Dr. Thomas Ho's blog @ Windows Live Spaces: Broadband Internet access

Comcast’s quarter shows the ebb and flow in telecom vs. cable war | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Thu, 01 May 2008 14:15:00 GMT

I certainly have contributed to the turmoil as I recently dropped AT&T Yahoo! DSL in favor of Comcast High-speed Internet which I used previously until AT&T made its price just "too attractive" to pass up. The irony is that I also upgraded from analog to digital cable when AT&T U-verse finally became available in my neighborhood.

Since I had asked AT&T to notify me when U-verse became available, it really was AT&I's "business to lose" BUT I was "impressed" by Comcast's willingness to compete to get my business while AT&T had NOT YET notified me. Furthermore, my DSL service seemed to require "reboots" after dropping the connection on a 'regular' basis. AT&T offered me a new DSL modem when I called to disconnect... why didn't they do that when I was still willing to give them a chance?

I've been wanting to see how shared bandwidth was faring in my neighborhood since my "early adopter" days on Comcast and @Home (remember them?) Finally, I've been intrigued by Comcast's efforts to engage its customers via Twitter.

Anyway, Comcast almost blew it too with its flawed installation and followup, but they made it right so for the time being, they have a chance to keep my business.

Watch for a future post about that installation as well as some of my thoughts on cable-telco competition. Let's see if I have any reason (good or bad) to talk about my Comcast service.

Link to Comcast’s quarter shows the ebb and flow in telecom vs. cable war | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

"Leveling the playing field" between telcos & cablecos

Sat, 14 Jan 2006 23:05:36 GMT

The double-edge of the FCC's DSL ruling by ZDNet's David Berlind -- One thing we know for sure is that technology mono/duo/polies (aka: technopolies) are really bad for end users. But, in an FCC ruling that could stifle competition in the business of internet service provision, I have mixed feelings. In case you missed it, the FCC ruled to reclassify Digital Subscriber Line service (DSL) as an [...]

In the same way that Indiana S.B. 245 attempts to promote competition between telcos and cablecos in delivering video, this action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last fall addresses competition in broadband Internet access between telcos and cablecos who you will come to understand are the opponents in the "battle royal" for ALL of those (more than you realize) dollars that you spend on communications every month!

Talking about I just took the plunge...ordered DSL!

Sat, 12 Mar 2005 16:04:06 GMT

I'm blogging this from the SBC FreedomLink WiFi Hotspot @ the Barnes & Noble @ Clearwater in Indianapolis. It is very robust...I am impressed!

Quote

I just took the plunge...ordered DSL!

Please forgive the formatting because I haven't figured out how to do "paragraphs" on MSN Spaces YET (I just figured out how to do paragraphs! Make sure that you're using IE when editing in MSN Spaces and use shift-enter for carriage returns)

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had found out about Kiva's promotion for IU faculty, staff, & students at:

Kiva for IU

I called Kiva, but NEVER heard back from them about availability at my address.

This morning, I read an SBC press release about DSL promotions:
SBC DSL promos
so I called SBC to find out the "real deal" because the promotional rates do NOT include the FUSF (Federal Universal Service Fund) and taxes so I found out that I can get SBC Yahoo! DSL Express (1.5Mbps download speed) for less than $29 per month [I don't qualify for the $19.95 promotional price because I don't have the All Distance (I don't call long distance very much) voice package], but this price DOES include FUSF & taxes. So, you can see that it IS A BETTER DEAL than Kiva because the comparable service from Kiva would cost $49.95!

Furthermore, SBC DSL includes FreedomLink WiFi for $1.99/month (FREE until May 31) and although there aren't very many Hot Spots in Indy (yet), that will improve before Kiva Everywhere! (included with Kiva DSL) gets very much coverage in Indy.

Needless to say, this is a better deal than $42.95 for Comcast High-Speed Internet which offers NO WiFi and I guess that the "last straw" was Comcast now charging $1.99 to pay my bill via credit card! SO, I finally can say that Comcast can no longer "call my bluff" about switching to DSL.

Of course, I am tied in to a one-year contract with SBC, but I suspect that I'll be even happier that I switched to SBC when I switch (probably) my Treo's service from T-Mobile to Cingular and bundle my Cingular service with my SBC bill especially, IF I decide to upgrade to a Treo 650 to use Cingular's EDGE network!

Well, I'm going to switch during spring break so I know that you wish me well so that I can "finish" the rest of the semester with you!

I just took the plunge...ordered DSL!

Thu, 27 Jan 2005 16:58:32 GMT

Please forgive the formatting because I haven't figured out how to do "paragraphs" on MSN Spaces YET (I just figured out how to do paragraphs! Make sure that you're using IE when editing in MSN Spaces and use shift-enter for carriage returns)

Yesterday, I mentioned that I had found out about Kiva's promotion for IU faculty, staff, & students at:

Kiva for IU

I called Kiva, but NEVER heard back from them about availability at my address.

This morning, I read an SBC press release about DSL promotions:
SBC DSL promos
so I called SBC to find out the "real deal" because the promotional rates do NOT include the FUSF (Federal Universal Service Fund) and taxes so I found out that I can get SBC Yahoo! DSL Express (1.5Mbps download speed) for less than $29 per month [I don't qualify for the $19.95 promotional price because I don't have the All Distance (I don't call long distance very much) voice package], but this price DOES include FUSF & taxes. So, you can see that it IS A BETTER DEAL than Kiva because the comparable service from Kiva would cost $49.95!

Furthermore, SBC DSL includes FreedomLink WiFi for $1.99/month (FREE until May 31) and although there aren't very many Hot Spots in Indy (yet), that will improve before Kiva Everywhere! (included with Kiva DSL) gets very much coverage in Indy.

Needless to say, this is a better deal than $42.95 for Comcast High-Speed Internet which offers NO WiFi and I guess that the "last straw" was Comcast now charging $1.99 to pay my bill via credit card! SO, I finally can say that Comcast can no longer "call my bluff" about switching to DSL.

Of course, I am tied in to a one-year contract with SBC, but I suspect that I'll be even happier that I switched to SBC when I switch (probably) my Treo's service from T-Mobile to Cingular and bundle my Cingular service with my SBC bill especially, IF I decide to upgrade to a Treo 650 to use Cingular's EDGE network!

Well, I'm going to switch during spring break so I know that you wish me well so that I can "finish" the rest of the semester with you!