> [TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: This suggestion by SBC that they may
> lower their DSL rates is all well and good, but can they be trusted
> to actually hold to the new rates and not do some gimmicks with a
> few months of lower prices then dramatic increases a few months
> later? My past experiences with SBC have not been at all favorable.
> They give you a lot of double-talk and their bills are _very_
> confusing with all the added fees they put in. I'll probably just
> stick with cable which has always worked out very well. PAT]
You may very well be right Pat. Also, SBC offers minimum bandwith for the
minimum price. I am in an SBC area in California also served by Cox
Cable. Sure, Cox charges $35 a month for broadband cable, but for
bandwith that SBC probably can't even deliver to most residential
customers via DSL. And, where facilities will permit that kind of
bandwidth with DSL, the price would be far higher than $35.
[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Plus which, when I first went to cable
instead of SBC DSL, I had it turned on and running in 20 minutes. It
took me five minutes to get to the CableOne office downtown in a cab,
five minutes of talking to the lady (she typed on her computer and
turned on my internet; I already have their cable TV) and five to ten
minutes waiting for the cab to pick me up and get back home. I assumed
it would take a few days or whatever, but the lady in the office said
'internet will be up and active when you get back home', and it was.
There was a time we here in Independence got the same service from
Southwestern Bell. At the central office on the corner of 6th and
Maple, on the first floor there were two cashiers plus a service rep
on duty; you could walk in to talk to them, pay your bill, and get
whatever changes you needed on your line. You told the rep what you
wanted to do, she _actually understood what you wanted_ and would
call upstairs to the guy in the frames and have the work done. Then
one day, the rep disappeared and was replaced by a speed dial phone
and a little counter to stand at while you were talking on the phone
to Fort Worth or wherever. Then a couple months after that, the
cashiers also disappeared and a note on the door said to use the phone
located there to call customer service. Then one day, that phone was
taken away also. If that's how they wish to run things, that's their
business, but I like at least some modicum of personal service, which
I recieve from Prairie Stream and CableOne, both of whom have a
presence right here in town, easy to walk to and deal with. PAT]
Tim@Backhome.org