Slashdot Mirror


Verizon: FiOS Access For Other ISPs in the Works

Ant writes "According to Broadband Reports' story, 'Verizon has confirmed the claim made by a DSLExtreme representative here last week that the company has plans to offer other ISPs access to its new fiber-to-the-premises network.' A Verizon spokeswoman is quoted as saying, 'A couple of deals have already been signed and more are in the works.'"

86 of 132 comments (clear)

  1. The two ISPs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    AOL and MSN.

    1. Re:The two ISPs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Not so...I work for a local ISP here in Tampa and we're already advertising and selling the service to customers in the areas that qualify.

  2. Hmmm... by elid · · Score: 3, Insightful

    But how long will it be until widespread access becomes available?

    1. Re:Hmmm... by nukem996 · · Score: 1

      Yes how long? I live in the NYC area with a verizon building less then a mile away and still I cannt get fiber. Anyone have any idea how long till fiber hits the NYC area?

    2. Re:Hmmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Anyone have any idea how long till fiber hits the NYC area?

      Hmm, I would say it won't happen until they are unable to squeeze money out of their customers using the existing infrastructure (copper).

  3. competition is good by gcnaddict · · Score: 3, Informative

    this will help other ISPs, and it will keep costs down thanks to competition. thank god

    --
    Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
    1. Re:competition is good by jjeffries · · Score: 4, Informative

      Maybe. Not if it's anything like their wholesale DSL plan, where they sell you, a wholesaling ISP, a port for $30--while they are retailing it for $35! This does not include any backhaul from the Verizon CO, and don't forget about Internet bandwidth charges on top of that--and you'll get to pay Verizon again for carring it back out to your upstream carrier...

      I'm not sure that too many/any other ISPs will be able to make this a workable business model.

  4. Nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's always nice to see open networks. They do come at a price, but it's pretty fair to build a business around. I have seen those Verizon Guys in front of my house hooking up the fiber. They told me it will be a couple of months until I can get the net with the fiber, but it's coming. I just hope I can use the upstream to host my web sites. I hate paying for hosts and all that just to have a presence on the web. Unfortunately the residential service my current Cable Modem provider offers doesn't allow any servers being exposed to the public. I mean it's great having an intranet at home, but with all the money I spend they could have at least let me setup a web server and open that up. It's only a personal site so I don't know what the big deal is really. I can see if it was commercial, but man they are rough.

    So when they transfer everyone to digital (10 years or so) then maybe their bandwith will free up. For the future the Verizon solution looks like a good deal they already offer 30mbps down and 5mbps up for a reasonable price.

    1. Re:Nice by Saeed+al-Sahaf · · Score: 3, Insightful
      It's always nice to see open networks.

      What makes you think Verizon is building an "open" network? They have made business deals with a few other ISPs, and mabe more in the future. It's a business deal with the purpose of generating income for Verizon, and it is at Verizon's whim (as it should be) as to who they make these business deals with.

      It is not an open network>

      --
      "Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
    2. Re:Nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Unfortunately the residential service my current Cable Modem provider offers doesn't allow any servers being exposed to the public.

      The can't block every port. Run your web server on a port other than 80, then get a free no-ip address to redirect. Thats what I do :)

    3. Re:Nice by That's+Unpossible! · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is not an open network

      It is not open or closed. It is a network that Verizon is building, and in the sense that they are letting other businesses provide service over it for a fee, it is open, and in the sense that they aren't letting businesses provide service over it for free, it is closed.

      But I think everyone knew what he meant by "open."

      --
      Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
    4. Re:Nice by wdd1040 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      dude...

      I pay $10 a YEAR for webhosting on a 100meg connection.

      2.4gig space with 120 GIG a month bandwidth.

      You just need to look around. There is no reason to run the sites out of your house anymore.

      --
      wdd
    5. Re:Nice by rekenner · · Score: 3, Interesting

      But the point is, why pay that $120 a month when you can have as much space as you want and many many times that in bandwidth (If you were running at the theoretical max of 2 MBps per second (250 KBps max theoretical, probably ending up at around 200 KBps), I get ~5184 Gb a month, or 648 GB a month (Note, please don't be vague on bit or byte))?

      How often do you think that 100 meg (bit, probably) connection is going to be maxed out? Likely never.

      With the sort of connection mentioned in grandparent, the only time you would have an issue with speedy connection is 6-7+ downloaders (Bringing each one down to about today's max for residential DSL upload) or a few hundred surfers.

      For a smell site, the former situation is maybe likely (But, again, the download speed each will get is still respectable) but the latter situation is not likely. So... Why pay the $120?

    6. Re:Nice by CyberDave · · Score: 5, Interesting

      How often do you think that 100 meg (bit, probably) connection is going to be maxed out? Likely never.

      Hahahaha. Verizon isn't planning on just serving up high-speed Internet with their Fiber-to-the-whatever rollouts.

      They're also planning on things like television and video-on-demand. At 4-6 Mbps (IIRC) per channel, you'll use up that network capacity very quickly. (I won't go into the details of how you multicast that much data to the set-top boxes.)

      I saw a presentation recently on passive optical networks, which IIRC is what Verizon is using for their rollout (or it might be another RBOC, I can't quite remember at the moment, and my notes from the presentatio aren't handy). For a gigabit PON, you've got one gigabit per second available, total, for all subscribers connected to that passive network (anywhere from 2 to 64, depending on the number of optical splitters installed). In addition, you have very limited upstream bandwidth.

      I'd much rather see Verizon and the other RBOCs deliver Gig-E straight to my home using active optical networks--Fiber to the home, not fiber to the premises or fiber to the curb. Something like what Provo, UT, is doing with their iProvo project http://www.iprovo.net/. I saw a presentation from World Wide Packets (the equipment vendor) on that a couple weeks ago, and it's very impressive. Almost makes me want to move to Provo.

    7. Re:Nice by DarkVader · · Score: 1

      And don't forget to require people to register all typewriters and printers, it wouldn't be a great idea to let people print anything without some control in place.

      We've got to limit that junk mail after all. /sarcasm

      It's no different. You're asking for a police state, just so you don't have to spend so much time cleaning out your inbox.

    8. Re:Nice by rekenner · · Score: 1

      Wrong 100 meg reference.
      I was refering to his web host.
      So, while all that you posted might be right, it doesn't really affect what I was going off of.

    9. Re:Nice by rekenner · · Score: 1

      Damnit.
      His, as in the person who posted about his web host.
      Not his, as in the guy who wants to run a server off of FttP.

    10. Re:Nice by Wordsmith · · Score: 1

      They can't block every port, but they CAN terminate your service for violating the TOS. Most small web/mail/etc servers are under the radar, but if you start generating a lot of traffic, I wouldn't be surprised to see them shut down the connection.

    11. Re:Nice by DarkVader · · Score: 1

      And who is to make the decision as to when a user is to be trusted with bandwidth? You? The government? The ISP?

      I'm afraid that anybody given the power to make such decisions is going to start making them on the basis of content, and I don't think a free society should go there.

  5. It only makes sense for them to do this by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If they don't, then people will just implement other technologies that allow them to make an end run around verizon. That may yet happen, especially if verizon is as helpful to the ISPs who buy into this as SBC is to the other companies selling DSL on SBC copper, or for that matter to the ISPs selling dialup lines using SBC's modems.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  6. FiOS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative
    FiOS is available in my area, for a cheap $44.95 (15mbps down/2mbps up) with an "approved" calling plan (49.95 otherwise)... I currently have 4mbps down/512kbps up with my cable co (cox). I was wondering if anyone in the Washington DC area has tried out this service. I would much prefer the FiOS if the installation is rather painless. The phone wiring _sucks_ in my house, the current phone wires are shorted out, and I have to connect my phone through a window. Do they do a full internal installation, or do they only go directly to the house, and we have to take care of the internals?

    Also, is it possible to retain my email address with my former ISP (cox) for a small fee? I can't seem to find any info on cox's webpages about such a thing (which is to be expected; they don't want us to switch!)

    But the promise of 15mbps, which is nearly 4x what I get now; and the major thing, 2mbps up, is really, really enticing. AND it would end up costing _less_ than what I pay for cable right now!

    1. Re:FiOS by LokieLizzy · · Score: 5, Funny
      But the promise of 15mbps, which is nearly 4x what I get now; and the major thing, 2mbps up, is really, really enticing.

      Why would you need 2mbps up, and 15mbps down? You wouldn't be sharing copywrighted music, would you?

      Signed,

      Your friendly neighborhood

      RIAA Agent.

      --
      My digital rights don't need management.
    2. Re:FiOS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      I am an engineer for Verizon designing part of this large fiber network. They are putting it up in places people can afford it and places where population density permits. It costs a whole lot of money to put this stuff up. It also goes very slow as the splicing of fiber optic cables is very time consuming and has to be perfect or the loss in the cable will render the cable useless. You will be able to get HDTV, phone, and a retardedly fast internet connection all on one bill. Fairly cheap I think. You can actually get a faster upload then 2mbps I think, but I am not totally sure. Either way you get a T-1 for way less than the business cost.

    3. Re:FiOS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      Why would you need 2mbps up, and 15mbps down?

      Silly friendly neighbourhood RIAA Agent, I need 15mpbs down for porn!

    4. Re:FiOS by jrmann1999 · · Score: 5, Informative

      The install is basically an external box that separates the fiber, they drill a hole to the nearest power outlet for the battery backup, and run Cat5 + Cat3 to a single drop anywhere in the house. Then they give you the crappiest D-Link wired router possible.

    5. Re:FiOS by pinkocommie · · Score: 1

      Hey Also in the DC Area, just wondering where you're at and how you found out availability. Their site has been saying coming soon for me since forever :(. Also to the other people out here that have it... do they block port 80/25?

    6. Re:FiOS by djdavetrouble · · Score: 1

      Yeah, My iroffer bot is seriously limited by cable's wack upstream. um for sharing linux ISOs. and stuff.

      --
      music lover since 1969
    7. Re:FiOS by Skapare · · Score: 1

      You wouldn't have to worry about retaining your email address if you had your own domain name or used a freemail service. With a domain, you are in control over where it is hosted. If you're using someone else's domain, they are in control.

      --
      now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
    8. Re:FiOS by Skapare · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Then maybe you can answer the question I have beeing trying to get answered (and no one knows). Will getting FiOS via another ISP mean the other ISP is just re-selling Verizon IP layer service (e.g. I get a Verizon IP address) or will this literally go through the other ISP network and I get the other ISP's IP address (or multiple addresses as the case may be)?

      --
      now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
    9. Re:FiOS by antdude · · Score: 1

      See this forum to learn about installation and posting questions like this.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    10. Re:FiOS by Spoing · · Score: 1
      1. I am an engineer for Verizon designing part of this large fiber network.

      I don't believe it. The numbers you quote don't pass the sniff test.

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
    11. Re:FiOS by Spoing · · Score: 1
      1. Then maybe you can answer the question I have beeing trying to get answered (and no one knows). Will getting FiOS via another ISP mean the other ISP is just re-selling Verizon IP layer service (e.g. I get a Verizon IP address) or will this literally go through the other ISP network and I get the other ISP's IP address (or multiple addresses as the case may be)?

      If it's like DSL, you'd get an IP from the ISP not Verizon. As the ISP likely rents the line and has colocated equipment at a CO, I don't see this all the sudden changing.

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
    12. Re:FiOS by Afrosheen · · Score: 1

      Dude, you're surrounded by geeks so start acting like one. If your wiring sucks, and it's just phone wiring, REWIRE IT. It's not that hard and phones are nearly the simplest thing you can do (next to CATV). I can explain to anyone with a drill and some cabling how to wire a place up in a few short lessons.

      I ran cable for Comcast/AT&T for 9 months. It's not nearly as difficult as you would think.

    13. Re:FiOS by ediron2 · · Score: 1
      WTF is 'a retardedly fast internet connection'. I mean, I sure don't want what it SOUNDS like (damn fast, but unusably flawed).

      I can't tell if this is an unintentional oxymoron or of there's some cool/hot bad/good jargon in use.

    14. Re:FiOS by Skapare · · Score: 1

      Colocation within the CO does happen for DSL and you can get the IP of the ISP, not the telco. But that's not the case 100% as many "ISPs" are just resellers of the telco's own DSL service. Both business models exist. The big question with FiOS is whether both business models will exist there, as well. The fact that Verizon is offering this willingly suggests the possibility it is a re-sell model. I've seen no clarification either way.

      --
      now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
    15. Re:FiOS by quarkscat · · Score: 1

      The real problem with Verizon's "push" for FTTP
      (Fiber To The Premesis) is that this will only
      be done in areas with very high density occupancy.
      Every other locality, including suburbs and more
      "rural" areas will suffer the same way that they
      have suffered since the breakup of Ma Bell. No
      modern day telcos have the financial incentive, or
      the government regulatory oversight, to furnish
      such services equitably.

      I live in a metropolitan suburb where all wiring
      is underground, and has been for 35 years. 35-
      year old underground POTS wiring does not make for
      decent modem connections, analog OR digital. YMMV,
      but line quality and distance from the CO are
      paramount factors in decent internet access. In
      my area, 17000 feet from the CO, analog service
      is poor, and ADSL/DSL service is limited by the
      telco's infrastructure to about 80Kb/s down and
      60Kb/s upstream -- hardly good enough to warrant
      a $30 - $40 per month Verison DSL bill. Sadly,
      a similar price could get me Wireless Business
      DSL with better bandwidth, if only my residence
      were a bonafide business.

      The telcos are at a great advantage over their
      competitors with cable-based broadband access.
      They are regulated (badly) at the state and fed
      level, while the cable providers generally are
      granted fixed term monopolies regulated at the
      county level. If the cable companies don't offer
      digital service in a timely fashion dictated by
      the county, they risk losing their monopoly to
      another vendor. The telco end-run around metro
      WiFi service by paying off state legislatures is
      monopolisticly criminal -- they are reserving for
      future exploitation a captive market that they
      will not commit resources to serve.

    16. Re:FiOS by binaryspiral · · Score: 1

      With most fiber installs on homes, you get voice and data services (data split between Internet and TV). The box they install on your home essentially splits up the voice and data. It also includes a small UPS to keep your dialtone going in the event of a power outage.

      Your internal wiring doesn't really matter. It's cat5 to the NID they install - high speed all the way... err until it hits the first hop everyone else is using.

  7. solution for old school ISPs? by dirvish · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I could see major ISPs like AOL and Earthlink latching on to this as their dial-up customer numbers dwindle. They have no connectivity to compete with cable and DSL, so something like this could keep them alive.

    1. Re:solution for old school ISPs? by GeoffSmith1981 · · Score: 1

      Yay! Now we can send Instant Messages at blazing speeds! (If you think I'm serious you deserve to be hurt)

    2. Re:solution for old school ISPs? by PReDiToR · · Score: 1

      Over here in the UK AOHell are reselling NTL cable, even with the same modems. They resell BT aDSL as well.

      They do their own Dialups.

      Why on Earth would anyone use them?

      --

      Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks for they are subtle and quick to anger
    3. Re:solution for old school ISPs? by adolf · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure what you mean.

      In these parts, both AOL and Earthlink are available over the cable TV coax. And Earthlink, at least, also offers DSL here. Competition? By your definition, they've been playing for the opponents for years...

      Meanwhile, that same coaxial network was recently boosted to 5Mbps for, it seems, all connected residential subscribers for all connected services. And, to top it off, I do actually get that speed out of it consistant basis - in other words, it actually works. Today. Right now. Not "in a few months." It's live.

      Thus, it seems that the connectivity you speak of happened some time ago, and that it's been doing nothing but getting better since then.

    4. Re:solution for old school ISPs? by dirvish · · Score: 1

      At least in California the telecoms own the cable and DSL networks, so Earthlink and AOL could resell it but the profit margins on that are really small.

    5. Re:solution for old school ISPs? by adolf · · Score: 1

      Eh?

      This isn't California, but the technological backwoods known as Ohio.

      I think you've missed your boat (again).

  8. Heck yea! by episodic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now slashdot will render in a tenth of a second rather than an eighth of a second like it does now! It is indeed a great day.

    1. Re:Heck yea! by joebagodonuts · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought everyone read /. at work...
      My bandwidth at home is reserved for porn.

      --
      "Give a woman two glasses of wine and some pad thai, and they'll agree to just about anything." the Sports Guy
    2. Re:Heck yea! by chrisgeleven · · Score: 2, Funny

      Just think if they ever actually optimized the HTML/CSS in Slashdot to get rid of tables!

      *Drool*

    3. Re:Heck yea! by ZagNuts · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yes, but then the firefox slashdot render error would occur 25% more often!

    4. Re:Heck yea! by slapout · · Score: 1

      That's right. Now those of us stuck on dialup can get Slashdot in ten seconds instead of the usual eighty! But now when will I go to get my coffee?

      --
      Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
  9. This is not competition! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This, like DSL shared access, is not competition. For example, we sale DSL in Hell$outh and Verizon territories, and they charge us more for just the raw line than they charge customers for the line plus Internet access. We have to charge our customers twice as much as Verizon does just to break even. If it wasn't for our much better customer support, we would have been out of business a long time ago.

    To explain this a different way. For DSL, BellSouth charges end-users $25 for a slow connection. BellSouth charges us $30 for the same speed connection plus we pay about $20,000 per month in overhead for our ATM connection to those customers plus we pay about $15k per month for Internet bandwidth to Sprint. As you can see, BellSouth is abusing their monopoly position. They aren't selling to us just to be nice, and there is no competition.

    1. Re:This is not competition! by evilviper · · Score: 1
      For DSL, BellSouth charges end-users $25 for a slow connection. BellSouth charges us $30 for the same speed connection

      Here's the B.S. in your argument.

      I checked-out their price scheme, because that price sounded rather low. Well, their cheapest connection is $35/mo, not $25. That $25/mo price only happens when you are willing to lock yourself into BellSouth phone service, et al., where they hope to recoup the cost.

      You could do the exact same thing for your users. When your customers sign up for some expensive long-distance plan with your partner company, give them $10/mo off their bill, and I'm sure the long-distance company would find paying you $10/mo to be a great deal.

      I'm having the same prolems with finding a DSL service. Earthink were being incredible jackasses by not reducing my monthly bill when their prices dropped for new customers (plus they were quite slow by comparison), and Verizon is raising their prices a few dollars more, so it's almost $40/mo unless you sign-up for a year at a time. It seems there are no inexpensive DSL providers, unless you sign a 1-year contract, or sign-up with their horrible long-distance package.

      I will agree that phone companies are pricing things just a bit outof range, but not by the large margins you are saying.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    2. Re:This is not competition! by spam13 · · Score: 1

      Why should Verizon or any other company invest in their product and then sell it to you for less than it cost's to maintain it. Why don't you invest the money for the new product's? Verizon is bringing us a faster more reliable product that they don't choke down like most ISP's.

  10. Wait a minute?! by ravenspear · · Score: 5, Funny

    Verizon would suck as an ISP, as would AOL a network provider.

    Are you implying by that statement that AOL does not suck as an ISP?

    1. Re:Wait a minute?! by markwalling · · Score: 1
      --
      ...For the beast had been reborn with its strength renewed, and the followers of Mammon cowered in horror.
  11. Mod Parent Up! (Re:This is not competition!) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Parent poster is absolutely correct. I worked at another national ISP that no longer offers broadband services because we got burned in the same way. The carriers charged us more per customer than they did their own broadband division, so there was no practical way to compete. It's just a sham.

  12. Can't wait... by webcrawler · · Score: 1, Informative

    I am forced to use Verizon DSL because the apartment management provides their own cable TV via satellite. Even though cable services (from Cox) are available all around within a 100 feet or so. My dsl modem shows the bandwidth at 860kbps down, 140 kbps up. I am looking forward to FIOS.

    1. Re:Can't wait... by iowannaski · · Score: 4, Funny
      If you live in an apartment complex, you should get free internet access.

      Look for an open WiFi AP named "linksys."

      --
      i forget
  13. Oh wow... by I+kan+Spl · · Score: 1

    Given that I did RTFA, and that it is exactly the same as the post...

    Who are they negoating with, and when will my DSLExtreme connection become blazingly faster?

    Does anyone here have this service that wants to share their experance?

    --
    My UID is prime and so is this number: 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0.
  14. I hope this is true... by alispguru · · Score: 2, Interesting
    ... and Verizon prices it rationally for third-parties to use. Right now I get ISP services from two places:

    Comcast ($65/month for basic TV + Internet)

    zzapp.org ($13/month for backup dialup and email)

    Comcast broadband is OK - fast downloads, pokey uploads and semi-annual short outages. I would drop it like a rock, though, if I could get broadband from anyone else, especially a cool local ISP like zzapp.

    If Verizon fiber has reliability near to my wired phone, I'd consider dumping the land line and going with VOIP.

    --

    To a Lisp hacker, XML is S-expressions in drag.
  15. Re:Pioneer with Arrows. by Skapare · · Score: 1

    There is "end run around" taking place. Wireless is one example. Power companies are trying BPL ([B]andwidth [P]ermanently [L]ow) which I believe will fail in a few years anyway.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  16. Re:Fiber is great by iowannaski · · Score: 1

    Yeah, I'll get right on that, Dr. Hose.

    --
    i forget
  17. Re:Notice that they don't call it FTTH by Rob_Bryerton · · Score: 1

    I don't care *what* they call it. If I can get 15mb/s for ~45/mo, they can call it OC3 for all I care...

  18. I smell desperation... by Spoing · · Score: 4, Informative
    Follow this through with me...tell me what you think. Point by point; refute or agree with individual points as you see fit.

    1. People will go for good enough over better for convienience and/or price reasons.
    2. Fiber to the premises is an attempt at better...yet...
    3. The bells are institutions.
    4. Institutions are lothe to change and will fight it tooth and nail; institutions, once established, are primarily interested in perpetuating themselves.
    5. Current bell company DSL offerings fit this pattern;
      1. They really aren't trying to canabalize what they offer businesses (excessively expensive T1 lines with QOS while much cheaper lines with poor QOS...running over much of the same hardware).
      2. The bells also fight sharing the line with anyone, and do not offer even 1/2 of the same speed connection when DSL is provisioned by some other group.
    6. Network speeds are (roughly);

      1. Wired connections;
      2. 56K modem - (5.33 kB/s)
      3. DS1/T1 - 192.5 kB/s
      4. 10BT - 1.25 MB/s
      5. 100BT - 12.5 MB/s
      6. 1000BT - 125 MB/s (half duplex)
      7. 1000BT - 250 MB/s (full duplex)
      8. Fiber - 100-200 MB/s

        Wireless connections;

      9. Bluetooth 1.1 - 125 kB/s
      10. 802.11b - 1.375 MB/s
      11. Bluetooth 2 - 2 to 12 MB/s
      12. 802.11g/a - 6.75 MB/s
      13. 802.16a - 70 MB/s (30 mile range; licenced and unlicenced)

        CO/WAN connections;

      14. OC48 - 306 MB/s (reasonable multi-site corporate use)
      15. OC192 - 1.250 GB/s
    7. Look at #12 above: With WiMax (802.16a) hubs scattered around, why bother with a wired (or fiber) distribution system for anything?
    8. Tie that in with cheap VOIP "cell" phones...and there will be panic in both the cell and POTS providers.

    T1 was fine for many corporations 10 years ago. Many still use T1 lines...while wireless hubs are sprouting up either formally or informally. Driving around right now, it's trivial to get a wireless connection in many areas.

    Say you are a co-operative group like Seattle Wireless, and you get some WiMax (or other equipment), why not just disconnect mostly or entirely from POTS and go peer to peer? Maybe you'll be able to offer the service for $10/month...after all, they are doing it now at lower speeds.

    If you were a bell executive, what would you do? What would you do to keep your stock from tanking when WiMax (or any other tech) eats your customer base?

    --
    A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
    1. Re:I smell desperation... by zymano · · Score: 1

      http://ftthblog.blogs.com/ftth_blog/

      I also thought 100meg for FTTH was correct but not from that link.

      Try 1 gigabit.

      Good post dude. You owe me money!

    2. Re:I smell desperation... by Spoing · · Score: 2, Interesting
      1. If it didn't work for Sprint, what'd they do wrong? Why will the next company to try the same thing work?

      Good points.

      First, distance: A single WiMax router won't be practical since a 30 mile broadcast range can easily cover too many users. Instead, overlap them and route from there. Your distance from 1 router will be substantially below 30 miles.

      Second: Latency. A quick search shows that Intel is interested in 802.16a. Intel says in a foot note on the linked page: "6 Latency may be unacceptable for real-time IP services such as VoIP during handovers but acceptable for TCP and VPN services as well as store-and-forward multimedia services." They do specifically mention issues with VOIP and games and that these are addressed. Other sources say similar things about latency.

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
    3. Re:I smell desperation... by Spoing · · Score: 1
      1. your views interest me and i would like to subscribe to your newsletter

      Thanks...if only I had one!

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
    4. Re:I smell desperation... by Spoing · · Score: 1

      "Ah, you've been smoking from the WiMax pipe....."

      Feel free to offer other and entirely contrary information. That was the point to my post. Teach me if you know something I don't.

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
  19. Seem to be better than Cable downloads but by zymano · · Score: 2, Insightful

    so what.

    It's still priced for the wealthy few.

    We need to keep the Wifi muni , FTTH municipal movement going !

  20. Re:Bull Shit by Profane+MuthaFucka · · Score: 1

    Nope, the promotion on their website is TWELVE TIMES more expensive than you described.

    It's $120 a year, not ten bucks.

    --
    Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
  21. Re:Notice that they don't call it FTTH by zymano · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I'd prefer not having my tax dollars pay for your education, water, electrical, police and emergency health care.

  22. I heard about this two months ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Guy from verizon came to my house and we had some chitchat, I was bringing up how I cant seem to get broadband, and he brought up fios, and mostly the reason verizon is doing this is because of cost.
    Fibre is cheaper to run and maintain in the long run compared to copper. Mostly due to copper's physical limits, it's limited on speed and distance, and eventually has interference.
    fibre has insane speeds, you need less repeaters on the grid, and you can run more cable longer without signal loss, and zero interference. That's mostly the reason for the move, that and microsoft's new IPTV "technology" they want to unveil, I think that's part of it as well.
    I hope earthlink is jumping on this. Same with speakeasy.

    In my area, verizon's TRYING to get it started, but they made a huge mistake and started with Chino Hills, who are charging THEM for putting in the lines, charging them for using the streets, and charging them for licenses to install to every house.. like $100 per house, then other fees.
    If they had only started on this side of the Inland Valley, then it might be going somewhere. Cucamonga is growing faster than CH, and is more populated (thus has more potential customers)
    oh well, I hope they learn.

  23. Re:Notice that they don't call it FTTH by zymano · · Score: 1

    I think high speed should be incorporated there with water and electrical .

    We shouldn't have handed sole control to private monopolies like the Bells.

  24. Verizon redefines an ISP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If you look at the reply to comment 04-440 on the FCC web site this is Verizon's definition of an ISP [24]:

    "With broadband, the role of the ISPs is primarily one of supplying content and applications, not in providing facilities-based Internet access services. This means that the major providers of broadband access services, including local telephone companies, have strong business incentives to provide consumers access to ISPs or other content providers..."

    So Verizon has redefined ISPs as content proviers. To Verizon Yahoo, Google, Amazon and Expedia are ISPs. What you and me know are ISPs do not exist in this double speak Verizon world.

    If Verizon gets their way nobody but them (and/or the lousy cable provider) will be able to provide broadband in the future.

    1. Re:Verizon redefines an ISP by isdnip · · Score: 1

      That was taken from a posting to the isp-clec mailing list. The Slashdot audience doesn't know the whole context, so let me add to it here.

      The Verizon Telephone Companies are legally "common carriers", which means in this case that they are obligated to provide service to any willing customer. They cannot turn down a customer because they see it as a competitor, for instance. Verizon Online, an unregulated ISP, is a customer of the Verizon Telephone Companies. This two-company relationship allows other ISPs to pay for common carriage.

      The FCC, under outgoing chair Michael "the lesser" Powell, has given Verizon an awful lot of privileges. If they string FiOS to a house, then Verizon is allowed to (literally) cut the wire, even if it is leased, or desired, by a competitive Common Carrier (CLEC) such as Covad, who provides DSL service (using Verizon's raw copper, not electronics or network) to independent ISPs. So if FiOS is in, CLECs are out, except for one low-rate voice channel per house. No data. No ISPs via CLECs.

      Verizon's copper DSL is still common carrier service, open to ISPs. Verizon does not like this. It is less clear if FiOS itself is subject to common carriage, but I think it still is. So Verizon has to let other ISPs on it. For now. They have however petitioned the FCC to "forbear" from enforcing that part of the law, claiming that cable modems are competition enough for them, and other ISPs don't matter any more. (As noted, they consider content providers to be the only "ISPs" who count, just as, I suppose, a child might consider ice cream, cookies and cake to be the only meat and vegetables that count.)

      The FCC has not ruled yet on said Forbearance, which is identified as "WC Docket 04-440", and whose public Comments can be read (the deadline for non-late submission is over) using the FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), entering "04-440" in the "Search for Filed Comments" dialog. Since it's still an open Docket, Verizon is on its good behavior. What they do if and when they get Forbearance is, well, a different question. Expect a lot of ISPs to be shut down.

      And remember, with Verizon Online, you can't receive most email from out of the country, and you can't even send email that doesn't say "@verizon.net" in the From: field, so if you want to use a third-party mail provider, have fun letting people know not to believe your From: field. (Look for an outside provider whose encrypted access tunnel can slip through he Verizon censor's blocks.)

    2. Re:Verizon redefines an ISP by ArtStone · · Score: 1

      I have run a successful dialup ISP Directory since 1998, and I tend to agree with this understanding of ISP. It isn't 1995 any more.

      1) Few ISPs any longer provide Usenet access - and usenet is in steep decline
      2) Blogs are largely taking over the functions people used to do with personal web sites (Here is a picture of my cat, and what I had at Starbucks today)
      3) Few ISPs run IRC servers any more
      4) Modem pool management, DNS and network transport have been outsourced to companies like Level(3) and/or aggregators like GlobalPops, DialupUSA, Ikano, or YounNetPlus

      What does that leave the ISP doing / responsible for?

      1) Email
      2) Finding customers
      3) Billing
      4) Setup support (since about 1997, DUN setup with XP is pretty simple - so this is much less important than when you had to talk people through setting up Trumpet Winsock)

      Very few visitors these days are choosing an ISP on anything other than lowest monthly cost. All they are doing is buying "Internet Dial Tone".

      Of course, Business Class customers have different needs - those local/regional ISPs that are still surviving are doing it because they have a diverse group of customers - but keeping a business customer happy requires a more highly skilled and responsive support staff.

      --
      Final 2006 "Proof of Global Warming" US Hurricane Count -> 0
  25. Re:Fiber is great by busonerd · · Score: 1

    Umm, the parent is wrong as far as I know. A quantum fibre-optic network only works when both parties, lets call them alice and bob, are directly connected with a link that can preserve those quantum properties. The reason quantum encryption works is because an intercepter, we'll call her eve, cannot measure more then one property of the quantum state of the photon without destroying other information. Now, any repeater / fibre switch / anything will destroy that information. IANAQP [I am not a quantum physicist], but from what I understand, the above is true. Feel free to correct me if I'm incorrect. --David Carne

  26. When they say Fiber to the Curb... by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Informative

    ..They do not mean you get fiber strands running into your house and you have to figure out what to do with all the blinking lights at the end of them.

    You have some hardware in-between you and the blinking lights, and I'll wager THAT hardware does not understand quantum cryptography. In fact it's whatever was provided by the lowest bidder, so it probably will not understand much of anything.

    Still, the fiber is all that much closer to you so in the distant future when all large backbone switches are optical perhaps you can get that as an option.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  27. At this point... by theatre_freak · · Score: 1

    I wish Verizon would concentrate more on rolling out the FiOS than selling access to their network.

  28. Re:Fiber is great by bardothodal · · Score: 1

    Schrödinger's cat is dead. Someone need to call the ASPCA on him for illegal animal testing.

    --
    No matter where you go , there you are.
  29. Boy, I can't *wait* for the zombie armies on Fios by Brightest+Light · · Score: 1

    I hope that Verizon decides to start kicking the spammers off their network, because I shudder to think what one of them could do with that sort of bandwidth. That's not the only problem, either. I can only imagine the fun kiddies will have with armies of cracked computers on Fios connections. Verizon certainly doesn't care. Perhaps the damaged caused by drone armies on higher speed connections will result in enough backlash to make Verizon become part of the solution for a change...

  30. Congressional testimony by ImaLamer · · Score: 2, Informative

    Others have commented to the point that their pricing makes it hard to compete, but I know nothing of Verizon pricing.

    I do however know that the four big telcoms testified in front of Congress recently and their testimony might be of interest in this discussion. I watched it on C-SPAN and liked what I heard for the most part.

    Their testimony basically told us that their mergers aren't going to harm competition. I'm sure a lot is bull, but please listen to the testimony first. It's interesting if you have a fetish for networks, redundancy and interconnectedness like I do. Plus loving gov't in action helps.

    There were a lot of good questions and some pressure for honest answers. Listening is better than reading because you can get tone and inflection. Good thing too because the transcript isn't up yet, all you have is Real Audio.

  31. WiMax by ImaLamer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Verizon and SBC are ready to get into the wireless game.

    I already pointed out that SBC, AT&T, Sprint/Verizon and MCI testified in front of Congress.

    Well, they mentioned the reason for the bigger mergers is so that the telcoms don't die. They want to have hands in every market, as they should to stay alive. The mergers give companies like MCI the wireless technology and it's implemented network and MCI gives up it's wired network (huge).

    They touched on WiMax, but they hinted that once the cell towers are up they will be used for Internet access anyway. We see this already with Cingular's new plan. Remember, you can get "cell" reception almost anywhere now, in most cities and states, and when the technology is at the right price point we will see highspeed Internet offered over those towers.

    Sprint's CEO mentioned a few highspeed trials already, along with FiOS so I assume we are talking comprable speeds. Listen to the testimony to get an insight into their plans I'd say. They are really looking at it from a perspective that they should offer what makes the most economic sense on an individual basis. Wireless in sparse areas, mixed networks in high density areas and fiber in the suburbs (for example).

    1. Re:WiMax by Spoing · · Score: 1
      1. Sprint's CEO mentioned a few highspeed trials already, along with FiOS so I assume we are talking comprable speeds. Listen to the testimony to get an insight into their plans I'd say. They are really looking at it from a perspective that they should offer what makes the most economic sense on an individual basis. Wireless in sparse areas, mixed networks in high density areas and fiber in the suburbs (for example).

      Very interesting. Thanks!

      I'd like to see how Seattle Wireless and other minimialist groups fare in the next few years. WiMax, using partially unlicenced spectrum, could push much of the business out of the current cell and land-line based servers.

      After all, if WiMax eventually is only a few thousand per installation, it wouldn't take too many subscribers to pay for it...theoretically, network services ('cell', wired phone, video phone, internet, ...) could drop to the price and popularity of ice in Anchorage.

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
  32. Re:I'd settle for *anything*... by ockegheim · · Score: 1

    It's dialup or satellite baybee

    That reminds me of my phone conversation with Foxtel, one of Australia's cable providers a few years ago:

    Foxtel: Good afternoon sir, how can I help you?

    Me: I'm interested in Foxtel TV

    Foxtel: Could I have your address please sir?

    Me: [My address, 6km from the centre of Melbourne in a medium density area]

    Foxtel: Our satellite service is available for you sir...

    --
    I’m old enough to remember 16K of memory being described as “whopping”
  33. Re:Pioneer with Arrows. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    This is "Fiber to the Curb" people. The "Last mile" that everyone has been complaining about for the last five years. You all have had plenty of time to do an "end run around" and you didn't.

    Fiber to the curb is neat but wholly unnecessary. On short runs you can get 40 megabits downstream and 10 megabits upstream on DOCSIS cable modems. If they split the head end of DOCSIS CM service as they have DSL head ends, it would be a more than adequate last-mile solution for home users.

    Meanwhile, the technology to do wireless affordably just hasn't been there until very recently. Do you really think that people have been sitting around with their thumbs up their asses while the equipment to reasonable solve this last mile problem has been sitting around in a warehouse somewhere?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  34. Re:why Network providers like ISPs by vertinox · · Score: 1

    One reason that Time Warner cable (and various other cable companies) loved to work with Earthlink even though ELNK did nothing but slap their names on the bill (yes... an Earthlink cable install is a Timewarner/Comcast rep coming out to the install and repairs), is that they provide the email accounts and advertising. Earthlink's email network is one hellava setup and takes the stress and upkeep issues that are normally supplied by the network provider.

    Trust me. Email servers are lords of pain when working with any network. That and you call Earthlink for support first and then they transfer them over if it is an connectivity issue (or not if the question was about email related issues or "how do I browse the internet..." questions)

    --
    "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
    -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
  35. Re:Notice that they don't call it FTTH by zymano · · Score: 1

    I doubt your electricity comes purely from private sources without any government oversight.

    Our electric company is a private electric utility but their rates are controlled by the government because there aren't enough competitors. I view this comparable to the broadband situation.