Have fun ya'll.

[Link: 9to5mac.com]

KOT

Never mind. I realize now this is for the studio, not the cable company

Charter and TW merged into "Spectrum" aka " the Borg".

Btw, AOL is currently telling ATT what a fabulous idea this merger is. If you still own AT&T, dump it now while it still has some value.
[Link: marketwatch.com]

I don't know how accurate the nfo was, but an ATT installer told me they have stopped repairing/installing copper wire in the field and are only installing fiber because the cost is too high and they would rather spend the money on upgrades, rather than infrastructure that will be replaced, anyway. He also said they lose money on U-Verse, so the DirecTV/Dish installs/subscriptions are the main push/source of profit because the existing cabling infrastructure is old and basically crumbling.

IMO, their tech support, some installers and the lack of training is costing them more than they think and they're the main reasons I'm thinking of switching to another provider for internet but if the providers continue to merge, it's moot.

This is what happens when an industry is de-regulated.

The telephone company in my area has promised that my house will get faster speeds than DSL. Which is 5 to 6MBps down and 0.5 MBps up. This has been a promise for 10 plus years.

There is a fiber optic line 3 houses down... but it stops on the other side of a 10' wide creek. Not sure why though. I wonder which would be cheaper... for them to go back to an overhead pole and track over to the next pole on the other side then back to underground. Or to trench the creek. Either way, this fiber has been there since the 80's.

Thankfully Comcast has the ability to provide faster internet... 160 down and 15 up.

KOT

I recall reading similar reports re: Verizon, their union employeers and the strikes earlier this year.

Meanwhile the big providers are fighting tooth and nail to prevent municipalities and other players from providing new options...

Is the fiber that was installed in the 80's useable now? I thought I had a technician tell me that all of the fiber installed back then was obsolete now because the technology had changed from back when they installed big bundles of multiple strands.

The same can be said for the copper wire installed in the 80's... 1880's lol But their still being used.

I honestly can't see there being a reason why they can't use that fiber. I understand where you're coming from, but any fiber would be better than the copper.

It seeing how my area has gone from SNET to ATT to SBC and back to ATT in the last 20 to 25 years. Despite having the same work force. I can only see them being taught new rules for each company. Rather than new technology. You know, it's all about the rapport with the customer, but never about the 100 year old technology.

KOT

The number of strands really doesn't matter. Since the 1980s utilities have been dealing in single mode fiber. It is almost entirely different from our side of things which is multi mode. Single mode diameters have in fact changed (very) slightly over the years but we are talking 1.3 micron to 1.55.

Yeah, that's the great thing about monopolies.