walker,
Japan is pretty much like the U.S. was before the breakup of AT&T. NTT has a monopoly on local service (excluding wireless), and although there are alternatives in long distance, there isn't enough difference in price to make them very attractive. As for out-of-the-country calls, I use a callback service
NTT is a dinosaur. Everybody knows it should be broken up, but the company resists and the gov't. doesn't have the guts to force it. The bureaucracy within the company is incredible. For example, we were having a line installed, and we had to delay it for a day. We called NTT on the morning of the day before, and they notified their service team as they were on their way to our house the afternoon of the following day. Another example: any change in service must wait until the 6th of the month, regardless of what it is. And on and on and on.
I don't know what will happen to force telcos worldwide to give up on copper. My gut feeling is that what companies like TLAB, CIEN and QWST are doing will help open the door, but I'm not sure it will help ordinary users like us. Business will be the first beneficiary. It's ironic, because I think there is an enormous demand for more bandwidth among ordinary users. I know that I would be willing to pay extra for more if it were available, but I don't have any choices. Those companies that are in the business of expanding bandwidth exponentially are going to make a LOT of money, and I intend to make some by investing in those companies. I hope TLAB is one of them
Scott |
