Doesn't this have more to do with the philosophy of the company providing service than the technology being deployed (DSL)? Maybe the problem is that DSL tends to involve LEC people who are infected with the obsolete lazy-monopoly attitude of the incumbents.

Hey! I used to work for a LEC in the Frozen East! I take absolutely no offense to the above comment :-) ! Regards, Julian

In any case, are there unique operational challenges posed by DSL that are causing some of these problems? Is there anything we can do as a community to address them (or encourage the people who need to address them, to do so)?

Maybe this discussion could evolve into something a little more useful than "my DSL provider sucks"..."me too", since there seems to be a lot of interest (or at least a lot of unhappy voices)..