Tech Tuesday: Verizon, A Modern-Day Trojan Horse?
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But that's not the case; in fact I'm very leery of the announcement and I put more stock in the idea that this announcement is more to protect territory than provide service.
The same day as the announcement, I sent a letter to the editor of both The Berkshire Eagle and the North Adams Transcript – the Transcript published it (I won't rehash the whole argument here, you can read it if you are interested), The Eagle did not. The fact that The Eagle came out in support of Verizon's announcement a few days later probably has something to do with it – advertising dollars at play here maybe.
As I read between the lines of The Eagle's editorial, "... that the company has decided there is enough money to be made to make the service profitable" really means that there are too many choices either now available, or about to be, and that they better throw a few crumbs to the locals and protect their perceived territory.
And I think the statement "... and the day will come when those Berkshire communities to be served by DSL will want to move up to fiber-optic, which is faster and carries much more information ..." is just silly; that day came and went a couple years ago. In essence, the people of Berkshire County should take a seat at the back of the bus and be happy with what the pharaohs of broadband are reluctantly casting your way.
It's not my purpose to bust on the editors of The Berkshire Eagle; however, I do find it funny that a later editorial, presumably by a different author, thought it a good idea to start taxing Verizon on the utility poles they have throughout the area. So Massachusetts will give out money with one hand and demand it back with the other, and a deal put in place to help communications (telephone) expand to rural America a 100 years ago should be canceled at a time when broadband is being compared to that very same process.
My intended message is to the good people of the communities mentioned in the announcement, as well as the officials elected to represent them, that they should take a breath and really consider this plan before they go jumping on the DSL bandwagon. Settling for DSL delivered over copper wires may seem like a godsend right now, but will shortly be no better than dial-up has been for the last four or five years.
Not being a DSL customer, I went to Verizon's Web site to see what they are currently offering. Verizon's basic package, which I assume will be what most communities will get, is 768kbs down (viewing Web sites, receiving e-mail, etc.) and 128kbs up (posting to the Web, transacting business over the Web, sending e-mail, etc.).
They claim their basic DSL package is 21 times as fast as dial-up. Simple math will tell you (768 / 21 = 36.6kbs a fair estimate for local dial-up) that indeed you should average 21 times the speed of dial-up – coming down. However, if you use that same figure for the upload speed – conducting business, as some will have you believe is going to be a breeze with this new DSL, is really only (128kbs / 36.6 = 3.5) 3 1/2 times faster than dial-up.
Sure you get a six-month introductory rate that sounds pretty good, but you must sign a one year contract – which as we all know essentially traps you with the company forever, but then that rate goes up for the next six months. And once everyone is a DSL customer and competition dries up, what will the rates be then? Members of these communities, do yourself a favor and research DSL (see the need to purchase equipment, broadbandreports.com, read my letter to editor mentioned above) and then let your community leaders and your elected officials know what you think of this idea.
My belief is that any plan should include, at the very least, a fiber backbone owned by the state and leased to Internet service providers (not even going to mention net neutrality at this time) with the ultimate goal being fiber to the home (FTTH). While many argue that high -speed communications are a luxury and only those "latte-drinking dilettantes" (I believe is how one city councilor replied to me) would take advantage of such access. In my next article two weeks from now, I hope to show why such a network in the very near future will be an absolute necessity for every community.
And so I say to the communities of Becket, Florida, Hancock, New Ashford, New Marlborough, Otis, Sandisfield, Stockbridge, West Stockbridge and Windsor – band together do the job right the first time and don't keep putting yourself at the end of line every couple of years.
C.J. Vadnais is president of the Southern Vermont Broadband Cooperative in Stamford, Vt. His opinions are his own.
