Sonic.net's New CLEC Venture AT&T probably won't share, ISP pushes forward Sonic.net CEO Dane Jasper gives us a heads-up that the Santa Rosa-based ISP has formed a new CLEC, Sonic Telecom, to deploy ADSL2+ and VDSL2 DSLAMs. The company will be selling the services with speeds up to 24Mbps to various providers (today Sonic.net offers wholesale DSL to 75 ISPs). Sonic has been waiting to see if AT&T will offer access to U-Verse infrastructure: "Sonic has been trying to get that question answered for more than a year, Jasper said. It pays AT&T about $4.5 million of its annual $14.5 million in revenue for access to the current generation of DSL equipment. Sonic can't wait any longer to find out if it can use the next-generation equipment, Jasper said. Nor does he think AT&T will provide it. And that is why Sonic is moving forward to install its own equipment.
Perhaps even worse for Sonic was another rule change by the FCC. In three years, telephone companies can cut off additional access to the current-generation DSL equipment altogether, Jasper said. And if telephone companies cut off that access, small ISPs will be sunk." Jasper tells us the company has been working out the details of the new project for the past eighteen months. The company plans to begin testing and deployment this fall, first in Santa Rosa, California.
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 Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
| good luck, Sonic I wish them luck, but don't hold out much hope.
Unless and until they build out their own "last mile" to customers, they are doomed to extinction. As soon as they are perceived to be any sort of threat at all to ATT, they will be killed deader than a doorknob. | |
|  |  PhoenixDown-- Wants FIOSPremium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
kudos:1 | Re: good luck, Sonic So they are going to be Covad # 2 (or should I say Covad # 16 after the likes of Rhythms)?
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Mass Transit Sucks! | |
| | |  CylonRedPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-06
Bloom County | Re: good luck, Sonic I would have to agree... Unfortunately.. | |
| | | | | They should talk to Covad instead of AT&T. | |
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| | | |  en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: good luck, Sonic Yeah - I'll have to evaluate all carriers (again) once my contract is up... DSL-Ex hasn't been bad, however, my line isn't always that stable, and w/o a VRAD nearby, and no plans for at&t to build one, and DirecTv prices going up... why should I stay ? | |
| | | | | | | | | en102Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | Re: good luck, Sonic Well, they probably had to do some decent 'fixes' as the Comcast cutover was horrible for some (co-workers HDTV went out, as did HSI).
I pretty much do a evaluation of the carriers around here every year before resigning up with DSL... This year may end my DSL, if the price is right. | |
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| | | Who cares? FIOS isn't gonna share and neither is T. The CLEC model is pretty much a dead issue on DSL unless they decide to run their own lines. DSLX only keeps a great rating since DSLXGM fixes stuff after the people have spent years with their telephone support.
And, is the price really any much better than the Clecs? Not really. Covad is outrageously expensive. I see CLECs, in my crystal ball, being a "experiement" that never really worked. Gave some cheap prices on phone service till the ILECs got sick of the leeching.
Telocity didn't seem to last long. Covad went bankrupt already with cheap access. I don't see how Sonic .net is going to do any better unless the buy Sonic restaurant franchises. | |
| |  KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| said by nasadude:I wish them luck, but don't hold out much hope. Unless and until they build out their own "last mile" to customers, they are doomed to extinction. Well, deploying their own network of DSLAMS kinda fits that bill. They are building out their own network. I'm not sure how they will actually connect the houses to their DSLAMS but still, they are building it. Plus they intend to wholesale their network to other small ISP's to use. I applaud this idea. I hope they pull it off.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
| | | Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| Re: good luck, Sonic said by KrK:said by nasadude:I wish them luck, but don't hold out much hope. Unless and until they build out their own "last mile" to customers, they are doomed to extinction. Well, deploying their own network of DSLAMS kinda fits that bill. They are building out their own network. I'm not sure how they will actually connect the houses to their DSLAMS but still, they are building it. Plus they intend to wholesale their network to other small ISP's to use. I applaud this idea. I hope they pull it off. No, it doesn't "kinda fits the bill". They are putting their equipment in ATT COs and using ATT copper to reach customers. I forget the deadline, but soon there will be ZERO requirement for ILECs to share their last mile copper with competitors.
When this happens, ATT can lock out any competitor from using their copper.
So, I repeat: unless and until CLECs build their own "last mile", either wired or wireless, they are doomed to eventual failure. | |
| | | | KrKHeavy Artillery For The Little GuyPremium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK Reviews:
·AT&T DSL Service
| Re: good luck, Sonic said by nasadude:When this happens, ATT can lock out any competitor from using their copper. I was under the impression that AT&T can lock out competitors from using their broadband equipment (in a few years) IE their (AT&T) DSLAMS and RT's.... but not the existing copper. It's my impression that if a CLEC builds in their own DSLAMS into a CO (And pays AT&T) that then can still access the Telephone lines that come out of that CO.
Even so that severely limits your future customers. Sonic.net tho says in the future they may deploy their own RT's.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
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 pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD |  Different Investment Idea
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
| |  ColorBASIC8-bit FunPremium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | Re: Different Investment Idea Costs too much. | |
| | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Different Investment Idea That reminds me of what someone I know told me when they decided to buy a Ford and not a Honda 
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
| | | | ColorBASIC8-bit FunPremium
join:2006-12-29
Corona, CA | Re: Different Investment Idea It would be a great idea of the Honda would put them in Chap 11. | |
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|  sporkmedrop the crantini and move it, sisterPremium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ
 ·Optimum Online
| said by pnh102:why not invest that money into obtaining a local franchise for the town in question and running their own network instead? Because it's absolutely f*cking stupid to run more wires?
Sonic.net is not "leaching" given what they pay to lease the copper, rack space and power. T is losing no money, they turn a profit on these deals. | |
| | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Different Investment Idea said by sporkme:Because it's absolutely f*cking stupid to run more wires? Really? So who's stupid when AT&T decides they don't want to play balls with Sonic.net anymore?
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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| | | Locally we have at least 6 or 7 carriers who string their own fiber. Not one of these companies string fiber in a residential area. They only string it where they can get the high bandwidth (T3/DS3+) customers. Where you have 3 or 4 carriers on the same pole it looks like a rats nest.
Heh you think people bitch about remote terminals on the side of the road. Imagine how bad people would bitch if you had 4 or 5 carriers with their own poles because they refuse to pay the ILec to use their poles. | |
| | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD | Re: Different Investment Idea said by battleop:Imagine how bad people would bitch if you had 4 or 5 carriers with their own poles because they refuse to pay the ILec to use their poles. These are the same people who whine about how bad their cell phone service is but raise holy heck when a company wants to put an antenna up to service them. These people should be ignored and/or opposed, because it is their selfish mentality that holds us back in a time when we need all the competition and service deployments that we can get.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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| |  KoolMoeAw ManPremium
join:2001-02-14
Annapolis, MD | Re: Whoa Nelly... Please explain how it is leeching when any such CLEC pays the ILEC for access to those lines, and at rates that are arguably higher than it costs the ILEC to maintain them?
This is such a silly argument. While I agree it would be ideal for CLECs to all run their own lines and infrastructure, it's just not practical. Forcing ILECs to share there lines was not only something the ILECs originally offered to do, but doesn't hurt than AT ALL. The only limit is how much profit they can make.
KM
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Don't Lie - Be Kind - Realize your Potential | |
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 xdeadhead220, 221, Whatever It Takes.Premium
join:2000-11-08
Mechanicsburg, PA | great... another clec that sucks. sonic, meet covad.
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I am not herbert. | |
| | | | Re: great... Yeah we know you miss the times before CLEC's when DSL used to cost $75/mo for 768/128 if you were lucky enough to get it.
ID 10 T | |
| | | xdeadhead220, 221, Whatever It Takes.Premium
join:2000-11-08
Mechanicsburg, PA | Re: great... you dont know jack about what i miss or in this case, dont miss, so stfu. youre just another forum troll now go crawl back under your bridge. lol useless covad/sonic shill. you make me wanna puke.
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I am not herbert. | |
| | | | | | Re: great... I am the forum troll? LOL ok!
Hey, do the world a favor and pack up your stuff and move to the mountains where you can be alone and not bother the rest of us | |
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| | Sonic sucks! Their employees are a bunch of morons who goof off all day and don't do their jobs which is answering the phone promptly when customers call in! I've walked through their facility during work hours (not at lunch time) and found several employees in the "technical support" area goofing off shooting rubber-bands at each other while the phone was ringing and although I can't blame them if they get away with it, they were flirting with some short chick with big boobs who obviously liked every bit of it! I only say this because I have family members that use their service and it can take several minutes for them to answer the phone when we call and now I know why! | |
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). That's the way VDSL really needs to be deployed. Without access to those, such a small percentage of customers will see the true benefit of VDSL2 service that I'm not sure if this whole venture would really be worth it.
Whoa Nelly...
