On Wed, 2005-05-11 at 12:43 -0600, Shaun Bryant wrote:
I have to second this one, having used Comcast and qwest. I look for the small guy, they have something to loss if I drop them and switch. I also like that I can drive down to there office and sit on someone's desk if I am not getting the service I want.
OK, I agree with sitting on someone's desk when needed as well as rooting for the small guy. But what happens when <insert_any_ilec> gobbles up all the small "competitors"? We will be back at square one having 256K competing against 5MB (dollar for dollar) in large territories. What incentive is there, at that point, for <insert_any_ilec> to continue rolling out inferior DSL service in areas where big-cable already has coverage? It is true that there are areas where DSL can compete, but that technology is not increasing fast enough to trump cable. Therefore <insert_any_ilec> is spending their research money elsewhere (i.e. wireless). -Jim P.