[GRLUG] NOT LINUX - broadband

[Adam Tauno Williams]

> I used to work across from the Airport at 44th and Patterson in a Huge
> office complex.
> There was all sorts of Fiber being piped into the buildings utility
> room from the previous owner of the complex (Bosch) - Even a giant
> at&t distribution frame labeled DS3-[serial-numbers].
> but all that was available from both AT&T and TDS was T1 - and at a
> hefty $460 a month.

I can beat that!  We had fiber between two of our facilities in 1995!
Yep. This was part of US Signal which laid one of the first fiber loops
in Grand Rapids.  Then USS was sold.  And the fiber was disconnected.  A
huge rack of T1 CSU/DSU cards was installed connected to a copper trunk.
Why?  Because the fiber was "too expensive to provision"!  Eh?  Yea.
That fiber is still on the wall.  And last year... AT&T/SBC trenched a
new fiber into the building for an Internet connection.  Funny.  Next to
that... a copper trunk that carries the 17 T1s to interconnect our
facilities - but at least all those CSU/DSUs fit in 1U rather than an
entire rock.

> If service providers aren't absolutely FORCED to provide better
> data-service they won't they will keep offering the very minimum they
> can, and issue government regulated lines - because there is more
> profit in them

You can't force them; that has already been proved.  The fed has given
the telcos billions of dollars to lay residential fiber - they took the
money and didn't do anything except sue the frustrated municipalities
that just gave up and decided to serve their citizens.
<http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/07/telco-wont-install-fiber-sues-to-keep-city-from-doing-it.ars>
<http://www.muninetworks.org/tags-103>
<http://www.newnetworks.com/ShortSCANDALSummary.htm>

> Why install a DSL Circut when you can force business customers to pay
> 8 -  10 times the amount for T1's.

T1s don't cost anything near 8 - 10 times as much as an equivalent DSL
connections.  You can get T1 connections for sub-$200 a month.

> Maybe if there is someone that knows more about phone and data
> infrastructure they can explain to me what I am describing - I still
> have access to the building I should go back and take pictures, I am
> curious to this day.