AT&T has taken interesting step regarding home phones. Traditional phones connected to the wall by a wire just aren’t pulling in a lot of profit these days. People use them less and less as other options become cheaper and easier to use – like mobile phones and VoIP services like Skype. So AT&T has suggested to the Federal Communications Commission that regulations for wireline networks be dropped, and pure wireless networks be introduced.
What’s the background?
The FCC issued an invitation for comments on the possibility of creating phone networks based entirely on Internet Protocol technology. The 32-page AT&T response states its position very strongly in the opening lines:
“AT&T strongly supports… the transition from the circuit-switched legacy network to broadband and IP-based communications. That transition is underway already: with each passing day, more and more communications services migrate to broadband and IP-based services, leaving the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) and plain-old telephone service (“POTS”) as relics of a by-gone era… The [FCC] has been charged by Congress with formulating a National Broadband Plan that will result in broadband availability for 100% of the United States. That auspicious goal is within reach, but only if the Commission marshals its resources and those of other stakeholders to develop and execute a strategy that enables the deployment of the enormous amount of infrastructure necessary to reach it… a key component of that strategy is the orderly transition away from, and retirement of, the PSTN.”
AT&T couldn’t state its case more clearly: wired networks are dead, long-live wireless networks. But why is it so vociferous? It comes to money, basically. As it said, people are already moving away from legacy home phones towards more up-to-date solutions. Voice minutes on traditional networks have dropped hugely, as has the amount of revenue earned from them.
More importantly, a comment heard again and again is that the most expensive part of running a network is in backhaulage across old copper wire networks. Eliminating those in favour of cell-tower based communications would make things much cheaper for AT&T – a price saving that AT&T says could be used to shovel investment dollars into broadband.
What we think?
What does this have to do with mobile?
It’s never far from my mind that AT&T hates heavy mobile data users. Its Head of Wireless, Ralph de la Vega, made it clear that data usage on mobile has to be regulated. The amount of traffic on AT&Ts mobile spectrum has increased exponentially thanks to smartphones and the growing ease of using data services on mobile. Part of the plan that AT&T has presented to the FCC is a massive investment in wireless and broadband infrastructure across the whole country. Essentially what the operator is saying is “if we can abandon this old and busted method of running the network backbone, then we can make things better and cheaper for everyone who wants to use telecoms”
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Oh so much to say…
Let’s be specific, Wireline over Coaxial is dead or almost dead. But even WiFi needs an Internet Connection and if the telcos (including AT&T had not drug their collective feet for the last 20 years, even after receiving over $200 Billion in American revenue (money + fees + add’l taxes approved by Congress and the House of Reps) since 1990 specifically for building out their Fiber offerings. Hey the telcos promised this to the elected officials of the time in order to get all that American tax money. They promised to give Americans Fiber and they promised this back in 1990.
Let’s look at their collective progress: Nada. Remember Verizon FIOS was not around back then and have not been laying Fiber for that long considering promises made back in the 1990s!
In Japan, in 2000, they had 100Mbps / 100Mbps bi-directional, synchronous fiber (for $55 or less per month) connections from the telco switching stations all they way back to their homes, not just somewhere in the neighborhood and Coaxial cable from there. Its silly, ridiculous and sick.
Thanks to the fiber already laid in Japan, the telco there gave customers 1 Gbps / 1Gbps bi-directional synchronous connections in 2006 for only $52 per month or less, yes in Japan competition is working thanks only to government deregulation.
Had the Telecommunications Act of 1996 not been watered down and made un-enforcible via Telecom lobbyists (reported to spend over $1.8 Million per WEEK) to avoid giving us Fiber last year (2009) Americans would have had fiber to their homes and broadband worthy speeds (bi-directional) in 2000 also.
The FCC definition for broadband is a pathetic joke and it was only recently increased to a whopping slow 768Kbps. No minimum guarantees. No bi-directional synchronous requirements.
And now a telco, any telco, AT&T, whoever wants regulations dropped! Are you kidding me? For what, why, what have they given Americans lately, but yet another system that perpetuates the lie of bandwidth scarcity. And for what reason, to charge Americans more money for less access and denying them jobs in the process. Unforgivable and extremely un-American of the telcos if you ask most IT professionals that have a clue about these issues.
No regulations should be dropped no matter how un-enforceable they telcos have made them. Absolutely none. More regulations MUST BE INSTITUTED for Americans to realize jobs that will increase the GNP thanks to one thing ~ Fiber! Fiber is the solution.
I really do not care if they attach Wirless anything, 3G or otherwise to their Fiber backbone if they do not give Americans fiber to their homes and apartments. They need to be told to pound sand! To take a long walk off a short pier! To take a hike and get lost.
Here is what Americans MUST have (we should of had this in 2000, its 2010):
1) Net Neutrality: (no throttling of service, no changing Quality of Service (QoS) settings of any packet for any reason from the Customer’s PC ~ LAN ~ to the Internet through the telco) ~ no DPI: Deep Packet Inspection (its literally unnecessary if you have Fiber).
2) Minimum bandwidth speeds: A minimum speed that should the broadband throughput fall below for more then a few minutes per day (3% would be approx 43 mins per day max the service could fall below 100Mbps / 100Mbps, yes upstream as well as down) the providers service can NOT be labeled as “Broadband”. I suggest that 100Mbps / 100Mbps is over 9 years late, but would be a good place to start! 768Kbps is ridiculous and way too slow. Heck most Cable Internet users are only getting a throttled 400Kbps down and a 100Kbps upstream approximately 90% of the time. If they had a DD-WRT, OpenWRT or Tomato enabled Firewall/Router they would see their actual bandwidth in real time 24 X 7. As soon as the Speed Test finishes, you are throttled, immediately, you just do not know it if you do not have the right software running on your hardware firewall/router!
3) Consistent broadband bi-directional synchronous service ~ Do a simple bell curve, if speeds drop below 100Mbps / 100Mbps for more than 3% of the time (43 minutes per day), the service MUST NOT be labeled BROADBAND. The FCC should implement fines for any “Broadband” service not maintaining broadband levels. The telcos have had fines with contracts to each others since they existed. Those fines reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars should they not maintain a minimum service levels to each other. These same long standing contractual arrangements MUST be extended to customers. The FCC, if they did their job, would enforce this for all Americans!
AT&T and many others are suffering because of their very business decisions and customer no-service handling of their customers. Do NOT feel sorry for them, this has been over 20 years in the making. They made their bed, too bad if its getting a bit uncomfortable. If the average American truly understood the level of deception, lies and out right fraud committed (with the blessings of our elected officials) they would NEVER give their business to an American telco if possible. Sadly that is not possible yet. Only a few of us in larger markets even have the option to churn to another provider. Too bad its only another telco that is pulling the same crapola.
Not only should no regulations be dropped, some new ones need to be instituted immediately to force them to provide the fiber they promised over 20 years ago to the American people! This collective amnesia and hard core telco lobbying of Congress and the House of Representatives at the tune of over $1.8 Million per week needs to end. When you have put over $200 billion in Fiber to your customers and are laying $1.8 Million per week in fiber to out-lying areas, then and only then should we even talk to them about anything.
Its time for the telcos to prove themselves to Americans and provide the Fiber they promised over 20 years ago. If they want to put in 3G and other technologies as well, so be it, but “Where’s the Fiber?” must be answered and provided first!
They have already taken our money! “Where’s the Fiber?”
Two solutions:
1) Greenlight (Wilson N.C.) 100Mbps / 100Mbps fiber to homes.
2) User Owned Fiber: Utopia in Utah will allow a customer to purchase the fiber link from the telco switching station to their home. Money was set aside by leaders and the cost was subsidized to the tune of $3000 per home. Most Americans I know would find a way to finance it, as Internet access is already a necessity for Americans.
Talk to your local officials, if they are bought and paid for by the telcos and cable companies, elect someone who will represent you…then make it so!
If you do not think that this is related to anything else the telcos are doing, including Wireless, you are mistaken and need to do some more research! All 3G does is extend the bandwidth scarcity myth, hardly helpful to anyone!
Remove any regulations now, no way, no how? First give us what you promised!