 ricep5
Premium
join:2000-08-07
Jacksonville, FL | Spank them only when they sin "encouraged lawmakers to enhance consumer protection provisions next year,"
In other words, lets see how they abuse the law or find loopholes and then close them afterward. | |
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supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL | Re: Spank them only when they sin It looks like Jeb Bush's Big Business First Policy is still working! | |
| | | lesopp
join:2001-06-27
Land O Lakes, FL | Re: Spank them only when they sin Not if you consider the fact the Gov said no to the insurance industry trying to implement a catastrophe prediction model based on a five year average verses the historical average. | |
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supergirl
join:2007-03-20
Pensacola, FL | Re: Spank them only when they sin If Florida Government people, mostly Crist, didn't stand up to insurance companies, they'd be lynched.
Crist put a lot of crooks out of business when he found they were price-gouging after a hurricane. | |
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dodgetech2
join:2002-01-01
Gouldsboro, PA
 ·Vonage
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by TK Junk Mail  : The days of every little whistle stop town and hamlet forcing months long negotiations and special little side deals is over. And good riddance. For sure...and they will no doubt be replaced with deals that only benefit the mega corps..Its about time they were allowed to run these little town over like they didn't exist..After all, who wants a small number of people to stand in the way of big business......No doubt they know whats good for the town much more than its residents. | |
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Spraller
@rr.com | Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon Cherry picking .... sounds good. I will just go back outside boycott their products. | |
| | | | | RJ44
join:2001-10-19
Atlanta, GA
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by Spraller :
Cherry picking .... sounds good. I will just go back outside boycott their products.
I have a better idea. Let's not pass the franchise reform laws and instead of what you call cherry picking, there will be no competition at all because the telcos won't be bothered to try and fight every little town or county for a franchise.
Hey...then you won't even have to boycott because they won't be there anyway! | |
| | | | | | | | | BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| said by dodgetech2 :said by TK Junk Mail : The days of every little whistle stop town and hamlet forcing months long negotiations and special little side deals is over. And good riddance. For sure...and they will no doubt be replaced with deals that only benefit the mega corps..Its about time they were allowed to run these little town over like they didn't exist..After all, who wants a small number of people to stand in the way of big business......No doubt they know whats good for the town much more than its residents. To be honest I live in a small town and the ignorant inbred rednecks her can't run crap. So the idea of giving the power of franchise agreements to someone else isn't so bad. I wish other things like running local governemnt could be given to someone else. Maybe thigns would actually get done in my area. They think getting a new fast food place once every 6-8 years is doing something. | |
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jaxdomino
join:2001-12-01
Jacksonville, FL
·Axvoice
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon Maybe you should move to a bigger town/city. Small towns are notorious for what you are living through. In most of Florida, the franchise agreements cover the county, not just the small towns in the in the county. Jacksonville is unique in that the county and the city government are one in the same. The beaches have their own government and services, but they still fall under the county. | |
| | | | | BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by jaxdomino :Maybe you should move to a bigger town/city. Small towns are notorious for what you are living through. In most of Florida, the franchise agreements cover the county, not just the small towns in the in the county. My whole county is less than 17,000. Doesn't matter.
said by openbox9 :You could always run for a position in your local government and drive the change that you seek  Where I live if you're not born raised here you are an outsider. Doesn't matter how long you have lived here. And if you are an "outsider" you will not be elected. | |
| | | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Navarre, FL | You could always run for a position in your local government and drive the change that you seek | |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
| said by dodgetech2 : ... benefit the mega corps ... Mega corps?
--Mega corps?
Dude... it is just so uncool when you say it. Only karlmarx can pull that one off.
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Only SHATNER is Kirk. | |
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dodgetech2
join:2002-01-01
Gouldsboro, PA
·Vonage
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by pnh102 :said by dodgetech2 : ... benefit the mega corps ... Mega corps? --Mega corps? Dude... it is just so uncool when you say it. Only karlmarx can pull that one off. I must be missing the joke.... I don't know any Karlmax... | |
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dodgetech2
join:2002-01-01
Gouldsboro, PA
·Vonage
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by TK Junk Mail :said by dodgetech2 :I must be missing the joke.... I don't know any Karlmax... The referral is to this BBR user: » /useremail/u/1394754He uses the phrase "megacorps" about 10 times in every post. » /postlist/1394···thin&p=1 Ah.. Well it was purely coincidental..:) | |
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jaxdomino
join:2001-12-01
Jacksonville, FL
·Axvoice
| I won't even say what I want to, because I don't want take this important issue down with it, but that wasn't the smartest comment I have ever heard. Franchise agreements work, because they put the power in the hands of the people. Here in Jacksonville, we had HORRIBLE service from MediaOne, AT&T|Broadband and when Comcast was coming to town, we finally said enough was enough. The state NEVER once said dang the good people of Jax are getting screwed with 45 minute wait times, just to get the FIRST person on the line. We now have excellent service from Comcast. Is it perfect, no, but it's better than it would have been without a county franchise agreement on file. Look, I support the fact that the RBOCS want to get into TV and get in fast, but I don't like what they are doing. I think we should have given them a statewide franchise for this year. If you don't build out in this one year, you will subject to normal franchise agreements and processes. That would have put the onus on them to get it done and get it done fast. They may have even gone into cities or areas where they had no plans before. Now that's benefiting the consumer. If legislatures got the F out of the pockets of lobbies and big business, we might actually get somewhere as a country. | |
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joako
Premium
join:2000-09-07
Gainesville, FL
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon What does the government have to do with the hold times when you call the cable company? Whats next you want regulation that limits the hold times of any business? Thats something the free market should regulate for itself. If the barrier to entry had been removed someone could have stepped in and offered a better service. Don't like your cableco, gov't wont fix it, but you might like the competition better. If you dont like that there are plenty of socialist countries you can move to.
While I'm busy disagreeing with you, I must also add Dutch Masters > Swisher.
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Am Heimcomputer sitz' ich hier, und programmier' die Zukunft mir | |
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Phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Jacksonville, FL
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
edit:
May 21st, @08:08AM
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon What jaxdomino was referring to with the 45 minute hold times was about 5 years ago, when Comcast was AT&T Broadband, and the poor service from both the long wait times, and field support, prompted a local news station to do a "whistleblower" report on the cable company, and also caused the city to threaten to "pull the plug" on the cable company, literally... Back in those days, part of the horrible hold times, by the way, was due to fact that the Jacksonville customer service reps were taking calls for all of South Florida too, which was poorly designed, with pieces of equipment in places that were prone to flood, meaning if it rained, there was an outage. South Florida was AT&T's baby, because they had less customers in Jacksonville then they did there. As for Jacksonville, I can say there were about 240,000 customers back then, and there is now well over a million. There were many outages, and about 200 calls in queue on average. People would wait on hold for 45 minutes just to say rude things like "you suck", and hang up. Or they would wait the 45 minutes, just to complain about the 45 minute wait, and hang up (like 30 of those a day, multiplied by 100 people, and you've got a bunch of wasted calls). Now-a-days, on a bad day, we might see an average of 30 calls (edit: in queue at one time), and I haven't had a queue that bad in many many months. Part of the new franchise agreement with Comcast and the city (at the time of the aquisition) were to adhere to the NTCA standards on trouble calls, and hold times, as well as turn around times for cable outalls (no TV, phone, or internet). Comcast in the first month of aquisition, held their stats, and has continued to keep it well under control. Not only that, but when the aquisition took place, only 60% of Jacksonville was wired with two-way cable, meaning no HSI, or Telephony, OR PPV (without a phone line connected to the box). Within a year and a half, that was not the case, and over 90% was two-way, with the remaining 10% converted to two-way the following year. Video on Demand was launched within the first year, and HD about 4 months after. Now, this call center takes Jacksonville, Charleston, Savannah, augusta, St. Augustine, Palatka, St. Marys, Interlachen, Yulee, and Brunswick. In emergency situations we have also handled south Florida, like during hurricanes. The point is, all while keeping the local governments happy, and maintaining low churn rates, etc... AT&T Broadband was so horrible, people laugh at the billboards when they see them, and have called Comcast to cancel service with AT&T because many say "I'm not about to go thru the service they give". But oh well, all I can say is I live it everyday, and I know what they went thru, so I understand the bitter feelings, because I had them too. I had to take the abuse of that company. People were pissed, and were rightfully so. You can call me a fanboy, but you'd be one too if you dealt with the same things I have, and seen the difference. Not to mention I previously took calls for SBC, who is now AT&T (duh), and was only there 1 year before I said "I'm done with this". I've happily been at Comcast for 5 years, and though I have dealt with hard times, none compared to the crap SBC does, like outsource their ADSL management to ASI. | |
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bpx
join:2003-01-25
Saint Augustine, FL
 ·Comcast
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon Phattieg, I remember those days well! I hated everything about AT&T broadband, and even worse when it was media one. It was a good day for Jacksonville when the city shut them down. I guess we can bitch about our cable bill being high every month, but my service rarely goes down, maybe once a year. Oh yeah, the customer service is a helluva lot better now too. You get what you pay for, I would not be wanting to pay for satellite and only get their "HD lite".
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Nice guys finish last. | |
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fiber_man
Things Happen For A Reason
Premium
join:2001-01-27
Port Saint Lucie, FL
| Good luck trying to revamp a network and cover everybody in one year. Get real. The manufacturers can't keep up now with the Vrad's and that is just the start of it. Cities and towns still have to approve to permits and everything else that go with the Vrad's.
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GO NOLES!! | |
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anon9382
@rr.com
| FCC and government are all in co hoots with ATT scratching each others back , working together to keep the poor poorer and the rich richer. They won't give you DSL huh? Now they won't compete and give you TV access. Surprised? Not really no anti-trust here just plain old back scratching.
What dumb asses. | |
| | | soothsayer15
join:2002-03-01
Irving, TX
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by anon9382 :
FCC and government are all in co hoots with ATT scratching each others back , working together to keep the poor poorer and the rich richer. They won't give you DSL huh? Now they won't compete and give you TV access. Surprised? Not really no anti-trust here just plain old back scratching.
What dumb asses.
Typical BBR user response. People here seem to think poor means them. If you have broadband, you are not the "poor" being referred to. Some people here think anyone living in a $150-$300K home is "rich". They also think that if they live in a neighborhood with cheaper houses or apartments a corporation views them as poor which shows their ignorance of big business. It comes down to profitable and non-profitable. I invest in stocks and I would sell my shares in a second if a company said it put money into a project that would lose money and not show a profit. It's a stupid business plan.
You show you have almost no clue of how our capitalist system operates. Yes, there are a few rich investors in every major corporations, but most of the evil investors you speak of are employees, retirees, people saving for their children's college fund and other people trying to earn a decent return on money they've earned by working. | |
| | | | bmn
? ? ?
Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus
·Packet8
·Cox HSI
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by soothsayer15 :It comes down to profitable and non-profitable. I invest in stocks and I would sell my shares in a second if a company said it put money into a project that would lose money and not show a profit. It's a stupid business plan. Problem is that these companies are not telling the whole truth. The projects to build these networks out wouldn't be profitable everywhere ONLY in the short term. In the long term, they will return a profit, especially as new services (VoD, etc.) are enabled. And the problem is because most investor are morons and look to get a short term result. Verizon is the only ILEC with a clue because it is taking the hit on the books, but assuring that it will be both profitable and relevant in the future. ATT and Qwest, on the other, are working to be ONLY profitable now, relevance ten years from now be damned.
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Prove it... | |
| | | | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Navarre, FL
·AT&T Southeast
·Mediacom
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by bmn :Verizon is the only ILEC with a clue because it is taking the hit on the books, but assuring that it will be both profitable and relevant in the future. So Verizon is building out everywhere and not picking profitable areas to build first? AT&T is building out infrastructure in a similar manner to Verizon. Yes, they chose a lower-cost infrastructure option, but they are still building and deploying new services to select customers just like Verizon. | |
| | | | | | bmn
? ? ?
Premium,ExMod 2003-06
join:2001-03-15
hiatus
·Packet8
·Cox HSI
| Re: Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon said by openbox9 :So Verizon is building out everywhere and not picking profitable areas to build first? They may be building in profitable areas first, but the long term plan seems to build an all fibre network in all areas because there are other advantages to having an all fibre network beside new revenue sources.
ATT and the other providers seem to be committed to half hearted deployments both in technology and scope.
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Prove it... | |
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Michieru
zzz zzz zzz
Premium
join:2005-01-28
Miami, FL
·Speakeasy
| . They want to cherry pick, let them go ahead, it's their network.
Now, let someone else pick up where they left off and cover those who are not, sometimes instead of seeing the bad side of things think of the positive.
I for one welcome those mom and pop ISPs.
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Duct tape, saving lives since 1942. | |
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Surfinusa
Premium
join:2001-02-08 | Time Only time will tell if this works out or not. | |
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John T
@verizon.net
| Why regulate now? Not only are most communities already served by an incumbent monopoly provider, it's not like putting in FIOS is even profitable for Verizon right now, even with cherry picking the wealthy areas.
I don't have a real problem with having different rules for new technologies and upstarts than for the monopoly incumbents. The phone companies should have looser rules for TV competition-- though I believe that they should be forced to open up the legacy phone network more. I completely understand and agree with opening the old network up to ILECs and competitive DSL and all that, but applying that logic to a brand new network that's a massive capital expenditure and causing them a short term loss seems counterproductive.
At the same time, I don't see how the old, local franchise system prevents cherry-picking. The carrier can just sign franchise agreements with some local governments but not all. The old system does absolutely nothing to prevent cherry-picking against rural locations. A lot of the tiny incumbent phone carriers out there exist because Ma Bell cherry-picked and avoided rural locations. And yet they got service eventually. That's why, e.g., Verizon has an island of service in Durham, NC in the middle of Bell South country-- Durham wasn't part of the Bell System and got its phone from Verizon's ancestor GTE. The argument I suppose is that this will encourage cherry-picking within a local government unit, and thus could be bad for poor areas within urban areas.
The normal process is to wait until a utility like fiber is actually profitable until forcing universal service. You have to have profits (especially monopoly profits) somewhere on the service in order to spend on money-losing areas. Otherwise it becomes unprofitable for Verizon to invest in FIOS. It's dumb to make fiber even more unprofitable in the short term and then wonder why it isn't being built out faster.
People always talk about the US broadband "rank" versus other countries. Well, in most European countries they aggressively open up the incumbent phone network to competitive DSL, but new networks like fiber are not regulated. These both give incentives to build new networks. (Anyone familiar with France or Japan knows that the fiber networks there definitely have cherry-picked.) | |
| BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| Cherry picking already exists That's a red herring.
Ok in my county on the city of Camden gets Charter cable, Big Sandy and Eva get Benton County Cable and the rest of the county doesn't have ANY cable options. Why is that? because somewhere down the line when the cable was originally laid and when upgrades where made the cable companies decide that those rural area were not profitable enough to justify the cost of providing service. It's not like it technically impossible for a cable company to provide countywide service if it wanted to. Even those areas that have cable weren't deemed worthy enough to acquire by Charter so they are stuck with crappy Benton County Cable. Is that not cherry picking?
Look at your own community. Are there areas that have cable and some not? Why? Because the cable companies cherry picked the areas where they could make money. And that has been done for 30 years. | |
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Florida Passes 'Franchise Reform'
Florida the latest to join statewide franchise bandwagon