TELECOM Digest Editor noted in response to a writer:
Scary. I am in what was SNET (Southern New England Telephone) territory. What was I believe the oldest RBOC in the country -- in fact I am right now sitting only about 1500 feet away from the site first commercial switching office in the country.
SBC bought out SNET a few years back, and has done NOTHING for us but take what WAS good service and make it lousy, while raising prices and laying off workers. Back in the monolithic BELL ATT days, things were MUCH more reliable than they are now. I'm talking REAL sloppy stuff -- botched record keeping, service suddenly shifted to a different set of pairs on the underground feed for no apparent reasons, etc. etc.
SNET HAD been in the process of running fiber all over our state (and starting to do Cable TV!) when SBC bought them out and nixed all that.
I HATE SBC. My only hope now is that perhaps Verizon will get big enough to buy them out? Or maybe some sort of deal that would give our state to Verizon? (All the surrounding states, and even a teeny tiny portion of this state, have Verizon as the local RBOC ILEC.)