of perspective is true. In my opinion it is a matter of these small mom and pop business failure to change and adapt and meet customers needs. And so, the customers go somewhere else (Since they have the option.)

It's the failure to adapt, to change, to look down the road and plan ahead. Its failure to do good business.

Verizon is just doing its best to meet customer demand, and honestly I think it will be a smart move on there part, In ten years, I don't see them having any regrets.(Unless some kind of super wireless technology or satellite tech comes out that's super cheap and super fast with no limits, has not distance limitations, but that's about snowball chance in hell kinda situation)