Posted: 2/2003
In Box
'Wholesale Only' is the Only Way
I have to agree with H. Russell Frisby Jr.'s assessment in his article, "Bells Want to Change Terms of The Deal" (PHONE+ October 2002). As a general manager with a facilities-based provider (that sometimes has to use Verizon for last-mile connectivity), I have seen firsthand the results of poor performance by Verizon with regard to timely installations and repair.
It seems ironic that so many DSL providers have gone out of business, some due to poor business plans and poor execution, but many due to the inability to get reliable copper from the Bell organizations. Now that the competitors have been eliminated, Verizon is aggressively marketing DSL service. The Bell companies know full well their inability to provide reliable, timely service to their competitors benefits the Bell companies. Many customers, frustrated by poor service, will simply return to Bell.
In a battle for survival, the Bells will continue to provide poor service as long as they have to compete. A "wholesale only" Bell organization is the only answer. The new "retail" Bell organization would then be forced to compete in the open market, using the same tools that are provided all other competitors.
--Frank Vence, General Manager
Adelphia Business Solutions - Buffalo, N.Y.
Corrections
The difference between the November 2002 deadline and the publishing date of our January 2003 special report on the Homeland Security Act created some confusion. PHONE+ should have stated research firm IDC expects the IT sector to recover this year, in 2003, with a growth rate of at least 5 percent and anticipates that less than 5 percent of the Homeland Security Department's $38 billion annual budget will be earmarked for external IT spending for hardware, software and IT security vendors. The Bush Administration requested $2.13 billion on IT spending for homeland security this year, according to research firm INPUT.
Our January article, "Energy Companies Cut Power to Telecom Units," should have said American Electric Power is a majority stakeholder alongside Allegheny Energy Inc. Also, Gordon Martin, the chairman of the Association of Communications Enterprises (ASCENT), left AFN in the fall of 2001 to take a job at Qwest Communications International Inc.
