Duker:
This is from an article on DSL service from today's NYT. Local telecoms are big buyers of GIS systems to aid in broadband rollout.
If You Want Web Access Over a High-Bandwidth Phone
Lines, You Need the Right Address and Lots of Luck
By KATIE HAFNER
Around the country, some people have been able to hook up to D.S.L. service with ease, while others have had miserable experiences. Many other home computer users are facing the same problems and trying to figure out who can get the service, which telephone company or other kind of company to go with, how D.S.L. service works and when it will be available.
*************
But getting D.S.L. service can be tricky. In the flood of advertising on the part of D.S.L. companies, little mention is made of the fact that if you live more than 17,500 feet (a little more than three miles) from your phone company's closest central office, you cannot get D.S.L. service. That is because the signal rapidly weakens with distance.
If you call your local phone company to inquire about D.S.L. service, the phone company first checks to see if the nearest central office has been upgraded to offer digital service. Then it checks to see if your home or business is within 17,500 feet of the office.
Do not assume that this is a calculation you can make on your own. Even if you get in your car and measure the most direct route to the switching office, the distance you get is likely to differ from the number the telephone company gets. What matters is the actual length of the wire, which can take a circuitous route to your house. |
