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  • From: "Jay Cuthrell" <jcuthrell AT neonova.net>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [internetworkers] DSL from BellSouth
  • Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 00:44:06 -0500

> -----Original Message-----
> From: internetworkers-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:internetworkers-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Steven
> Champeon
> Sent: Friday, February 06, 2004 10:04 PM
> To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [internetworkers] DSL from BellSouth
>
>
> on Fri, Feb 06, 2004 at 07:35:24PM -0500, trekkie AT nomorestars.com wrote:
> > Quoting Lyman Green <daerid AT io.com>:
> >
> > > Does this sound stupid? Is there some technical aspect to this I'm
> > > missing or does this sound like typical phone company BS (so
> to speak)?
> >
> > My Dad works for Southwestern Bell in Lawrence, KS. he manages the main
> > switches for most of the cities in the NE and I asked him about
> this once.
> >
> > He said (at the time, this was about 3 years ago) that there
> were two things
> > they needed to do to make DSL work for them. The first was
> that in order for
> > basic service on DSL to work the switch had to activate a port
> with basic dial
> > tone, IE E911, etc like you have.
> >
> > And I can't remember the second one now that I started typing. There
> > was something about the way service was provided that needed something
> > going across or near where the termination points were and it turned
> > on phone access.
>
> It has to be a clear channel within 18K ft of a central office (where
> the switches are kept) for high-speed DSL; many things can interfere
> with that channel, though, such as "bridge taps" and other patches done
> to the lines. We can't get DSL in Oakwood (at least, not where we are)
> because there are too many bridge taps between us and the CO.

Exactly. You gotta have a clear shot for garden variety RBOC class DSL.

This is the way many -large- RBOCs handle technology that is delivered to
the mass market. If it is too complex or it deviates from the blessed way
of doing something... the process falls apart and you become the area they
mean when they say "service not available in all areas".

It's easier for the RBOC to make a bundle (that is created by default) that
gives them the best high margin collection of services for you the
subscriber. Will you ever use call return forward dialing weekend minutes?
Doesn't matter to them. You just end up paying $2.50 more per month for
something they know you will never use.

The RBOC maintains that they have to have a standard way of doing things so
that a customer service rep or an order can be completed in a timely manner
so that you, the subscriber, doesn't write the Public Utility Commission and
complain that it took 4 weeks to turn up a service.

Oh wait, that still happens.
:)

And as bundles go, RBOC class DSL is right up there at the top of the list.

There is absolutely -no- technical basis for the assertion that a digital
subscriber loop (DSL) requires you to have a phone number and/or dial tone.
Well, unless you consider the fixed field order entry form that a customer
service rep fills out to start your service as being technical. ;-)

When I've shown off DSL at trade shows there was no dial tone or notion of a
phone number on the phone line. In most cases, I'm just extending Ethernet.
It goes like this:

Internet -> Ethernet -> DSLAM -> Plain Old Copper Wires -> DSL Modem ->
Ethernet -> PC

Could I add dial tone and voice service? Of course. Do I have to? No.

So, the subscribers are being forced^H^H^H *ahem* bundled into paying for a
phone service you won't use to get DSL from BellSouth. I've heard rumors
that RBOCs in some states have to un-bundle voice/Internet. That's not
something they advertise on their websites in plain view most likely. I
haven't looked so don't quote me. But, if you are in an area where you
wedge up against two RBOC or a CLEC that offers Internet DSL you could get
RBOC Internet tied to a CLEC phone service or CLEC Internet tied to the RBOC
phone service.

The minute you move away from an RBOC, everything can change. RBOC plants
are about density and meeting massive demands. So, it isn't a shock that
they try to keep everyone moving in the same direction and hope that nobody
stops to question it.

-Jay

P.S. I pay a BellSouth phone bill and I've had almost every residential
Internet service they have offered in the past 10 years... did this sound
like a rant?





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