Bell South DSL question

I'm in Kentucky, in an area served by Bell South. I currently can not get DSL service, because I'm too far from a CO.

Bell South has some kind of "boxes" scattered around in rural areas, including one about a mile from me. I think these are some kind of SLC equipment, but I don't know any technical details. I think it might be possible to add equipment to these "boxes" to provide DSL to the lines connected to them, but I'm not sure.

Recently, Bell South has been publicly bragging about how many new locations they've provided DSL to this year. I think that means they're installing some kind of remote equipment, but I'm not sure.

In February, I spent 2 hours on the phone trying to find somebody who could tell me if there was any chance of getting DSL in the near future. Finally, I got hold of somebody who asked for my phone number, then after a short pause, said something about needing to swap cards in some equipment, and it would be 3-4 months.

Now, 5 months later, I still don't have DSL. I'm not sure how much this person knew, and how much was just speculation. It's possible that she actually determined that my equipment was on some kind of upgrade schedule, that's just slower than expected. Or maybe she just determined that it wasn't DSL capable, and threw out 3-4 months as a WAG and had no clue whether there were actually any plans to upgrade it.

I really don't want to try to work my way through the telephone maze I went through in Feb. I emailed BellSouth a couple of weeks ago asking if they had any estimate about DSL availability, and got no answer.

Does anybody know more about Bell South's system, and what they're doing or not doing to provide DSL to more locations, and how I might find out whether I might see DSL anytime in the near future? There's no cable out here either, so I guess the only option is satellite, and I've heard bad things about it. Besides, I'd hate to sink the upfront cost into satellite equipment and have BellSouth turn on DSL the next month.

Reply to
Matt Simpson
Loading thread data ...

"Matt Simpson" wrote

I don't have any information about your specific area; maybe someone else does. Those equipment boxes can have all kinds of different equipment in them and the fact that there is one close by doesn't necessarily mean that your line goes through it (or even can).

Alas, regardless of the quality of information you get from B.S., they are really your only real source of information. It is in their best interest to tell you as soon as it is available 'cause that means more money in their pocket.

Reply to
Ken Abrams

On Wed, 12 Jul 2006 15:59:05 -0400, Matt Simpson wrote Re Bell South DSL question:

We also live in a rural area in a situation exactly as you have described. We had been waiting for DSL to be extended to our area for nearly 10-years. Two years ago we organized a petition drive and got about 80 signatures of people that wanted DSL in the area. We took the petition to our local state (legislative) representative and talked to him about it. Fortunately, before being elected to the legislature he served on the state PUC for several years.

He got together with people from BellSouth (BS) that he knew from his PUC days and convinced them to spend some of the "Fed" money they get every year, in our area. This "Fed" money is what the Feds give the phone companies every year to subsidize DSL service being extended to areas it ordinarily wouldn't be economic in. A year later we got DSL. It's poor quality (consistent with all BS services), but it's better than dialup.

BS will not do *anything* unless 1) they can make a bunch of money quickly, i.e. quick pay-back 2) somebody else pays for it; or 3) they are forced to.

Reply to
Vic Dura

That's true, and I hope they will tell me as soon as it is available. I have filled out the web request to get notified when it is available. But it would be nice to get a realistic estimate of whether it ever will be available.

Unfortunately, there is no easy way to call them and ask that question. If I call the number for DSL service, it asks for my phone number, and then tells me DSL is not available to that number, and does not give me an opportunity to call a human.

In February, I tried to order dial-up service from them, since they were advertising features (modem-on-hold) that my existing ISP didn't have. FIrst I ordered it through the website, and it told me the order had been accepted, but I never got the service. So I called, and was told they didn't have a local dial-up number in my area, which is probably why the original order didn't go through. They offered to sell me an expanded local calling area plan, which meant I would pay a higher monthly fee and get unlimited dialing to an area that had a dial-up number. When I declined that offer, the rep tried one more tactic to snag my business: "Would you be interested in DSL?"

I should have hung up. But I was feeling evil, so I said "Yes, I would love DSL". So then he checked and found out he couldn't sell me DSL. But he said I could find out when it would be available, and transferred me to another number which was no help but referred me somewhere else, and so on, until about an hour later I got the lady who said "3-4 months".

Now, 5 months later, I really don't want to try to order dial-up service again, and hope that the rep will try to sell me DSL instead, and then get me started back on that same path where maybe I'll find somebody who will give me some kind of answer that may or may not be correct.

So it's not really correct to say they are my "only real source of information", because they are not a source of information. It may be true that there is no OTHER source of information, but in that case then there is NO real source of information, because Bell South is definitely not a source.

Reply to
Matt Simpson

Make Noise. Not on the phone. Not email. USPS.

Bitch to Top Brass. Bitch to State regulators. Bitch to your flunky in the House. State House as well. The more noise you make, the better. Get neighbors to join in.

"Never give up, never surrender"

formatting link
Even though BS is not required/regulated re: DSL, they DO look bad where there's lots of complaining.

Reply to
David Lesher

It used to be a few years ago when every CLEC was installing Remote Terminals (RT) all over to keep the defections to cable down that BS had their lists of planned RT online. I'm thinking it was a mistake but they let it stay up for a while. But you might do some Google searching for RT or Retmote Terminal installations BellSouth etc.

A remote terminal setup where they have to upgrade the chassis likely has a fully funded cost of $10k, give or take. That takes a lot of DSL customers to make it worth while. And if the issue is they'd have to run fiber to the RT, well that can really make it a long term prospect.

Reply to
DLR

"Matt Simpson" wrote

I understand your frustration but I think you are making this harder than it needs to be.

I do have some practical suggestions. They may, however, be of limited help.

When you call the automated system, put in a number from an area nearby that you know does have DSL. That might result in talking to a human.

Once a month, call the number for Residential New Service. Ask them.

Visit

formatting link
They have forums that are visited by techs/other employees of most operating companies. You can often find information there that is virtually impossible to get by any other means. Maybe someone here can suggest the appropriate forum for BS in your area. If not, just browse the groups. You can probably pick out the right one.

Good luck!

Reply to
Ken Abrams

Matt,

It's either a remote terminal or an EDSL terminal (Extended DSL) which has no channel cards. I'll get more info later today. The technique is designed to accomoadate rural areas not yet DSL ready.

K> I'm in Kentucky, in an area served by Bell South. I currently can not

Reply to
kingpen

Thanks! I haven't had any luck finding anybody that can/will tell me anything. I know that BellSouth is bringing DSL to some rural areas in our county. For example, their website which provides info on whether a line is DSL-ready says that my parents' line can get DSL. They're in a different part of the county, but about as far from civilization as I am. I assume (but don't know 100%) that they're a long-haul from the CO, and are getting served by some kind of remote equipment. Ironic, because they don't have a computer and can't spell DSL. Why them and not me? I don't know whether it's because they're hooked to a different kind of equipment, or whether they were just ahead of me on an upgrade schedule.

Our governor has promised statewide broadband access by late 2007. But it's hard to tell what, if anything, is being done to really accomplish this. RIght now, his main priority is staying out of jail.

There's an organization set up that is supposedly working towards this goal

formatting link
but as far as I can tell, all they do is talk about how wonderful broadband is, and how it's going to make my life wonderful. Okay, I'm convinced already ... how do I get it? Not a clue. They have a form for people who don't have broadband to fill out. I filled that out, and mentioned that I'd been trying to get info from BellSouth, since it looked like DSL had the most chance of reaching me anytime this decade. I thought they would at least have some contacts at BS that could say what's going on. I got back a response that said they were "working with" BellSouth, as well as other cable and wireless companies, to expand broadband access, and they would let me know if it ever got to me. In the meantime, they referred me to a satellite company which provides access "comparable in price and performance" to DSL or cable, which translates to about double the price of BellSouth DSL for less than half the bandwidth.

Reply to
Matt Simpson

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.