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story category FCC Officially Says No To Going Naked
Is it the end of broadband as we know it?
(old news - 09:09AM Saturday Mar 26 2005)
tags: competition · fcc
A 'deeply divided' FCC officially announced that telcos can not be forced by the States to offer so called 'naked DSL', a phone line purely for DSL with no voice charges. Industry observers are buzzing with various opinions of the effect of the decision. Some are saying this is the end of broadband was we know it: "The FCC ruling makes broadband an extension of phone service, rather than the reverse. It ties the data applications of the future to the anchor of the public switched telephone network. That's perverse. Voice is the application, not connectivity. We'll never have real competition if the incumbents get paid even when customers want to switch to a competitor." According to TechDirt, "These telcos still don't seem to realize that the only thing they're doing is making cable modems look more attractive than DSL for anyone who doesn't want a local phone line, but would prefer a mobile phone or VoIP." Om Malik also chimes in with some interesting observations on the FCC ruling: "[That] competition... is as dead as the disastrous Telecom Act of 1996. Time to live with the harsh reality of capitalism. Where I think FCC has failed us is in articulating a national level policy which should mandate that pure DSL services should be made available. Phone companies should look at car companies for a cue - you can get a Honda sans all the trimmings or you can get it fully loaded. Phone operators, similarly should offer a pure DSL line for those who want (Qwest’s adoption rate shows that there aren’t too many!) and fully loaded packages to those who want the convenience. This is going to make for happy customers."

Related:
  1. FCC Engineers Say White Space Broadband Works
  2. Friday Evening Links
  3. What ISP Transparency?
  4. Clearwire CEO: FCC Approval Would Be 'Good Policy.'
  5. Congress: FCC Boss Martin Abused Power
  6. White House Opposes Free Wireless Broadband Plan
  7. Tech Media Discovers FCC Staffed With Dunces, Lobbyists
  8. USF: Uncle Sam's Blank check
Forums » FCC Officially Says No To Going Naked
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Post a:

Shack

join:2002-01-17
Bloomington, IN

I am not surprised

Bush is the most big business President ever, did you expect his FCC to do anything else? Why monoplies are allowed to keep out competition I will never understand, I would included Cable Internet in that as well.

ncredible

@rr.com


from:
maxwell2112 See Profile

Re: I am not surprised

having seen what clinton did to all the businesses in America, I thank God for Bush and his common sense. Yet I don't think Bush had anything to do with this, I think it is right. Why? Simple, the states have no right to force companyies to do business a certain way, the states haveing overspent money are now trying everything they can do to slap us the taxpayers for anything they can, if they had gotten what they wanted we the end customers would have been paying a higher bill.

As for the we own it , ha, 75 years ago maybe, right now today, you are not forced to pay for a phone, your tax money does not go to the bells, stop trying to say we own it. We the tax payers might have helped in the deployment but that does not entitle ownership of the lines. The whole big business thing is so insane, anyone in this country can start any business, as long as the rules are followed. With more rules such as this are in place it is harder for the smaller start ups to get anywhere.

Pz_

join:2001-03-31
Brownsburg, IN
clubs:

Re: I am not surprised

said by ncredible:

I thank God for Bush and his common sense.
I'm not a very political person, but I don't think I've ever seen the words bush and common sense in the same sentence.
Gilitar

join:2000-11-20
Mobile, AL
·AT&T Southeast

Re: I am not surprised

I voted for Bush, but I don't like the way things are going with big business in this country. If the democrats would learn how to nominate a candidate worth a crap maybe we would have another choice. It's time for the governement to breakup the following: Wal-mart, telcos, and oil companies. Mergers + big business = consumers lose.

N3OGH
Will it all be Obama's fault now?
Premium
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs
·Verizon Online DSL

Re: I am not surprised

Breakup wall-mart? Under who's authority? For what reason? Wall-mart is not the product of any merger.

Wall-mart is simply the result of a savvy business strategy and excellent distribution systems.

As far as breaking up the telcos, the government did that once all ready, with very mixed (to be charitable) results.

P Ness
You'Ve Forgotten 9-11 Already
Premium
join:2001-08-29
Cromwell, CT
clubs:

Re: I am not surprised

said by N3OGH See Profile:

Breakup wall-mart? Under who's authority? For what reason? Wall-mart is not the product of any merger.

Wall-mart is simply the result of a savvy business strategy and excellent distribution systems.

As far as breaking up the telcos, the government did that once all ready, with very mixed (to be charitable) results.
Walmart was a result of alot of preditory pricing..they would come in undercut cost....or even sell below cost..run everyone out and then raise prices to make a margin that was acceptable...

not exactly the best way to conduct business
--
www.stopfcc.comI do not think the government needs to restrict free speech especially on a device that has an off knob.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus

join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Re: I am not surprised

and then K Mart ran into the buzzsaw of Walmart:)

J D McDorce
Premium
join:2001-12-29
Westland, MI


edit:
March 26th, @04:37PM

Re: I am not surprised

Most of K-Mart's original undoing was due to management issues (not dissimilar to Enron or Adelphia) rather than the result of competitive pressure from Walmart. K-Mart II will continue to be profitable as long are there are buyers for the real estate obtained from the Sears acquisition.
rich_joy
Premium
join:2004-10-17
Rockford, IL
For all of the praise about Wall-Mart's business strategy, it has also been noted that for every job Wall-Mart creates, the community loses 1 1/2 Jobs. The other result is the end of local businesses.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus

join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

Re: I am not surprised

Most all of the crap your hear about Walmart is put out by the Unions would want to organise it.

Jon Geb
Wal-Mart Sucks

join:2001-01-09
Novi, MI

Re: I am not surprised

I don't work for a union and I won't step foot in that dollar weakening, job destroying, sprawl producing crap hole.

SpitefulCrow
Insert Witty Tag Here
Premium
join:2003-06-04
Berkeley, CA

said by Transmaster See Profile:

Most all of the crap your hear about Walmart is put out by the Unions would want to organise it.
And you think that letting the poor people working at Walmart shouldn't be allowed to unionize to get better working conditions and pay?
qworster

join:2001-11-25
Los Angeles, CA
·Brand X Internet
·RoadRunner Cable
·Vonage
·DSL EXTREME
·EarthLink


edit:
March 27th, @01:09AM

Just yesterday, a study came out that shows that Walmart's
poor wages cost the Govt. money. It was calculated that the average Walmart with 200 employees cost the community $608,000.00 a year in health costs, welfare, etc.
That's over 3000 dollars per employee!
The average clerk at Walmart makes about 14K a year. That's below the poverty line for a family of three.
jimbo2150

join:2004-05-10
Youngstown, OH
·Dreamhost
·Armstrong Zoom In..

I agree with you, they definitely need to increase competition. I don't really know where ncredible got his logic but it definitely was not from any of us.

If you give the telcos what they want, even when they promise faster speeds and lower prices, it will not work as we have already seen. Healthy competition is what drives down prices and increases service. Each company that competes wants to be the best, so services and products get better. In my case, there is SBC and a local cable company that offer broadband, thats it. They are both at a stalemate with speeds/pricing and not competing much at all. Monopolies could care less (case in point, Micro$oft). Now that their browser is finally threadened, they are JUST NOW makeing a new one. I hope Novell makes good with Linux next year and threatens Windows OS as well.
The point is, the FCC's decission is pretty much ensuring doom for any competion, and it will probably be a long time before most of us see any next-gen broadband.
--
- "Techie" Jim
biochemistry

join:2003-05-09
92361
Usually I don't comment on spelling, but "wall"-mart? I mean seriously, how many times have you passed by a Wal-Mart in your lifetime that you still think it's "Wall-Mart"?
jimbo2150

join:2004-05-10
Youngstown, OH

Re: I am not surprised

Wow, calm down, it was probably a simple spelling error, or
else he was implying that "wall-mart" was putting up a wall between itself and competition.
Lighten up.
--
- "Techie" Jim

SpitefulCrow
Insert Witty Tag Here
Premium
join:2003-06-04
Berkeley, CA
Wal-mart destroys local business and jobs and creates a bunch of underpaid jobs with no benefits or health insurance while at the same time providing horrible service and poor-quality products to the consumer.

one_bored_si

join:2003-03-10
Montebello, CA

Re: I am not surprised

Welcome to the future of America, and it has already begun.
valuepac

join:2001-05-30
Santa Monica, CA

said by SpitefulCrow See Profile:

Wal-mart destroys local business and jobs and creates a bunch of underpaid jobs with no benefits or health insurance while at the same time providing horrible service and poor-quality products to the consumer.
Im sorry but what jobs is wal-mart distroying? As far as im concern, target, wal-mart, kmart.. All pay just above minimum wage. Same with most department/ mall stores: gap, jcpenny, sears, Barnes and noble, borders, tower music... Same with most food establishments. Mc Donald's, subway, Panera, starbucks,..

Basically all these organization pay less than $10 an hour to the majority of their employees. So stop blaming Wal-mart.. the blame can be spread around to just about any organization operating in a strip-mall

mustang03282

join:2003-01-10
Bridgeton, NJ
clubs:

Re: I am not surprised

said by valuepac See Profile:

said by SpitefulCrow See Profile:

Wal-mart destroys local business and jobs and creates a bunch of underpaid jobs with no benefits or health insurance while at the same time providing horrible service and poor-quality products to the consumer.
Im sorry but what jobs is wal-mart distroying? As far as im concern, target, wal-mart, kmart.. All pay just above minimum wage. Same with most department/ mall stores: gap, jcpenny, sears, Barnes and noble, borders, tower music... Same with most food establishments. Mc Donald's, subway, Panera, starbucks,..

Basically all these organization pay less than $10 an hour to the majority of their employees. So stop blaming Wal-mart.. the blame can be spread around to just about any organization operating in a strip-mall

do you work for walmart? My wife works at sams club every full time position is being replaced there with part times jobs. When she was hired she was told she could have steady days off now her days off seem to change every week. She paid for her dental plain for over 2 years before she finally got her dental card. If she isnt carefull because of her hire date being late in the year if she isnt carefull and gets dosnt get her vacation request in fast she gets screwed out of her vacation because the last quater of the year is blacked out. She was looking at transferring to wallmart because its alout closer to us. At wallmart the front end supervisers they call cos's dont evem get paid any more then regular cashiers. Now at sams club they are pulling this shit that if sh dont sign up x amount of people for a wallmart credit card he will be fired. She was hired as a cashier not to sign people up for credit. When will big companys understand that customers hate being hounded every time they shop to get a new credit card

Zverina

join:2004-07-12
Brooklyn, NY
If the democrats would learn how to nominate a candidate worth a crap maybe we would have another choice.
we rather have a puppet for the corporate big-wigs as our president. i know, i know, it's all democrats fault.
Gilitar

join:2000-11-20
Mobile, AL

Re: I am not surprised

I'm not saying its the democrats fault. They just need to nominate a more moderate candidate. I for one would probably cross the party lines if they did.

ropeguru
Premium
join:2001-01-25
Hollywood, FL
clubs:

said by Gilitar See Profile:

If the democrats would learn how to nominate a candidate worth a crap maybe we would have another choice.
[sarcasm] You will have the best Democrat to vote for in the next election. Hillary will be running.[/sarcasm]

Why do you think they chose Kerry this time? It was because they new Hillary could not beat Bush, but they still want her up there. So they put up the crappiest possible candidate so that there was no way they could lose with Hillary in the next race.
--
FWD#: 223611

FTCXtreme

join:2005-03-14
New Braintree, MA

Re: I am not surprised

Hillary LMAO. John Kerry LMAO. John Edwards, is moderate he actualy knows what america needs. Bush= The biggest idiot but Kerry would suck worse. My only option= Nader 04 LMAO. Im thinking next election wil lbe Bob Doles fake ARM 08. JK. Mccain08!!!
Shoreline
Your Freedom Fries Are Stale

join:2003-09-29
Santa Clara, CA

Re: I am not surprised

said by FTCXtreme See Profile:

Hillary LMAO. John Kerry LMAO. John Edwards, is moderate he actualy knows what america needs. Bush= The biggest idiot but Kerry would suck worse. My only option= Nader 04 LMAO. Im thinking next election wil lbe Bob Doles fake ARM 08. JK. Mccain08!!!
You're actually cheering on politicians who plan on screwing you out of your rights and dollars? People try too hard these days to be posterchilds for the phrase "glutton for punishment".
timmylc

join:2005-01-15
Port Orchard, WA
danm........is this a politics discussion board?...

Zverina

join:2004-07-12
Brooklyn, NY
That's because Bush is a village idiot.

lm5449
Premium
join:2001-03-31
Knoxville, TN
·Comcast

Re: I am not surprised

said by Zverina See Profile:

That's because Bush is a village idiot.


Not to the majority that voted for him.:)

Kompressor
Premium
join:2002-02-12
Huntington Beach, CA

said by Pz_ See Profile:

said by ncredible:

I thank God for Bush and his common sense.
I'm not a very political person, but I don't think I've ever seen the words bush and common sense in the same sentence.
When have you seen 'Clinton' and 'common sense' in the same sentence?
tbeckner

join:2004-03-20
Bend, OR

Re: I am not surprised

said by Kompressor See Profile:

said by Pz_ See Profile:

said by ncredible:

I thank God for Bush and his common sense.
I'm not a very political person, but I don't think I've ever seen the words bush and common sense in the same sentence.
When have you seen 'Clinton' and 'common sense' in the same sentence?
BUSH is the AntiChrist of Common Sense.

History-101

@pacbell.n

Re: I am not surprised

You are entitled to your stupidity. We heard the same leftist propaganda B.S. about Reagan in the 1980s..."He's stupid, a simpleton, not compassionate, a right wing fanatic, a cowboy, a fake, a war monger, calling the communist Soviet Union an "Evil Empire" would ruin our fragile relationship with them, he will worsen the Cold War with the Soviet Union by building up our military, telling Gorbachev to "Tear down the East Berlin Wall" was lunacy ...blah...blah...blah!" For you to post the same incorrect, boring, politically leftist mantra we have been hearing for 25 years reveals something about your I.Q. level.
tbeckner

join:2004-03-20
Bend, OR


edit:
March 28th, @12:51AM

Re: I am not surprised

said by History-101:

You are entitled to your stupidity. We heard the same leftist propaganda B.S. about Reagan in the 1980s..."He's stupid, a simpleton, not compassionate, a right wing fanatic, a cowboy, a fake, a war monger, calling the communist Soviet Union an "Evil Empire" would ruin our fragile relationship with them, he will worsen the Cold War with the Soviet Union by building up our military, telling Gorbachev to "Tear down the East Berlin Wall" was lunacy ...blah...blah...blah!" For you to post the same incorrect, boring, politically leftist mantra we have been hearing for 25 years reveals something about your I.Q. level.
I am unsure who you are talking to, but it isn't me. I am not a PROGRESSIVE/LEFTIST. I am a moderate Republican, a Reagan Republican, a sad supported of Ross, and I am in Mensa, so I am not perfect, but not dumb either.

You might be getting a little too emotional to be responding.

History-101

@pacbell.n

Re: I am not surprised

I did not say "you" were stupid. I said that you are entitled to your "stupidity". It is my viewpoint that your statements regarding Bush are stupid and simply wrong. I correct my emotionally charged statement implying something about your I.Q. level by stating that I really cannot know your overall intelligence on other subjects. Neverless, although Bush bashing has become a popular sport among many people, I am offended when I hear the usual cheap shots against our popularly elected U.S. President. I also deserve a say in defending President Bush just as you have the right in this country to verbally bash him.

I am sorry if I offended you personally on a level outside this political topic. That was not my intent and I appreciate that you posted your views. It's just that that the hearing the same left wing crap for several decades and having that politically left mantra historically be wrong so many times has made some of us on the conservative side more than a little pissed off.

TScheisskopf
World News Trust

join:2005-02-13
Belvidere, NJ
Yesh, damn that Clinton for 8 years of a roaring economy, job creation and relative peace. Damn him, damn him, damn him.


See 11 replies to this post

zizis

@pacbell.n

What a crock of .... The best economic times of the last 50 years were the Clinton years. Big and small business were happy as clams raking in the money.

But you can thank God all you want, although I doubt the big man in interested in our economy.

See 7 replies to this post

JoeOnSunset
Doublethink Is Doubleplus Ungood.
Premium
join:2002-11-25
Ormond Beach, FL

Actually, states DO have the right to force businesses to do business a certain way and do all the time. The FCC was specifically given the right to overrule state regulations on communication matters. If they weren't, the states rules would remain in place. This has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the states have the "right" to regulate businesses.

r81984
Tough to beat.
Premium
join:2001-11-14
Morgan City, LA
·Cox HSI
·Insight Communicat..
·AT&T Midwest

" I thank God for Bush" = is what is wrong with america.

If there were not a bunch of religious people in our country Bush would not be president because he just took adavantage of religious people by pretending to be religious.

Church and state need to be separate especially because our country matters should not be based on religion lies.
PDXPLT

join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR

said by ncredible:

having seen what clinton did to all the businesses in America
Yea, I saw what Clinton did .. he presided over the greatest ecomonic expansion in the history of the country. His advisors, like Bob Rubin, steered us clear of the Asian economic crisis. He eliminated the budget deficit. And lots and lots of people got rich.

From an economic perspective, I really, really miss Clinton.

History-101

@pacbell.n

Re: I am not surprised

I wouldn't call Clinton's Y2K technology bubble and year 2000 recession a success. It was Clinton's federal policies and his failed oversight and that gave rise to "era of the rich" that created the bubble of corrupt fake wealth companies like ENRON, MCI-WORLDCOM, etc. along with all those thousands internet start-ups that stole peoples investments. Much of that wealth in the late 1990s was built on lies and cooking financial books. Bush inherited Clinton's tech bubble recession and has been trying to put integrity back into the American big business investment since he took office in 2001.
DirtyMic

join:2003-11-19
Pompano Beach, FL
Yeah try to start a small company making an O/S for home PCs. Then tell me how the whole big business thing is insane.

packetscan
Premium
join:2004-10-19
Bridgeport, CT
clubs:

edit:
March 26th, @02:05PM

my sig says it all

--Who do you want to pay off today?

damnthat

@optonline.net
Dam that Janet Jackson! She ruined DSL for all of us!

TheAutoDSL

@verizon.net

I find it funny the quoted used Honda as an example.

YOU CAN NOT GET A HONDA WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS OR MADE TO ORDER!

Honda forces items onto the consumer, ex. if you don't want a sunroof with your V6 and air bags TOO BAD. They don't even have packages.

Good for honda bad for the consumer!
Freezone

join:2000-09-29
Southfield, MI

Phone Co better offer it.

Or they will be shooting themselves in the foot. Hell infact just spin of the local service and watch it die the slow painfull death.
SanJoseNerd
Premium
join:2002-07-24
San Jose, CA

Re: Phone Co better offer it.

said by Freezone See Profile:
Phone Co better offer it or they will be shooting themselves in the foot.
They've had bulls-eyes painted on their feet for a long time now. We've seen many news articles about phone companies slowing or stopping deployments as a way to get legal or regulatory changes they want. But all they've accomplished is letting cable get farther ahead. They seem to believe that by withholding service and not giving the public what it wants, they'll win in the end. Makes you wonder just who is in charge of those companies, and whether they've ever heard of capitalism.
doppler

join:2003-03-31
Blue Point, NY

Another nail in DSL coffin

What a dumb decision.

Plain DSL, and no voice pricing will save DSL
from cable. Plain and simple.
damox
Premium
join:2002-01-07
Olympia, WA
·Comcast Formerly ..

Re: Another nail in DSL coffin

Why would that be a dumb decision? No the dumb decision is the decision by the Telco not to voluntarily offer "Naked DSL". If you owned a business (or maybe you do) would you like the government telling you what services you must offer? I know I certainly wouldn't.
--
DAMOX Proud to be a member of Team Discovery
KSC519

join:2002-03-14
Chicago, IL
·Lightning Bolt DSL
·Vonage

Re: Another nail in DSL coffin

The whole point is that they should give the consumers what they want. Its not an unreasonable request. But I'm hoping that at least one company will do the smart thing and dish out some dsl-only lines. Land-line phone service is ridiculously expensive. And its only a matter of time before it becomes a small blip on the map of available communications services. The phone companies need to move away from the 'screw the customer out of as much loot as possible' tactics that they've been employing for decades. Before I switched to VOIP, It was not uncommon for me to have a $130 monthly bill for calling places less than 20 miles away. I don't see any type of fair practices in that one.
damox
Premium
join:2002-01-07
Olympia, WA
·Comcast Formerly ..

Re: Another nail in DSL coffin

said by KSC519 See Profile:

The whole point is that they should give the consumers what they want. Its not an unreasonable request.
I agree, but I don't agree that they should be forced by the government to do so!

said by KSC519 See Profile:

But I'm hoping that at least one company will do the smart thing and dish out some dsl-only lines.
Some Telcos already do; mine does.

said by KSC519 See Profile:

Land-line phone service is ridiculously expensive. And its only a matter of time before it becomes a small blip on the map of available communications services.
I have Qwest. I think my land line service is fairly reasonable.

said by KSC519 See Profile:

The phone companies need to move away from the 'screw the customer out of as much loot as possible' tactics that they've been employing for decades.
I totally agree. The Telcos that don't will eventually become non-existent, but unfortunately that may take some time in certain areas of the country. Everyone may not agree with this, but I believe Qwest has made good headway in this area.
--
DAMOX Proud to be a member of Team Discovery

lawj
Premium
join:2004-07-31
Truro, NS

Capitalism

I don't see why a government should have the right to tell a private corporation how to sell it's products in a free-market economy.

See 14 replies to this post
happyvalley

join:2005-03-21

comparision

obviously, now, cable is getting cheaper (adelphia 30/month), more people will disconnect their land phones, and choose the package (cable + IP phone)

see the comparsion
1. verizon phone 20$ + DSL 30$ = 50$ ==> highspeed and local call.
long distance is not included here.

2. cable 30$ + VOIP (for example, broadvoice, 10$ for unlimited in-state, 20$ for unlimited any long-distance including many international call) == 40-50$ ==> highspeed and unlimited in-state/nation long distance

if a family makes longdistance more than 20$/month, will be interested in switching to second plan.

so not providing naked DSL is not helping traditional phone companies like verizon. probably it is a wise marketing strategy to provide naked DSL.

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

Re: comparision

said by happyvalley See Profile:

obviously, now, cable is getting cheaper (adelphia $30/month), more people will disconnect their land phones, and choose the package (cable + IP phone)

see the comparison
1. verizon phone $20 + DSL $30 = $50 ==> high speed and local call.
long distance is not included here.

2. cable $30 + VOIP (for example, broadvoice, $10 for unlimited in-state, $20 for unlimited any long-distance including many international call) == $40-$50 ==> high speed and unlimited in-state/nation long distance

if a family makes long distance more than $20/month, will be interested in switching to second plan.

so not providing naked DSL is not helping traditional phone companies like verizon. probably it is a wise marketing strategy to provide naked DSL.
Even though a lot of people would like Naked DSL or nearly naked DSL(w/email & newsgroups), Without Federal legislation I doubt It will happy anytime soon.

[Correction/Rant on]

Now the last time I looked when I was growing up the $ sign was supposed to go in front of the amount and not after It, Example: $50.00(The cent ¢ sign was supposed to go at the end of the amount of money), Unless You are advocating the abolition of the US Dollar which like abolishing the US Military will never happen as some dreamers would like.

[/Correction/Rant off]
--
Firefox forever!»mysite.verizon.net/zoom314/

Plasticman
Will Work For Bandwidth
Premium
join:2002-09-06
Harrisville, RI
clubs:
·Cox HSI
·Vonage

Thats Why

Thats why I am glad I have a cable modem and for my phone service a cell phone. But if the cable line goes down, I can still access the internet as my cell phone is bluetooth and linked to my computer to also work as a dial up modem....

Plasticman
--
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I cannot accept, and the wisdom to hide the bodies of those people I had to kill today because they pissed me off

ColdFiltered

join:2005-01-25
Atlanta, GA

A phone line is a phone line, I guess.

I suppose the FCC's interpretation of the infrastructure into the home and commonly known as the 'copper pair' is that it is a phone platform with additional services vs. a copper-pipe that can be used for more than just plain old telephone service.

To the benefit of the local PSCs and PUCs, this should insure protection in their getting tax revenue from POTS. I do not necessarily see them making more from tax revenue from broadband (or IPTV) than POTS within the next short-term period.