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Broadband Black Holes
Being stuck in high-speed no-man's land
(old news - 05:29PM Monday May 31 2004)
tags: cable · install
Broadband "black holes" persist across the United States, and as this user in our Roadrunner forum notes, the difference between the haves and have-nots can often be simply a few hundred feet - even with cable. Stuck in a zone of cable purgatory between Time Warner Cable and Cablevision, the user says Time Warner wants to charge some $25,000 to run enough cable to service those customers left in a lurch. Another nearby neighbor says he was facing the same problem, but found that the franchise agreement that TWC had with his town obligated them to provide his neck of the woods with broadband.

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Forums » Broadband Black Holes
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Post a:
doppler

join:2003-03-31
Blue Point, NY

Sure sound like the problems with verizon dsl

Are pale in comparison.

Korea is better wired than anywhere in America.

72276539
Premium
join:2001-01-19
Atlanta, GA

Re: Sure sound like the problems with verizon dsl

said by doppler See Profile:
Are pale in comparison.

Korea is better wired than anywhere in America.

Then move to Korea.
--
some people believe in astrology others believe in technology some people believe in all those -ologies but i believe in swordfish

Smitedogg
Uzbekikitty
Premium
join:2000-11-11
Pueblo, CO

Re: Sure sound like the problems with verizon dsl

said by 72276539 See Profile:
said by doppler See Profile:
Are pale in comparison.

Korea is better wired than anywhere in America.

Then move to Korea.

Yeah, how dare someone point out that another country is better than ours at something!
--
Without you, the Police have no case.

72276539
Premium
join:2001-01-19
Atlanta, GA

Re: Sure sound like the problems with verizon dsl

said by Smitedogg See Profile:
said by 72276539 See Profile:
said by doppler See Profile:
Are pale in comparison.

Korea is better wired than anywhere in America.

Then move to Korea.

Yeah, how dare someone point out that another country is better than ours at something!

Considering the country is radically different then ours, government paid for much of the deployment and the fact it is incredibly smaller then our country would make this a case of comparing apples to oranges.
--
some people believe in astrology others believe in technology some people believe in all those -ologies but i believe in swordfish

IGGY
No Guru Just Here To Help
Premium,MVM
join:2001-03-30
Chatham, IL

said by 72276539 See Profile:
said by doppler See Profile:
Are pale in comparison.

Korea is better wired than anywhere in America.

Then move to Korea.

We shouldn't have to. And when did we stop having pride enough in our country to be the best at everything? High speed rail is in a lot of other countries. Were still using old diesel engines and old track that was built years ago. Heck Las Vegas can't even get there monorail off the ground. Many other countries are using hybrid cars more than we do and have a better selection of available vehicles. Alternative energies are used in other countries more. And since were talking about broadband. The fact is many other countries are way ahead of us in this area. Heck even Canada is now kicking our butt in this field. Providing there customers with same or lower prices - while increasing speeds and doing away with usage caps. This country is becoming more and more a follower instead of leader. People need to start having pride like our forefathers did. We need to realize we need to be the first and best with new technologies and ways of living. Not playing catch up.

The original poster merely pointed out a fact. You merely jumped there case like they weren't being patriotic. Being patriotic is expecting your country to be the best and wanting it to be the best. Maybe if more people realized were lagging behind and got off there backsides and did something about it. We could reverse this trend. But companies and politicians would rather only give it lip services. Like certain types of people standing on a street corner.
--
Test Your Security Team Z Member Cable Modem Diagnostics

72276539
Premium
join:2001-01-19
Atlanta, GA

If broadband is so important that you have to state XXXXX is more wired then American then obviously its very important so movie to a broadband haven would be a good thing. Why should I pay for him to move? Im not the one stating Korea is better now am I?
--
some people believe in astrology others believe in technology some people believe in all those -ologies but i believe in swordfish
doppler

join:2003-03-31
Blue Point, NY


edit:
May 31st, @06:50PM

You don't get the point

The reason Korea is so well wired is the fact they
care more about it than any bell or isp system
in the United States.

In 1990 all the baby bells promised to there local
governments. F.T.T.H. That's fiber to the home. The
percentage of wired homes was PROMISED to be 90% in
five years. It was hailed as the 5 year plan.

Well I am still waiting, it's 9 years over do. Did I
mention the bells wanted tax abatements to offset the
costs of FTTH. They got it. But nobody got there FTTH.
They only wired a small part. Just to show they were doing
something. Just recently the users of PA got screwed
by verizon. Verizon promised FTTH in PA. They got big
dollars to install it. And just this year. Verizon
said sorry it won't happen. Did everybody get rebates
for the extra payout to Verizon. Highly unlikely verizon
will be paying out ANYTHING. Except lately 40 Million fine
for level of service failure. I like that $5 rebate every
year. (fine wise). I don't like the shoddy service.

BTW, every time it rains, someone on the block gets repair
work done. My phone goes out, or bad humming. It's been
13 times in the last 18 months. They won't commit to cable
replacement. Why would they commit to FTTH?

Yea, I compared Korea with anywhere in the US. Think about
it. Korea is better wired than the US. In fact there are
many other countries better wired. The US is on the bottom
of the list. With the technology available in the US. I
think we should be on the top of the list not on the bottom.

As long as North Korea exists I would never think of going
to south Korea. WW-III, if it starts anywhere it's going
to be there.

----- edit for spelling and grammer -----

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: You don't get the point

said by doppler See Profile:
BTW, every time it rains, someone on the block gets repair work done. My phone goes out, or bad humming. It's been 13 times in the last 18 months.
Just as an aside, why would you continue to pay for such shoddy service? Get your number ported to a cell phone and be done with it.
--
Keep America Strong! Bush/Cheney 2004
doppler

join:2003-03-31
Blue Point, NY

Re: You don't get the point

said by pnh102 See Profile:
said by doppler See Profile:
BTW, every time it rains, someone on the block gets repair work done. My phone goes out, or bad humming. It's been 13 times in the last 18 months.
Just as an aside, why would you continue to pay for such shoddy service? Get your number ported to a cell phone and be done with it.

Your being from PA, I think your worst off than my service.
I would be hounding my senators about the nice freebie
verizon got. As for my problems. I can't afford the
extra cellphone costs. And being a amateur radio
enthusiast I don't trust the landline being available.
Imagine this: Flight 800 went down not far from my home.
The Fire chief was smashing his cellphone on the hood of
the response car. Why?? Because he could not get a
clear channel. Cellphone are the first things to
go when things get bad. Even during the blackout of 2003.
Landline phones where up, cell sites were down.

But this is de tracking from the topic. For long Island and
NYC/NJ/CT areas black holes are rare. And the fact
everywhere else is screwed up. I blame the ISP's and baby
bells.

Parting thought. I know for a fact NYC has over capacity
of fiber optics. But they have the greatest cost to operate
even a basic T-1. Every time they ran 10 fiber lines from
point A to B. They didn't run just the ten they ran 100.
All that extra capacity is laying dormant. Verizon charges
$1200 a month for a full T-1. It really should be costing
$120 a month. Profit drives everything. That's the way it
works. Until the bells get hit with big fines for not
following though on promises. Nothing will change.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: You don't get the point

said by doppler See Profile:
Your being from PA, I think your worst off than my service.
I would be hounding my senators about the nice freebie
verizon got.
You do realize that the extra cash Verizon got was through a fee increase. Therefore, people who were not Verizon customers were not paying for service that Verizon never delivered. I, not being a Verizon customer, couldn't care less what Verizon does or does not do. All I do know though, is that if I was a Verizon customer and I was having continual problems with my landline as you describe, would drop them like a hot potato, especially if they refused to fix the problems.

Besides, Verizon is well on its way to putting itself out of business in PA with the way they still charge people for toll calls and other such services. They don't need the state's help for doing that.
--
Keep America Strong! Bush/Cheney 2004

72276539
Premium
join:2001-01-19
Atlanta, GA
ISP's have to have an ROI, a government doesn't.

72276539
Premium
join:2001-01-19
Atlanta, GA

Could it be the land cost in NYC is so god damned high along with the taxes they have to recoup the money somehow? Could it be that its not the cost to run the fiber that is incredibly prohibitive, its the cost of maintaining wiring centers, co-location facilities and the manpower necessary to make things work in a high priced area? Naw, its none of that. Its all corporate greed, god forbid a publicly held for profit company dare try to make a profit! OH THE HUMANITY!
--
some people believe in astrology others believe in technology some people believe in all those -ologies but i believe in swordfish

zoom314
Superman
Premium
join:2001-04-30
Yermo, CA


edit:
May 31st, @09:33PM

Re: Sure sound like the problems with verizon dsl

Most of the Baby Bells don't want to extend DSL into under served areas as They want to be Deregulated further and want to have No Competition outside of Cable and/or Satellite(from what I've read at least), At least Verizon(ex-GTE) is doing something other than doing a Sit-down strike like a spoiled toddler, It's spending Money and putting New Infrastructure in(New Central Offices with No Co-Location), They did in the City of Hesperia where I live. But like any investment, It just takes Time, Money and some Patience.
--
Charter Pipeline rules in Hesperia, CA, Verizon (ex-GTE) sucks...

techjoe
Premium
join:2004-02-20
Worth, IL
·Sprint Mobile Broa..

Yep.

I am literally a stone's toss from Comcast/xDSL land, but since this little portion is unincorperated and the park management does not want Comcast to dig trenches, this is my black hole. Since all around has access nobody will even bother to try to service us as the surrounding areas are already saturated, making expansion in this area worthless.

WaxPhoto
I AM SAM
Premium
join:2004-04-08
Roanoke, IN

Inexpensive solution

Although WiFi isn't the best solution, it sure beats dialup. If the major ISPs would just amend their ToS's to allow connection sharing between properties, it would save time and money on both sides of the spectrum... Telcos And Cablecos wouldn't be forced to spend a lot of money on suburban sprawl broadband architecture and consumers would still get a halfway decent internet connection. Maybe they could allocate more bandwidth to base nodes for wireless connectivity.

Then again, if the ISPs weren't so RoI oriented, there would be a lot better service all around.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: Inexpensive solution

said by WaxPhoto See Profile:
Then again, if the ISPs weren't so RoI oriented, there would be a lot better service all around.
But if they weren't so ROI-oriented they wouldn't be in the business of offering service in the first place.
--
Keep America Strong! Bush/Cheney 2004

WillHaeck

join:2002-01-20
Monroe, WA

Sounds like most BB companies

Most every Broadband company will skip certain areas because it isn't profitable. I'm pretty much in one of those areas too. Since their whole companies are pretty much in disarray as it is, it always seems like complaints fall on deaf ears.
ced06

join:2004-03-12
Towanda, PA

Re: Sounds like most BB companies

said by WillHaeck See Profile:
Most every Broadband company will skip certain areas because it isn't profitable. I'm pretty much in one of those areas too. Since their whole companies are pretty much in disarray as it is, it always seems like complaints fall on deaf ears.

Yup, you hit it square in it's ugly face.

In my town there is one broadband ISP. They provide horrible service at astronomical prices (640k/160k radsl over pppoe for $50/month). It's a monopoly...they are run by Epix, which pretty much every dialup isp goes through in the area. And Common Wealth Telephone owns the DSL isp (which is run by Epix)...and they're the only phone company in the area.

Recently Adelphia decided to rewire/redo the cable infrastructure and provide the town with cable internet...but once again the people like me (living out of town) are screwed over HARD, since they won't lay cable out to my general area (~6 miles from town).

If it isn't the slightest big profitable, they just cross you off their list...why don't they focus on deploying broadband nationwide so they can eventually MAKE it profitable?

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

Re: Sounds like most BB companies

said by ced06 See Profile:
Recently Adelphia decided to rewire/redo the cable infrastructure and provide the town with cable internet...but once again the people like me (living out of town) are screwed over HARD, since they won't lay cable out to my general area (~6 miles from town).
Would Adelphia do it if you offered to pay them to do it? If you have a lot of neighbors who want broadband the cost shouldn't be that hard to spread out.
--
Keep America Strong! Bush/Cheney 2004
ced06

join:2004-03-12
Towanda, PA

Re: Sounds like most BB companies

The problem is there isn't. Along that pathway (6 miles) there are maybe 50 houses...it isn't profitable to them.

chex5

join:2000-05-24
NorthEnd BOS
clubs:

Towanda Penna!

Right at the junction of US-220 and US-6 in North-East Central P.A.! Man, it is GOD's country out there! When I have ridden my motorcycle out there a few times, I feel like I'm in another country, let alone the US of A. Awesome motorcycle riding, excellent rural country, lots of cows and farms. I especially like SR-414 that runs west of Towanda, out towards US-15. Really amazing. You go for miles and miles with passing another car on that road.

A long way from living in Boston!!

NOT a good place for a Broadband infrastructure. If you are 6 miles outside of Towanda, you are NO-wheres-ville. You should feel lucky you can get anything that is over 28k in your area at all. No offense, please.

If you want cheap fast digital infrastructure, move to the city where economies of scale make it possible. If you want clean air, country-livin', live six miles outside Towanda. If you want both clean-air (mostly clean.. manure? ) and cheap net access, well, be prepared to pay for it.

Unless a MASSIVE 'Rural Broadband-i-fication Act' is passed in Congress, like was done for Electricity and Telephone, you aren't going to see cheap fast service in that area for while. With the deregulation push that is so strong in the Federal government today, I don't think that will ever happen soon.

My two cents.

-- Chex

PS: Can I drop in with a 6-pack and split a beer this summer when I'm riding by on my Yamaha?? Least I can do for a unwired country-boy who is addicted to digital speed.
--
Sung to the old New England Telephone Ad Jingle: " We're the only one New Eng-Lund, Hell-Ri-zon Tele-phonnnnne! "
Rammer
Premium
join:2001-03-06
clubs:
·AT&T Southeast

comcast here

they want put cable broadband here because they want a new 20 year contract

and the city want go with that any more
a welcome relief

lucky for us bellsouth put all new dsl equipment in the co and we are now running along with great speeds

80 percent of the people here use sat tv
because the cable service is horrible

its still analog system so that alone is trouble enough
supertbone

join:2002-04-04
Lancaster, CA
·RoadRunner Cable

I have more broadband choices than I need.

I am in a broadband sun, I have four types of residential service to choose from: DSL, Cable (as of July 1), satellite, and Radio wireless (local provider). Plus I live very close to Panera bread where I can get free wifi with my pringles can antenna and since a lot of neighbors who have wifi w/o WEP running I can leech of of them if I wanted to.

I am blessed to have all this. I will not live anywhere w/o broadband. I have had it for 5+ years. I feel for those who cannot get it.

richk_1957
If ..Then..Else
Premium
join:2001-04-11
Minas Tirith

I have seen this before

And not just with broadband.
Individual X is at the edge of company XXY area, but since not many people in X's area wanted XXY's service, they didn't bother to expand. This occurs in [almost always] in rural areas.This can be made worse [and more depressing] when there are a couple of companies in the area...

The last time I saw this was when the Bell's broke up.
A someone bought land at the end of a road but couldn't get phone service. Why? The person in front of him didn't want lines over [or under] his property, so it had to go the long way around, for about $3,000 [back then, that was a lot]

I'm lucky I have the choice of a couple cable & DSL services in my area.

rstrandb
Premium
join:2003-04-17
Albany, GA
·AT&T Southeast

It's called a business....not a charity

These companies are in the business of making money, not spending $25K to run internet to a few people. They would never recoup their costs. If they have no agreement with the community to do it, then they have no obligation. I'm happy for the Korean farmers that can surf after a day in the rice paddies, but that is their country. Just because they wanted to spend their tax dollars that way, doesn't mean we should spend ours that way.
--
What....me worry?

bigdaddy17

join:2003-05-08
Miami, FL

edit:
May 31st, @09:17PM

UK

Hell the UK is more wired than we are..

Augustus III
If Only Rome Could See Us Now....

join:2001-01-25
Gainesville, GA

Re: UK

said by bigdaddy17 See Profile:
Hell the UK is more wired than we are..

They and many other countries do not build subdivisions in the middle of nowhere every damn day, nor do they have people living on 300 acre farms in the middle of nowhere demanding broadband..

If you want coverage, you have to suit yourself to it, not the other way around. No company will run miles of wire so that you can live out in the woods where you like it.

Everybody here spreads all over the place. Heck many towns are not really towns any more. When you have people spreading all over the place you can't expect companies to chase them. It is not cost effective.

nobody here

@speakeasy.n

Re: UK, Try Canada

Of course this comes down to the, the US is different than every other country that has better braodband than it does.

This always falls down when you look more closely since you end up talking about countries with dramatically more penetration and countries such as Canada that are more sparsely populated but still have more penetration.

I think if you look closely at the companies supplying broadband, how they operate and their relationship to government, I think you would discover why the US isn't better positioned. Does anyone still trust coporate America?

It irks me even more since I am Canadian living in the US. My friends and family in Canada enjoy cheap pervasive broadband in places equivalent to where I live.
I however am stuck in a broadband black hole, Comcast wants several thousand dollars for an install and the only DSL available is iDSL. If you aren't familiar with iDSL all you really need to know is that it is very expensive and slow. Not good attributes for internet access.

rstrandb
Premium
join:2003-04-17
Albany, GA
·AT&T Southeast

Re: UK, Try Canada

said by nobody here:

It irks me even more since I am Canadian living in the US. My friends and family in Canada enjoy cheap pervasive broadband in places equivalent to where I live.
I however am stuck in a broadband black hole, Comcast wants several thousand dollars for an install and the only DSL available is iDSL.

I rest my case, companies in America are designed to make money, not give internet access to everyone in the country.
--
What....me worry?

bigdaddy17

join:2003-05-08
Miami, FL

Re: UK, Try Canada

Yea but I mean look how big Canada is.. heck its larger than the US.
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