Posted by
Hemos
on from the dumb-dumb-and-dumb dept.
GiMP and 200 others wrote "C|Net has this story about the difficulty of getting ADSL from Bell South for linux machines, and the protest from users in the afflicted areas. " This story has been coming up a lot today. Hopefully the negative coverage will force BellSouth to relent.
Call the FCC too, and not just about this.
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 4
Don't just call your state's Public Service Commission. It's darned important you raise polite hell about BellSouth with the PSC, but don't just do it with them.
You also want to talk to the FCC and possibly the FTC too. Several reasons why...
The FCC can force change nationwide or at the least across BellSouth territory; a PSC can only affect change in one state.
If you contact the FCC as well, they can establish that BellSouth has a pattern of not only anticompetitive behaviour, but also of not serving in the public interest.
The FCC has an increasing number of complaints against BellSouth to begin with and is already investigating them.
The FCC has the right to revoke BellSouth's common carrier status (roughly equivalent to revoking their "license" to run a phone company) if BellSouth refuses to cooperate.
I'm even going to go so far as to say that you should complain to your PSC and the FCC and FTC even if you are NOT trying to get ADSL coverage from BellSouth. BellSouth is a company that indulges in anticompetitive tactics, and deserves to be spanked soundly for many reasons...
I would complain if you fall in ANY of the above categories and are in BellSouth country:
If you have attempted to obtain ADSL service only to be told your OS is not officially supported and told that you cannot connect to the network as a result.
If you have attempted to obtain ADSL service in an area where BellSouth is offering it (see if your area is covered or planned for coverage by hitting BellSouth's webpage) and are told that because you live in an apartment or are told for other reasons that ADSL is not available.
If you have inquired about ADSL from Bellsouth only to be told it is at some other expected time in future and the launch date keeps being pushed back.
If you have been quoted anything at all above ~$50-100/month for ADSL service. (BellSouth has often charged exorbitant prices for ADSL, assuming you can even get it; the planned price in Louisville is something like $400 installation and roughly $300/month metered.)
If you work for a telco and have attempted to sell leased line service for businesses, only to have BellSouth sell you lines at an actual profit to BellSouth and at such a markup as to make it impossible for your company to compete in terms of pricing.
If you have attempted to buy ISDN service through BellSouth and are not in Tennessee. (Costs for ISDN service in most of BellSouth country are literally so expensive that a fractional T1 line is cheaper.)
If you have attempted to buy ISDN service through BellSouth only to be told it is not available in your area because you are too far from the switching station or given any other reason.
If you are a BellSouth customer, in an area where BellSouth is offering both local and LD services (or, for that matter, local and/or LD and/or data services such as bellsouth.net or paging) and there are no local dialing providers at all. (It is illegal under the Telecommunications Act for BellSouth to offer LD or data services in any local market it services where competition does not exist for local dialup. THE FCC NEEDS TO BE TOLD IF THIS IS HAPPENING WHERE YOU LIVE.)
If you are in BellSouth territory, BellSouth offers LD and/or data services (such as bellsouth.net or paging) and there are no competitors that are as cheap or cheaper than BellSouth. (Again, they CANNOT sell LD or data services till local phone service competition exists.)
If you have been forced to buy T1 service from BellSouth or been forced to buy package deals from BellSouth for services such as caller ID or call forwarding. (There have been reports that folks who have tried to buy ADSL from BellSouth have been told ADSL cannot be installed nor can ISDN, and they have been pressured to buy a T1 line instead. Bellsouth makes its Big Money on T1 lines...BellSouth also has the habit of pricing optional services such as caller ID and call waiting so high that the mere combination of a regular phone line, CID, and call waiting is literally MORE EXPENSIVE than a $35/month package deal that comes with more services that they want to sell.)
BellSouth needs spanking on basic principle. Slashdot the hell out of the PSCs, the FCC, and the FTC and let them know just what you think of BellSouth's horrid service...best case, BellSouth is forced to clean up its act. Worst case, BellSouth loses its "phone company" license and someone more competent moves in like Unidial...hell, even US Worst would be better (at least you can actually GET AND AFFORD ADSL and/or ISDN).
I wasn't satisfied with a computer generated denial because I stated Linux as my OS of choice, so I complained. Here's the intelligent reply from a human I got:
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 99 15:45:49 -0500 From: adsl@bellsouth.net To: dattaway@ebicom.net Subject: Re: BellSouth.net FastAccess ADSL Service Qualification Status (fwd)
Dear dattaway
Thank you for your recent e-mail message.
At this time, our technicians are configuring standard TCP/IP in Windows 95 and NT environments. Although we do not provide support for UNIX and LINUX , these platforms should support TCP/IP and Ethernet connections.
Therefore, it is possible to use ADSL with these types of systems.
For more information on ADSL access and answers to other questions you may have, please refer to our ADSL home page at the following address:
http://www.bellsouth.net/external/adsl
If you have any additional questions or comments, please e-mail us again.
Adam adsl@bellsouth.net
Start calling he Public Service Commission
by
dhms
·
· Score: 5
There are 2 (two) ways to force BellSouth to get its head out of its tail quickly:
1) Call your state's Public Service Commission. Explain the problem to them clearly and politely and how you have tried to resolve the problem. In most places, the RBOC gets hit with actual fines if they get too many complaints lodged with the PSC.
2) But a single share of stock, then call the "Presidents HotLine" of your local RBOC. Complain that you are a Linux user **AND** a shareholder and that you are being denied reasonable service and you expect to have an action plan from the company on how they will remedy the situation.
The key points to remember are to be a) polite and 2) concise. The folks you'rer dealing with are not computer experts like you... so make sure they get a favourable 2st impression!
Most likely for the same reason I had Linux on my primary machine when I was a cable modem user in San Diego. the ISP (@Home) loved to port scan people, and it's just too darn easy to drop those packets if you know how to configure your system. People running servers on 9x were routinely harrased by the admins, but those of us on Linux didn't have this problem for obvious reasons.
Most of the people I know at SWB Communications don't linux because of this, and other, simmilar issues. It basically amounts to the ISP wanting to maintain control, which isn't necessarily a "bad thing(tm)", but which I personally find distateful.
Sorry if I misspelled alot of words. See below.
... "I have no respect for a man who can only spell a word one way." - Samuel Clemens A.K.A. Mark Twain
"I have no respect for a man who can only spell a word one way." - Mark Twain
--
"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion." - Jed Babbin
Slashdot Mirror
Don't just call your state's Public Service Commission. It's darned important you raise polite hell about BellSouth with the PSC, but don't just do it with them.
You also want to talk to the FCC and possibly the FTC too. Several reasons why...
The FCC can force change nationwide or at the least across BellSouth territory; a PSC can only affect change in one state.
If you contact the FCC as well, they can establish that BellSouth has a pattern of not only anticompetitive behaviour, but also of not serving in the public interest.
The FCC has an increasing number of complaints against BellSouth to begin with and is already investigating them.
The FCC has the right to revoke BellSouth's common carrier status (roughly equivalent to revoking their "license" to run a phone company) if BellSouth refuses to cooperate.
I'm even going to go so far as to say that you should complain to your PSC and the FCC and FTC even if you are NOT trying to get ADSL coverage from BellSouth. BellSouth is a company that indulges in anticompetitive tactics, and deserves to be spanked soundly for many reasons...
I would complain if you fall in ANY of the above categories and are in BellSouth country:
If you have attempted to obtain ADSL service only to be told your OS is not officially supported and told that you cannot connect to the network as a result.
If you have attempted to obtain ADSL service in an area where BellSouth is offering it (see if your area is covered or planned for coverage by hitting BellSouth's webpage) and are told that because you live in an apartment or are told for other reasons that ADSL is not available.
If you have inquired about ADSL from Bellsouth only to be told it is at some other expected time in future and the launch date keeps being pushed back.
If you have been quoted anything at all above ~$50-100/month for ADSL service. (BellSouth has often charged exorbitant prices for ADSL, assuming you can even get it; the planned price in Louisville is something like $400 installation and roughly $300/month metered.)
If you work for a telco and have attempted to sell leased line service for businesses, only to have BellSouth sell you lines at an actual profit to BellSouth and at such a markup as to make it impossible for your company to compete in terms of pricing.
If you have attempted to buy ISDN service through BellSouth and are not in Tennessee. (Costs for ISDN service in most of BellSouth country are literally so expensive that a fractional T1 line is cheaper.)
If you have attempted to buy ISDN service through BellSouth only to be told it is not available in your area because you are too far from the switching station or given any other reason.
If you are a BellSouth customer, in an area where BellSouth is offering both local and LD services (or, for that matter, local and/or LD and/or data services such as bellsouth.net or paging) and there are no local dialing providers at all. (It is illegal under the Telecommunications Act for BellSouth to offer LD or data services in any local market it services where competition does not exist for local dialup. THE FCC NEEDS TO BE TOLD IF THIS IS HAPPENING WHERE YOU LIVE.)
If you are in BellSouth territory, BellSouth offers LD and/or data services (such as bellsouth.net or paging) and there are no competitors that are as cheap or cheaper than BellSouth. (Again, they CANNOT sell LD or data services till local phone service competition exists.)
If you have been forced to buy T1 service from BellSouth or been forced to buy package deals from BellSouth for services such as caller ID or call forwarding. (There have been reports that folks who have tried to buy ADSL from BellSouth have been told ADSL cannot be installed nor can ISDN, and they have been pressured to buy a T1 line instead. Bellsouth makes its Big Money on T1 lines...BellSouth also has the habit of pricing optional services such as caller ID and call waiting so high that the mere combination of a regular phone line, CID, and call waiting is literally MORE EXPENSIVE than a $35/month package deal that comes with more services that they want to sell.)
BellSouth needs spanking on basic principle. Slashdot the hell out of the PSCs, the FCC, and the FTC and let them know just what you think of BellSouth's horrid service...best case, BellSouth is forced to clean up its act. Worst case, BellSouth loses its "phone company" license and someone more competent moves in like Unidial...hell, even US Worst would be better (at least you can actually GET AND AFFORD ADSL and/or ISDN).
I wasn't satisfied with a computer generated denial because I stated Linux as my OS of choice, so I complained. Here's the intelligent reply from a human I got:
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 99 15:45:49 -0500
From: adsl@bellsouth.net
To: dattaway@ebicom.net
Subject: Re: BellSouth.net FastAccess ADSL Service Qualification Status (fwd)
Dear dattaway
Thank you for your recent e-mail message.
At this time, our technicians are configuring standard TCP/IP in Windows 95 and NT environments. Although we do not provide
support for UNIX and LINUX , these platforms should support TCP/IP and Ethernet connections.
Therefore, it is possible to use ADSL with these types of systems.
For more information on ADSL access and answers to other questions you may have, please refer to our ADSL home page at the following address:
http://www.bellsouth.net/external/adsl
If you have any additional questions or comments, please e-mail us again.
Adam
adsl@bellsouth.net
1) Call your state's Public Service Commission. Explain the problem to them clearly and politely and how you have tried to resolve the problem.
In most places, the RBOC gets hit with actual fines if they get too many complaints lodged with the PSC.
2) But a single share of stock, then call the "Presidents HotLine" of your local RBOC. Complain that you are a Linux user **AND** a shareholder and that you are being denied reasonable service and you expect to have an action plan from the company on how they will remedy the situation.
The key points to remember are to be a) polite and 2) concise. The folks you'rer dealing with are not computer experts like you... so make sure they get a favourable 2st impression!
_DHMS
Most likely for the same reason I had Linux on my primary machine when I was a cable modem user in San Diego. the ISP (@Home) loved to port scan people, and it's just too darn easy to drop those packets if you know how to configure your system. People running servers on 9x were routinely harrased by the admins, but those of us on Linux didn't have this problem for obvious reasons.
... "I have no respect for a man who can only spell a word one way."
Most of the people I know at SWB Communications don't linux because of this, and other, simmilar issues. It basically amounts to the ISP wanting to maintain control, which isn't necessarily a "bad thing(tm)", but which I personally find distateful.
Sorry if I misspelled alot of words. See below.
- Samuel Clemens A.K.A. Mark Twain
"I have no respect for a man who can only spell a word one way." - Mark Twain
"Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion." - Jed Babbin