pandora Premium Member join:2001-06-01 Outland |
pandora
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 1:23 pm
Why do state regulators approve these sales?Isn't it up to the state to have regulators who work for the people? | |
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| woody7 Premium Member join:2000-10-13 Torrance, CA |
woody7
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 1:30 pm
Re: Why do state regulators approve these sales?cause they are strapped for funds and don't want to be in court until hell freezes over is my guess, along with the lobby money | |
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to pandora
govt in the US does not work for the people; it works for whoever pays them the most. since telecom is a very lucrative business, there is lots of money to buy off legislators, regulators, etc.
until that changes, "the people" will continue to get the shaft in all parts of life. | |
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| | jjeffeoryjjeffeory join:2002-12-04 Bloomington, IN
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Re: Why do state regulators approve these sales?That sounds like corporatism ( a form of fascism) | |
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to pandora
I suspect those regulators have neighbors that work for Verizon. And chaching...hey, your kid going to college? You should see my BMW.... | |
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to pandora
No decent rural service from Verizon, and yet Verizon "proudly claims" their 3G service covers every square inch of Kansas, where AT&T covers nowhere. Something they're saying isn't right. | |
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Re: Why do state regulators approve these sales?3G is cheaper to deploy than DSL, especially when you've got 5GB caps on 3G. | |
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to burgerwars
said by burgerwars:No decent rural service from Verizon, and yet Verizon "proudly claims" their 3G service covers every square inch of Kansas, where AT&T covers nowhere. Something they're saying isn't right. VZW and VZ have different corporate cultures. | |
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Re: Why do state regulators approve these sales?but OWNED by VZ. VZ has a say so in that company. | |
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Re: Why do state regulators approve these sales?said by hottboiinnc4:but OWNED by VZ. VZ has a say so in that company. Not totally owned. VZW is part owned by Vodafone. | |
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Re: Why do state regulators approve these sales?But it is Controlled by VZ. So yah it's basically owned. | |
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| FFH5 Premium Member join:2002-03-03 Tavistock NJ |
to pandora
» Verizon's Hanging Up On Rural America [75] commentsAfter deals are approved by lazy regulators (most of whom are in Verizon's pocket) If they are all in "Verizon's pocket" as you say, then why aren't they(at least some of them) in prison? Surely with all those public interest groups out there looking to nail all the major telcos hides to their wall, they would have gotten dirt on the regulatory members and had them indicted. Given that there is a definite lack of prosecutions, I submit that the vast majority of regulators are not in the telcos pocket and are actually(if not effectively) looking out for the best interests of their states citizens. | |
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Re: State regulators NOT in Verizon's pocketUmm, ALL our politicians are in the megacorps pockets, I don't see any of them being arrested either. The simple fact is this, the so called 'regulators' are nothing more than PAID SHILLS who do the biddings of the megacorps, and do not serve the people they are hired to represent. And, for the record, the 'payoff' for a regulator is a cushy job at the megacorp after their term is up, EXACTLY what happens to corrupt congressional staffers. | |
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| Mookytc0 join:2000-11-10 North Tonawanda, NY |
to pandora
Happened in Maine. Relatives state their it has been poor at best since Verizon backed out.
DC | |
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ropeguru Premium Member join:2001-01-25 Mechanicsville, VA |
ropeguru
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 1:27 pm
Since they don't want to deploy to rural America..Maybe it is about time we stop giving them USF money. | |
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Re: Since they don't want to deploy to rural America..USF isn't given wholesale. The specific project has to request it.
Aren't you happy though that Verizon is giving these to other companies? Surely the problem was that it was Verizon owned all along and had nothing to do with the lack of profit motive. | |
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They're deploying some placesMaybe they'll sell my exchange off to WIndstream and are just trying to improve the selling value, but apparently Verizon is killing bridged taps in my atea (Fredericksburg, TX) and launching DSL service. It's not FiOS, but it'll be nice not to be under the thumb of Time Warner Cable for anything better than 2 Mbps service. | |
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NOVA_GuyObamaCare Kills Americans Premium Member join:2002-03-05 |
NOVA_Guy
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 1:41 pm
Clarity Please?Even after reading the Wikipedia article on Reverse Morris Trusts, I find the whole thing a bit confusing with the description of selling off things in a "tax efficient" manner. Karl, can you provide a more concrete example of the "tax efficiencies" provided by this type of sale? Perhaps it's just me having an off-day, but I'm obviously missing something here. | |
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| morboComplete Your Transaction join:2002-01-22 00000 |
to NOVA_Guy
said by NOVA_Guy:Perhaps it's just me having an off-day, but I'm obviously missing something here. it's not you, it's everyone. it's a sneaky, confusing little tax scheme that Verizon just loves to death. unfortunately for them, we're onto it... | |
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| | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty Premium Member join:2002-05-02 Mount Airy, MD |
pnh102
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 4:00 pm
Re: Clarity Please?said by morbo:it's not you, it's everyone. it's a sneaky, confusing little tax scheme that Verizon just loves to death. unfortunately for them, we're onto it... I am sure that just about everyone on BBR who pays taxes does everything that he or she can to avoid paying any tax whenever possible, within the confines of the law, so I see nothing wrong with Verizon doing the same thing. But again, why should Verizon be held to account when it is the smaller companies which made these poor business decisions? Verizon did not hold a gun to their heads and force them to enter into these agreements. | |
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Re: Clarity Please?Just one of those old-fashioned American things called caring about your fellow man. It`s so last-century, I know. | |
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| | | | pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty Premium Member join:2002-05-02 Mount Airy, MD |
pnh102
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 10:12 pm
Re: Clarity Please?said by sonicmerlin:Just one of those old-fashioned American things called caring about your fellow man. It`s so last-century, I know. Which has zero to do with taxes. If anything, higher taxes detract from people being able to donate money to charity to help people. | |
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Re: Clarity Please?said by pnh102:said by sonicmerlin:Just one of those old-fashioned American things called caring about your fellow man. It`s so last-century, I know. Which has zero to do with taxes. If anything, higher taxes detract from people being able to donate money to charity to help people. People use that as an excuse but anyone who wants to donate to charity finds a way even if it is less than originally planned | |
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LTEVerizon should be selling off all their landline networks in rural areas so they can deploy 4G services to those areas quicker! Verizon says LTE will cover its entire current footprint by 2013. | |
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Re: LTE"smoke and mirrors"... Verizon: The new Doug Henning of 2009. | |
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to thecybernerd
Wonder what the cap will be.
Seriously, in many areas Verizon doesn't have fiber to their towers (areas where Verizon isn't the ILEC). Maybe they'll pull a Clearwire and push bandwidth via wireless and all will be well, but I wouldn't be surprised if Verizon slapped a 20-50GB cap on LTE service, though OTOH they might not and everything will be fine and dandy. | |
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Re: LTEsaid by iansltx:Wonder what the cap will be. Seriously, in many areas Verizon doesn't have fiber to their towers (areas where Verizon isn't the ILEC). Maybe they'll pull a Clearwire and push bandwidth via wireless and all will be well, but I wouldn't be surprised if Verizon slapped a 20-50GB cap on LTE service, though OTOH they might not and everything will be fine and dandy. There won't be a cap, just pay per byte billing. | |
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Re: LTEDoubt it. Caps allow for a high-cost basic tier in the name of "look at all the bandwidth you get for free". Pay-per-byte also doesn't discourage usage as much as a cap-and-overage system does, if the overages are punitive enough. For example, Verizon charges 5¢ per MB overages on its $60 5GB capped mobile broadband plan. So the overage charge is $50 per GB, vs. $12 per GB for regular service.
The result of caps and tiers? More lower-use folks buy a plan than higher-use folks. It's a win-win for Verizon...people don't use up their 5GB, Verizon doesn't have to invest as much in infrastructure upgrades, etc. | |
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SLD Premium Member join:2002-04-17 San Francisco, CA |
SLD
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 1:53 pm
Nicely biased reporting.I wish the national news outlets allowed more reporting like yours, Karl. Maybe something would happen. | |
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LightS Premium Member join:2005-12-17 Greenville, TX |
LightS
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 3:07 pm
RidiculousI feel sorry for those customers who live in Rural areas that can ONLY be served by Verizon. Will they just be SOL & Stuck with access to the internet?
What if there is no other provider for the consumer to be shifted over to?
This honestly is ridiculous. The corporate overlords of greed-ridden Verizon(or any other business for that matter, but honestly, this is just complete and utter disregard for others) are disappointed because rural regions bring in profit, just not "enough" to satisfy their needs. What about the consumers needs? It's getting ridiculous, they're abandoning rural service although HSI is still not available over the entire footprint of the USA. I know it's a lot of work, but they need to get ahead (geographically) before they fall back and start dropping their loyal customers.
Sorry, Verizon, this is just uncalled for.. Maybe it will benefit you in the long run, but not us. | |
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Re: Ridiculous*sigh* That would be me. Sprint is a joke, and AT&T is worse. The true irony is I'm only 3 miles from I-94 through lower Michigan. I was an Alltel customer who was Borgified into VZW last month.
Just a couple of points: I've lived with a cap (Wildblue) and never, EVER want to do that again. Monitoring FAP is a full-time job, and I was throttled rather than overcharged for exceeding the 70% usage limit on the cap. I'll never see copper let alone FIOS, but I understood the limitations when we moved to the area. Technology has finally reached us and I'm content with the 2-3MB down, but I live in dread of losing my grandfathered unlimited broadband account.
C'mon, Verizon, I'm a paying customer. I'd rather pay $60 a month to VZW rather than $0 for no internet at all, which is what I'll do rather than return to Wildblue. I don't live on Mars but it took LOTS of coffee shop wifi research to find internet access! How many other rural citizens don't know they can get broadband like wireless because there's been virtually no local advertising? I'm interested. I've been a good customer. I'd like to remain a good customer, but that 5G cap is a deal-breaker. | |
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| | PDXPLT join:2003-12-04 Banks, OR 1 edit |
PDXPLT
Member
2009-Nov-11 6:53 pm
Re: Ridiculoussaid by ShellMMG:*sigh* That would be me. Me too. And as I've mentioned before, it's not like it would be hard for VZ to do. Our neighborhood is served by a modern, DSL-capable remote terminal. A high-capacity inter-town VZ fiber connection runs right in front of my driveway; heck along the lot across the street runs a transoceanic fiber line, along a railraod ROW. None of it does any good to the residents here, just because VZ couldn't be bothered to spend a couple of hundred bucks a line on some DSL line cards. We know it would be profitable; in neighborhoods a short distance away in Qwest territory, they have DSL. So does the typical Frontier neighborhood. I welcome Frontier; they can't treat us any worse than Verzon treats us. | |
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Which one is it?"Verizon's justification of course is that rural America is costly to wire. That doesn't mean rural America can't be profitable -- it's just not profitable enough, quickly enough for impatient Verizon executives and shareholders."
The same thing was said when Verizon first started FiOS, by the same people. Yet Verizon was willing to stick it out and go ahead and wait for the profits. Are you suggesting that now they aren't? It seems more likely to me that they've run the numbers, and know that there aren't any profits, and possibly not even break even, in rural broadband. I'm assuming they're in a position to know | |
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elray join:2000-12-16 Santa Monica, CA
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elray
Member
2009-Nov-10 3:12 pm
So? What's the problem?Why should Verizon be "bothered" with rural customers if they aren't willing to pay the freight for their service? Why should rural customers complain if the "big bad phone company" sells their accounts who someone who actually wants the business?
Why should urban and suburban customers be forced to subsidize their rural counterparts? Our phone bills already reflect more taxes and fees than basic service charges. Now we're supposed to pay so the farm can get better broadband?
I don't think so. | |
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pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty Premium Member join:2002-05-02 Mount Airy, MD |
pnh102
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 3:31 pm
So What?So Verizon sells these networks to other companies which then engage in poor business decisions (Fairpoint decided to upgrade a working network in New England and give its executives bonuses) and that is somehow Verizon's fault? | |
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Verizon forgets the history of how Rural America was wired. Verizon is an aggregation of many small rural telephone cooperatives. Most were bought out by General Telephone and Electronics prior to the formation of Verizon, a merger between NYNEX and GTE. When these cooperatives were formed they truly directed their efforts at providing any subscriber that wanted to join the cooperative with service. Cost was not an issue because they were able to obtain low interest Rural Electrification loans from Uncle Sam. We now have Verizon dumping customers many of which were originally members of the cooperatives that formed GTE. This is hypocritical and demonstrates big corporate mentality. Verizon management does not care about customers that do not maximize their profitability. The only way to resolve this issue is through regulation and forcing Verizon to buy back the companies they have dumped and meet their commitment under universal service commitment for which they have been handsomely rewarded by our government. | |
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jjeffeoryjjeffeory join:2002-12-04 Bloomington, IN |
It's not so much that the areas are ruralWhat really gets me is that Verizon is trying to get rid of areas that aren't really that rural ( Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles and Inland Empire). Sure, there are some low density areas here and there, but those are three large metro areas to just toss away. Weird. | |
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Anon
Anon
2009-Nov-10 4:37 pm
AT&T Counter?Looks like AT&T is opening a new front on Verizon regarding service/coverage. Doesn't really come close to the damage done by the map lawsuit but looks for all the world like a counter punch no matter how effective. | |
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Jim_in_VA (banned) join:2004-07-11 Cobbs Creek, VA |
Jim_in_VA (banned)
Member
2009-Nov-10 4:41 pm
The answer is WISP'sThe guys who go out there and build wireless networks for rural communities are the REAL heroes. The speeds most of them offer can easily exceed DSL and can, and often, surpass cable.
so yeah ...there is hope. A well maintained WISP is a terrific alternative. | |
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batterupI Can Not Tell A Lie. Premium Member join:2003-02-06 Netcong, NJ |
batterup
Premium Member
2009-Nov-10 10:02 pm
No free lunch.Ma Bell is dead and yet the people bitch. Verizon stock is going down; it is a private business and MUST make money or you will see a tax payer bail out that will make GM's chump change. | |
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littlnet Premium Member join:2006-12-05 Gladewater, TX 1 edit |
littlnet
Premium Member
2009-Nov-11 8:30 am
Rural AmericaI live in Galdewater Texas population of 6078 less the 5k feet from central office with no dsl in town. I wonder when they will sell my area? | |
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Mark F1 join:2007-08-01 Fort Wayne, IN |
Mark F1
Member
2009-Nov-11 12:36 pm
The Encounter At Fairpoint Isn't Going Well.Now, Frontier has to try and provide Indiana, Oregon and Washington with a TV service to replace what we are currently getting with Verizon FIOS. What we have now from FIOS far and away beats the competition. So, will they offer as many channels as we now get? Or, even come close? Will they even try to offer us the kind of outstanding Video On Demand, the Multiroom DVR, and other things we love about FIOS TV? Or, will we be left with less than what the competition offers? We left Comcast because we were dissatisfied with the service and satelite is affected by rain fade, storms, sunspots (and maybe photon torpedoes). Perhaps Frontier can pull it off, but right now it seems like a long shot. I just hope we don't end up falling into the quagmire of the deal or finding ourselves adrift in the final Frontier. Mark F | |
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puzzled, this is an opportunityThis is an opportunity of epic proportions, the time is NOW to get smaller companies and/or municipal governments involved with getting next generation broadband out to the masses. You can not look to big corporations as saviors. Verizon has much to many legacy costs to do this effectively. Just keep in mind, should it get done, I do not want Verizon to come-a-calling to buy the business back-- I want a 50 year BAN ON ANY TELCO OR CABLECO such as the big 3 purchasing the company &/or customers! There are also opportunities in parts of major metro areas that Verizon now puts on the back burner (Boston for one) where smaller companies such as RCN would be stupid not to begin competing on bottom line price and upgrade to docsis 3.0.
Fairpoint and Frontier were doomed companies to start because they accepted massive debt to revenue ratios that would make $5/gallon gasoline look like a gift from god. Start fresh, new and debt free... then invest in markets Verizon sends to the curb-- not that rusty old copper, which doesn't even have enough capacity going to the to the region if everyone picked up their phone and tried to dial at the same time. | |
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