Through normal churn, a provider loses some of their subscribers. If new subscribers can not be signed up at a greater rate, the overall numbers go down. In my area, SBC/Pacbell makes it hideously difficult to sign up for DSL with anybody but them, and cable is not available. I tried to get DSL first with DirecTV DSL, then Earthlink. Earthlink did great in troubleshooting the problem. SBC kept telling them that my line that's 23k ft from the CO qualifies for service. No biggie, put the order in to go on a remote terminal. Earthlink tried this numerous times and the order was consistently rejected. When we finally gave up, I broke down and called SBC the same day. Magically I was hooked up to a remote terminal and had DSL in only three days! Now tell me there isn't something funny going on there. I wanted to sign up with somebody other than my telco, but was forced into doing so if I wanted broadband. It's no wonder everyone else is losing subscribers.
As one of the many that became jobless when DirecTV Broadband shut down, I'd sure like a job for Christmas. How many other geeks in the Valley are with me on this?
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Through normal churn, a provider loses some of their subscribers. If new subscribers can not be signed up at a greater rate, the overall numbers go down. In my area, SBC/Pacbell makes it hideously difficult to sign up for DSL with anybody but them, and cable is not available. I tried to get DSL first with DirecTV DSL, then Earthlink. Earthlink did great in troubleshooting the problem. SBC kept telling them that my line that's 23k ft from the CO qualifies for service. No biggie, put the order in to go on a remote terminal. Earthlink tried this numerous times and the order was consistently rejected. When we finally gave up, I broke down and called SBC the same day. Magically I was hooked up to a remote terminal and had DSL in only three days! Now tell me there isn't something funny going on there. I wanted to sign up with somebody other than my telco, but was forced into doing so if I wanted broadband. It's no wonder everyone else is losing subscribers.
As one of the many that became jobless when DirecTV Broadband shut down, I'd sure like a job for Christmas. How many other geeks in the Valley are with me on this?