🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <780re8$3mc_002@news.eden.com>, fgoodwin@eden.com writes...
> In article <MPG.110d538b8d5a37e39897a2@ispnews.walltech.com>, 
> For_Email@ddress.see.below_plea.se (Philip J. Koenig) wrote:
> 
> >Furthermore, SBC's history of service is mediocre and getting worse,
> >it's a shame one has to perpetuate their PR.  Especially when it 
> >appears they are playing political games with the FCC and regulators 
> >by preannouncing cheap service that won't come to pass unless their 
> >competitors get the shaft.. which is what they're hoping by priming
> >people with these unrealistic rates.
> 
> So, it's OK for AT&T to own the pipe and require you to subscribe to their 
> ISP, but it *isn't* OK for SBC to own *it's* pipe while letting you choose 
> your own ISP?


No, the point is that SBC's services that they are announcing won't
even come to pass unless the FCC and/or state regulators allow a price
advantage for them over the competition even greater than they enjoy
today.

I have heard the CLEC's (competitive telephone carriers) have to pay
in some cases more each month just to lease the wire from companies
like SBC than SBC is charging end-users for the entire retail DSL
product *including ISP services*.  What's wrong with this picture?

Part of the telecom deregulation bill that was passed in 1996 
stipulated that there be substantial local-phone-service competition,
and that the existing carriers (ie SBC) had to provide access to
their facilities to the CLEC's at reasonable prices.  (or else they
would not be given the go-ahead to compete in the long-distance 
market.  In fact the FCC has recently prevented 2 or 3 baby bells
from entering the LD market precisely because there was little
evidence they were living up to the spirit of that law) 

This particular announcement is an example of why companies like 
SBC are doing their best to ensure the spirit of that law gets 
twisted to their advantage.




Phil


-- 
Philip J. Koenig         The Electric Kahuna Organization          [see below]
-----------------Computers & Communications for the New Millenium-------------
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