Dangling Broadband From the Phone Stick

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com>
Date: Sat, 19 Mar 2005 10:53:06 -0500
To: <undisclosed-recipient:;>
Subject: Dangling Broadband From the Phone Stick


Dangling Broadband From the Phone Stick

March 19, 2005
  By MATT RICHTEL

SAN FRANCISCO, March 18 - To gauge the potential consumer
impact of the consolidation sweeping the telephone
industry, look no further than the silver-toned plastic
phone gathering dust on the desk in Justin Martikovic's
studio apartment.

Mr. Martikovic, 30, a junior architect who relies on a
cellphone for his normal calling, says he never uses the
desk phone - but he pays $360 a year to keep it hooked up.

"I have to pay for a service I'm never using," he said.

He has no choice. His telephone company, SBC
Communications, will not sell him high-speed Internet
access unless he buys the phone service, too. That puts him
in the same bind as many people around the country who want
high-speed, or broadband, Internet access but no longer
need a conventional telephone. Right now, their phone
companies tend to have a "take it or leave it" attitude.

Consumers "are not forced to go with SBC," said Michael
Coe, a company spokesman. "If they just want a broadband
connection, I'd recommend they look around for people who
can provide just a broadband connection."

The nation's other two largest phone companies, Verizon
Communications and BellSouth, have similar policies:
broadband service is available only as a bundle with phone
service.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/19/technology/19phone.html?ex=1268888400&en=b
8329ca7e98c5ee3&ei=5090


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