Service providers double-dipping, etc, etc

[electricfox]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020601624.html

This has been floating around for awhile, but it seems that evil Verizon is getting more insistant about charging content providers like Google and Yahoo for "use" of "their" lines. In other words, in addition to the arm and a leg you and I donate to them each month for service, they'll be requesting an additional sum from the content providers you visit.

This comes soon after the talk from AT&T encouraging lawmakers to allow them to give bandwidth priority for their own pay services:
http://politics.slashdot.org/article...5/12/13/185206

And let's not forget AOL/Yahoo's hoping for money for incoming e-mail (http://forum.vortechhosting.com/show...8480#post98480) nor Comcast and the ilks' threatening to turn the internet into a tiered system, where certain web sites (not their own) would be considered part of the "premium" internet and thus inaccessible to those who don't pay enough.

All within the last three months. What's happening to our internet that is suddenly making all the providers so greedy/scared/evil? Should bandwidth providers even be allowed to also serve content? Isn't this like mixing church and state?

Is it just a sign of the times, with no government oversight and big businesses roaming the land? Or is it that there is a real fear of something in the future - perhaps, as I hope, google is indeed closer to building their free wifi system? http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/12/1520250

What are your thoughts?

[DigitalSkyline]

Are they scared (I don't know maybe)? Its a money grab while they can still play the cards they hold (same with the oil companies). When Web 2.0 becomes reality and there are real broadband options out there... these guys are going to fall just like the telecoms that have been burned by cell phones and even more now by VoIP.

They are dinosaurs and too slow to change... they can't compete with free obviously (I really don't expect free though). I have no brand loyalty to these companies... If I can get t3 speeds from say my electric company (or Google) for less then the bandwidth-throttled garbage the cable companies are pushing... well you know how that is going to go. Especially if you've ever had the misfortune of dealing with their non-existent support... and they think people will be loyal to them... they treat their customers as cash cows nothing more.

why would I pay $60 for 5mb/700k if someone is going to give you 10mb/10mb with no restrictions for $20/mo.

These guys are ALL jealous of Google because of how easily they are raking in the cash. What makes them think anyone WANTS anything from them but the bandwidth we pay for? If companies can't continuously improve what they offer they WILL fail... that simple.

I have Wide Open West here... when I first got them, I paid something like $50/mo for unlimited bandwidth... now they split it up in to different plans... from $20-$60 with different speeds, but nowhere near what they used to offer and for cheaper. So its an easy thought process... as soon as a cheaper and better alternative is available I will switch. They can not think that what they are doing is making anyone happy. They charge for upgrading to digital, then to digital with HD, then to DVR.... why has bandwidth not gotten better with time... why don't they invest in to some compression technologies or whatever they need to do to stay relevant? Who knows.

This so-call broadband is not the 6MB/6MB I got way back when I first got cable internet... its now crap. They have not improved, but they raised their prices? I don't know who will be the company to take advantage of this... but they will eventually, and all this extra money these companies are pumping out of us will go to a more deserving company.

[Scientifik]

Its no secret that Google has been buying tons of dark fiber thats crisscrossing the countryI would imagine they could use this as some form of leverage against what the top tier service providers might be trying to do. In the FCC's infinite wisdom they refuse to crack down on larger ISP's (SBC/AT&T, Verizon, Bell South etc..) capping bandwith and offering naked DSL. I'm sure many of you also know that our friends in South Korea, Japan and many parts of Europe are getting download speeds welll into the M/Bit range so until there is some kind of major policy change we're at the mercy of top tier providers

[mresell]

I think it is the same old thing. However, there are more players and less to go around. In all honesty I can't say it's all greed. It is expensive in us to do business and people consumers don't or can't pay. They would rather pay someone in India to do it who doesn't have near the cost of living we do, sorry, but true. I would like them to go after customers that want their service and can't get it instead tho. I do have concerns over google, as well. The FCC is a mess here.

[dpyers]

Doesn't matter what google wants to offer. That last mile or two to your house is still over telco equipment and through their CO. Bandwidth caps are driven by CO capacuty.
CO capacity is driven by public utilities comissions in each state who need to approve the expenditure and corresponding rate increase. Complaining about badwidth to the telco is futile. You have to complain to your state puc and put some backbone in them.

EDIT: Wifi and radio channels fall into a similar situation... only so many to go around and the usage has to fit within those channels - more users, less speed per user. FCC controls the those channels though, not the states.

[Scientifik]

Well its clear larger telco's don't give a rats ass about customers, I wish I had the time to go through the fiasco that SBC had going on at my mom's house when she tried to get DSL going over there. (6 techs in 5 days) There is just too much beauracracy for any kind of major change to come about. As far as last mile solutions I think you're best off going with a regional provider. Currently I'm with SBC and they are such a lumbering beast when it comes to any kind of changes it takes almost a week for them to do anything.

Don't even think about calling customer serivce, regardless of being transfered to someone in Mumbai or Cletusville you still end up talking to someone who just parrots back lines like "I'm more than happy to help" and "Your problem becomes our problem" its all BS and its insulting. So now major telco's and ISP's have just taken it to the next level, instead of only treating their residential and small business customers like garbage they're going to stick it to enterprise level clients.

[dpyers]

broadbandreports.com is pretty good for dsl problems for almost any provider. They have some good sbc techs there who don't mind doing whatever it takes.

[Scientifik]

I'm not talking about configuration type problems, trust me if I'm going to put myself through the living hell that is SBC phone support it is because there is a physical problem with the line (like at my moms) that needs to be repaired or a malfunctioning modem (at my house a few months back) that needs to be replaced.

However broadbandreports is a fantastic site for any kind of internet connectivity issues and information.