From: stephen@sprunk.org   
      
   On 02-Jul-14 16:42, Robert Heller wrote:   
   > At Wed, 02 Jul 2014 12:40:12 -0500 Stephen Sprunk   
   >  wrote:   
   >> On 02-Jul-14 11:57, Robert Heller wrote:   
   >>> It is no more expensive than stringing copper on the utility   
   >>> poles. Actually *fiber* cables are getting to be cheaper than   
   >>> copper --   
   >>   
   >> For new lines, sure.  However, in most cases the copper lines are a   
   >> sunk cost, and replacing them with fiber would cost a lot of   
   >> money.   
   >   
   > Unless the copper is falling apart (in places it litterally is). Yes,   
   > it costs more to replace the *existing* copper with fiber, but if you   
   > are going to *replace* the infrastructure, replacing it with *old*   
   > [dead end] technology is just plain stupid.   
      
   ... and that's part of why they're replacing it with FTTN.  Going all   
   the way to FTTH, though, makes it an order of magnitude more costly, and   
   problems in the last few hundred feet are rare.   
      
   >>> Yes, Verizon has pretty much stopped rolling out FiOS.   
   >>   
   >> They're still marketing the heck out of it here.  Perhaps you mean   
   >> they're not introducing it in additional exchanges?   
   >   
   > Yes.  They are looking to take market share from the likes of Comcast   
   > or Time Warner.  All of the ads *I've* every seen seem to be geared   
   > in that light.   
      
   "Triple play" is the holy grail in the telecom industry; the wiring   
   plant and customer service expenses are mostly fixed, so the key to   
   profit is selling as many things on top of the plant as possible.   
      
   >>> Right now, Verizon has sold off almost all of their copper   
   >>> telephone infrastructure -- only in Mass. does Verizon have any   
   >>> copper telephone infrastructure,   
   >>   
   >> What?  Verizon is still the ILEC for a big chunk of the country.   
   >   
   > No, they have sold off most of their *copper* landline business and   
   > are concentrating on wireless.  (At least on the East coast.)   
      
   FairPoint bought Verizon's ILEC business in ME, NH and VT, and Frontier   
   got their ILEC business in AZ, ID, IL, IN, MI, NV, NC, OH, OR, SC, WA,   
   WV and WI.  According to Wonkypedia, this "... primarily involved rural   
   exchanges that were formerly a part of the GTE system ..."   
      
   So, one could say that Verizon was ditching _rural_ landlines, but they   
   don't seem to be ditching urban/suburban landlines, which they really   
   only had a lot of in the non-GTE parts of their territory--and that is   
   also where they are pushing FiOS, which probably isn't a coincidence.   
      
   S   
      
   --   
   Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein   
   CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the   
   K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking   
      
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