20 years ago, I still had a landline. CenturyLink had recently completed the purchase of Qwest Communications (formerly U.S.West). On more than one occasion, I got a sales call, offering me DSL service. I said, "sign me up", only to hear back a few days later that it was "coming soon".
At the time, I worked with some network geek types, one of whom had previously worked for Qwest and had some good inside connections there. He inquired about the DSL timetable for me. The answer came back, it's in the planning stage, but it would require equipment upgrades at the switching office in Ward, and they did not have any money in the budget for that yet. Apparently 20 years is still not enough time to get that funded.
I think that answer from 20 years ago explains the delay of battery replacement, the slow response time for service calls, the (still) lack of DSL, etc. Rural customers don't create the profit margins for telecomm. In fact, despite the high cost of the landline, we are subsidized by suburbia.
About 30 years ago, U.S.West/Qwest replaced the cable that runs from the Bar-K and Overland areas back to the Ward switching office. This was done not only to resolve reliability issues with the aging trunk, but also to meet Federal requirement to phase out party lines(!) and allow for the expected expansion of subscribers in this area. I did not physically inspect the cable, but it had an orange jacket, which at the time was often associated with fiber optic rather than copper.
My landline bill included a USF charge. If you look into that, you find that it is a fee collected in the interest of providing reliable phone and broadband service to rural areas. That objective was further codified in the 2009 National Broadband Plan. In short, they are collecting the money to maintain and improve rural telecom services. It seems likely the money runs out after the executive bonuses are paid, but before the actual maintenance and improvements are made.
Here's an FCC article about it https://www.fcc.gov/general/universal-service.
CenturyLink is a monopoly in this area. They make use of the public right-of-way, and IMHO they should be held accountable to provide good service, including broadband, as outlined in the National Plan I mentioned. I'd guess they are being paid some tax dollars, but not delivering the results.
FYI my understanding is, the PUC regulates phone service, but has no authority over DSL or the lack thereof. So, if anyone wants to pursue the broadband service question, there's a link somewhere in or near that FCC article.
At the time, I worked with some network geek types, one of whom had previously worked for Qwest and had some good inside connections there. He inquired about the DSL timetable for me. The answer came back, it's in the planning stage, but it would require equipment upgrades at the switching office in Ward, and they did not have any money in the budget for that yet. Apparently 20 years is still not enough time to get that funded.
I think that answer from 20 years ago explains the delay of battery replacement, the slow response time for service calls, the (still) lack of DSL, etc. Rural customers don't create the profit margins for telecomm. In fact, despite the high cost of the landline, we are subsidized by suburbia.
About 30 years ago, U.S.West/Qwest replaced the cable that runs from the Bar-K and Overland areas back to the Ward switching office. This was done not only to resolve reliability issues with the aging trunk, but also to meet Federal requirement to phase out party lines(!) and allow for the expected expansion of subscribers in this area. I did not physically inspect the cable, but it had an orange jacket, which at the time was often associated with fiber optic rather than copper.
My landline bill included a USF charge. If you look into that, you find that it is a fee collected in the interest of providing reliable phone and broadband service to rural areas. That objective was further codified in the 2009 National Broadband Plan. In short, they are collecting the money to maintain and improve rural telecom services. It seems likely the money runs out after the executive bonuses are paid, but before the actual maintenance and improvements are made.
Here's an FCC article about it https://www.fcc.gov/general/universal-service.
CenturyLink is a monopoly in this area. They make use of the public right-of-way, and IMHO they should be held accountable to provide good service, including broadband, as outlined in the National Plan I mentioned. I'd guess they are being paid some tax dollars, but not delivering the results.
FYI my understanding is, the PUC regulates phone service, but has no authority over DSL or the lack thereof. So, if anyone wants to pursue the broadband service question, there's a link somewhere in or near that FCC article.