This very concept of HFC was developed, in no small part, by US West. I haven't even talked about the governmental regulation and the franchised protection that prevented at every turn, the telco's from providing wideband services. There still governmental roadblocks even with Telcomm Act of '96. You ever seen the checklist these guys have to allow them to start to compete in others domain? It's absolutely ridiculous. I real curious if Cox will get to provide local access. Who is their competition in providing TV? What roadblocks are they raising in preventing it? So you got the "new" hot product . I'm happy for you, but that doesn't allow you cast these vindictive dispersion on an industry that has more rules and regulation placed on it than they care to have.
To suggest that telecommunication neither has the means or the technical ability to provide it is ridiculous. HFC is long from being widely available, because most of the cable has to be upgraded. You are fortunate to be in an area that, for the most part, has the greatest rate of return for the data deployment. ISDN never caught on, and not because of pricing. It was one of those services that when rolled out, that most didn't need but on a limited basis. You better believe that the HFC market learned from it, as will xDSL, but then there is a reason for them now. The problem with xDSL is the slow nature of testing that is pervasive in the telco culture. They don't want a system that gets them more complaints. When analog modem quickly develop 14.4/28.8 it finalized the death of the ISDN concept in the US.
Your right not to accept excuses for poor service, but I guarantee that most of the problems reside at the ISP's and this unstandardized blackhole that is the Internet. As to the crappy wiring, if it has a false floor it isn't pretty. Most problem I've seen is poor crafts and poor quality equipment. When the line rings but the modem refuses to answer, what's the problem? The modem. Yet my ISP blames the telco. I just went blastic with them the other day. I told them to give me the number of a line they are having problems and stick there finger across the red/green pair and I'd ring them up. Basic, common sense trouble shooting escapes these ISP's.
Whether Cox or others maintain the level of service will result in them maintaining a high skill workforce that is paid properly. If they don't, the service will suffer. I suggest you get a spectrum analyser and sweep your cable and tell me how many signals you see. The problem start when you load more on that coax. When you get a channel going spurious you'll see your serivce degrade. The problem I have is will the cable industry have a better method of preventive maintenance, instead of the reactive maintenance in the past. Believe it or not, your telephone is tested everyday for potential problems. That ususally done in the early morning and you never know it. Will the cable industry do this? I've no idea. All it takes is a little mositure in a connector and the fun begins in a short period of time. I too have a memory, as does my three legged dog, who attacks any and all cable people who venture on my property.
I am curious, is your cable aerial or buried? |
