RE: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] DSL in the area ??

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

This is why I sometimes am willing to go for an option even if it isn't as
affordable. If nobody used cell phones then there wouldn't be that option
away from landlines. It is worth using one sometimes just to help leave an
option open. The same with things like satillite Internet access, solar
powered cars, etc. Anyone who always takes the cheapest/easiest path and
then bitches that they have no options deserves what they get. When I
build a house I'm going to put solar and wind generators in even if I'm
plugged into the grid just to give me that option if I need it later (or
damn to actually get paid by the utility company). If everyone and every
company supplied at least part of their own power (as much as their slice
of space easily allowed) it'd sure help with stupid things like rolling
blackouts and lowering utility prices. If people stopped once every four
fillerups and put some gas alternative in their car it'd do the same.. try
some gas/ethenol(Sp?) combo or something even if it isn't cheaper. Copy
every other DVD you buy to DIVX and share it online so someone else can
enjoy it and you make some small dent in the market. Things like that.

> Because they can. What keeps prices low? Alternatives. Or being able to do
> without. If DSL or Cable were too expensive, no one would use it. Phone
> prices go up, Cell phones get used more, or people stop calling as much. My
> cell phone bill is the same price as my two land lines I have coming into my
> house. If I have to buy gas, as long as every one keeps their prices within
> a dime of each other, what does it matter where I buy it. All the stations
> raise prices except one or two, why wouldn't he want to take advantage of
> getting more of a kick back? Point is, there is no gas shortage untill you
> run short.  All the stations in town could raise prices to $2.00 a gallon,
> and what would you do? To quote a great movie, "You'd piss and moan like an
> impotent jerk, and then bend over and take it up the tail pipe!" There is
> nothing to keep prices down, except for the good graces of the fuel
> companies. Same thing with any deregulated utility. If you have to use it,
> you have to pay. 
> 
> Okay, I'm going to shut up now, because I thought we ran this whole gas
> prices thread into the ground months ago. :-)
> 
> Point is, for an alternative to the phone company to provide a wire ( or
> fiber) to your house, you have three things. How much will a person pay for
> the service delivered by it, including initial costs and inconvenience. How
> much will it cost to run the cable, possibly amortized over a period of
> time. and How much will it cost to maintain the service and wire. In a
> spread out area like Columbia, where the population density is so low, you
> won't find many services that can make money by running an infrastructure
> like the cable company did. Same thing for most any other competition for a
> "utility". And if there's not a decent profit in there somewhere, the stock
> holders aren't going to like it.

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