Speedy Internet Connection Is Still Out of Reach for Some
By TOM WEBER
A FAST CONNECTION to the Internet is all that Bill Rosado wanted. What he got instead was aggravation -- month after month of it.
Mr. Rosado, a 41-year-old computer consultant in Tuckahoe, N.Y., set out to replace his sluggish dial-up service with a digital subscriber line. His odyssey spanned 18 months and seven different companies, and it underscores an unpleasant reality: For many consumers, broadband still has a long way to go.
Mr. Rosado's quest began in 1999. High-speed DSL service sounded great, but it wasn't offered in his neighborhood. He waited and kept checking with different services to find out when it would be available. Finally, on Jan. 14, 2000, he placed an order with a company called Flashcom.
Flashcom's DSL service required a separate phone line, so the next step was to have the local phone company, Bell Atlantic (now Verizon), install the line. That was completed Feb. 16, but then Mr. Rosado had to wait for Flashcom to complete additional work. By early March, his service was finally running.
IT WAS GREAT while it lasted. Flashcom fell into financial trouble, eventually filing for bankruptcy protection. Fearing the worst, Mr. Rosado began looking for an alternative late last year. He settled on Microsoft's MSN service, which used a company called NorthPoint Communications as an intermediary between it and Verizon. (Flashcom also used NorthPoint in this capacity.) Mr. Rosado signed up with MSN on Dec. 19, 2000.
Then in January and February he started hearing bad news: MSN couldn't get a line it could use for the DSL service. Since Mr. Rosado already had DSL service, he found this curious. MSN says Verizon couldn't assign the line because it was tied up with Mr. Rosado's Flashcom service. MSN kept working on the problem, but meanwhile the Flashcom service stopped working.
NorthPoint, MSN's gateway to Verizon's phone lines, also hit hard times. It filed for bankruptcy protection, eliminating MSN's ability to offer Mr. Rosado a DSL line. So Mr. Rosado turned to EarthLink. Three weeks after placing his order there, EarthLink told him it couldn't get the line it needed from Verizon. EarthLink says such problems are one reason it's striking deals with cable and satellite companies in addition to phone companies.
Verizon says all the confusion is a result of the complicated way that DSL is offered. Competing Internet-service providers like MSN and EarthLink work through a smaller set of intermediaries that finally connect to the local phone company. It isn't easy to coordinate things that need to happen throughout that chain, Verizon says, but everyone is learning. "In a year or two, this should be a nonissue," says a Verizon spokesman.
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Mr. Rosado gave up on DSL and turned to a cable-modem service from Cablevision Systems. He's using it successfully now, but even that service didn't go smoothly at first. Twice, Cablevision scheduled installation visits but the technician didn't show up. The service was finally installed on May 9.
Cablevision doesn't dispute it missed the appointments but says it credited Mr. Rosado for the installation costs and 1 1/2 months of service. It also says most consumers can "self-install" the service with a kit, eliminating the need for visits.
MR. ROSADO'S TALE is particularly timely because lately the notion of competition seems to be going out of style. Rep. Billy Tauzin, a powerful Republican from Louisiana, wants to let the Baby Bells jump into long-distance data services even though they haven't shown that they have opened their local phone markets to rivals, a key component of deregulation. AT&T and others complain it's too difficult to offer local calling by reselling the Bells' service. Rep. Tauzin's response, as recently reported in this newspaper: "Duh. ... What kind of business plan is it to move into another company's store and resell their goods?"
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But in fact, forcing monopolies to let others tap their systems is an effective way to foster competition. Today's consumer Internet exists because of that kind of competition. The Bells were required to give companies like America Online and EarthLink access to their phone lines for dial-up services. Does anyone really believe so many consumers would be online today if Internet service had been left to the Bells and the cable companies? As they say on Capitol Hill these days, "Duh!"
If you're thinking of getting broadband yourself, here are some things to keep in mind:
DO YOUR HOMEWORK: Researching your options carefully is probably the most important step. A terrific Web site called DSLreports.com (dslreports.com) publishes ratings based on consumer reviews. Despite its name, the site covers cable-modem service and other varieties of broadband.
TAKE NOTES: Keep a careful record of everything that happens. When you speak to company representatives, get their names and note dates and the details of conversations. Knowing exactly what happened early in the process can help later.
You can e-mail Mr. Weber at tweber@wsj.com or visit the E-World Center.
MAKE FRIENDS: If you encounter someone truly knowledgeable and helpful, make sure you know how to find that person again. A friendly technician can often cut through all kinds of red tape.
WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS ... Complain! Write your service provider and post your experiences on DSLreports.com. Contact your legislators or state attorney general. Don't settle for poor service. |
