OR.... You have to be the RBOC. Or subservient to same.
People keep asking me "Why is Hell Titanic so hot on xDSL and so cold on ISDN?" and this is the reason; with ISDN, you control who you talk to, with xDSL, THEY do.
Bell Atlantic has a much bigger project in the works then what has been announced by the other 5 RBOCs - they are ahead of the game, announcements probably this summer across the entire footprint (Maine to VA) - it will be based on the current trials which are very fair to the ISP's.
"Hey Ms. ISP, want to compete against bellatlantic.net's offering? Rent xDSL connections from us. Period."
There are some problems with the trial model in the sales cycle, all calls go to a BA center where the salesperons reveal all details such as "provider X has Y bandwidth, provider BA has Y*5 bandwidth, im neutral but if it was me (and my commisions) I'd go with BA". The numbers bear it out, BA has the lions share of the beta customers. Stb