I've enjoyed our conversation, hope it hasn't gotten too lengthy heh. > Its very difficult for them to be accurate, since when using things like > copper medium. You can have variances from day to day based on > temperature changes and other factors. Its why when the engineers were > running tests, they never got consistent results.
There is a tool we have for estimating loop length based on line parameters, but mostly what I'm referring to is a database of stored figures. Where they get these figures and how old they are, I have no idea. > Not sure what you mean by regulated. You can lose DSL service, while you > will almost never lose POTS phone service. If you lose POTS phone > service it must be restored within a certain period of time. I don't > believe thats the case with DSL or any Internet medium. Unless its part > of the SLA, and you usually pay a much higher rate for such. I don't really know either. What I do know is that "DSL is regulated and U-Verse is not". What specifically that means, and to how much regulation I really don't know. > It can and might be for many reasons. Its the whole reason why they > can't just merge after an agreement has been reached. I understand that, just saying I see the possibility of them having stipulations on the merger. I don't expect them to be refused though. This is also well out of my area of expertise, so I couldn't really say. > I hate outsourcing, it has taken food off my table. I have had and lost > some clients to Indian developers. It really stinks! Much less the > amount of spam I get from foreign companies trying to get me to > outsource to them. Its why I broke down and put a Made in USA on my > website. Also being more conscious of buying Made in USA products, > if/when you can find them. I can't believe how many items I posses made > in Asia. No doubt about that. I make an intentional effort to try and keep to things made in america, but it's very difficult to find actually. Not to mention if you're on the lower end of the income scale, you can't really justify paying much more for a product just because it's made in america =\. > I am speaking in geographic terms, Jacksonville is HUGE! They made it > such back in the late 60s. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacksonville,_Florida#Geography I was familiar, just didn't understand what you meant as size is somewhat of a relative term. >> AT&T does a lot of unusual and unpredictable things, but wasting money >> is not something they are in the business of. > > Oh it happens, and has for many years. Still trying to get a ROI on all > that copper everywhere. I wouldn't disagree, but honestly for a company this size the waste factor is VERY slim when compared to other larger companies I know of or have been involved with. They make a very active effort to avoid waste and unnecessary spending or investments which will not be profitable. It's something that's impressed me about AT&T to be honest. I'm glad for it, as waste does no one good the company or the customers. It also allows AT&T to be able to pay me more than what your typical run of the mill helpdesk rep would be paid. >> I can guarantee you my sources of information are >> much more reliable than the tech you spoke with you. > > There was a supervisor monitoring one of the U-Verse guys. There were 3 > techs this time. Previously back in 03 when working with DSL there were > like 10. However given the things I observed much less the conversations > I had with the technicians and the supervisor. I have no doubt they were > quite in the know. I read this again and realized it was just outright incorrect. I apologize for my statement, it was cocky of me to assume that I knew more than a person I know nothing about. I can say with confidence I do have more information than most field technicians. > Just as you cannot discuss some information, I am not sure you would be > privy to say the future of U-Verse services and how they will be > provided, via what mediums. Fortunately, I have some contacts in U-Verse that are also involved in high level processes that keep me informed of the important things. I don't have extensive conversations with them regularly, but anything that's important to know they'll tell me. Anything which I hear rumored I can run by them and verify if it's true. You are right, not as good as being in that department. > Well DSL is not really going anywhere, just abandoning ADSL. Since > U-Verse is very much DSL still, just another form. They are just > marketing it under a sellable name that also applies to other services, > TV, Phone, etc. All provided over a DSL medium. Some are very mislead > assuming its fiber to the premises like FiOS. Its nothing like that and > you will be no where near the fiber. U-Verse uses fiber just as cable > service does. Copper to a node, and fiber from there. I'm aware of that, but within the company the 2 are operated completely separately. If AT&T decided to cease DSL operations, I'd be laid off but the U-Verse guys would be fine. Within the company we're referred to as DSL, and U-Verse is U-Verse (not VDSL). On a partially related note, it's sad that most agents do not realize U-Verse is also DSL. > I would imagine they would re-purpose or retrain. However there was some > fear in the eyes of the non u-verse At&t tech. He was correct about the > U-Verse techs having better and newer gear, including vehicles. Seems > like they are treated much better all around, or at least that was the > impression given off. When it comes to technicians, there are many that overlap in responsibilities. There are some techs (facilities and service techs) which do work on all 3, POTS, DSL, and U-Verse. I would imagine you were talking to a DSL premise tech. Another useful bit of information that helps understand these things (new equipment, cool gadgets, etc) is because each entity has a budget and that budget is typically set by revenues. The U-Verse budget is probably much higher than the DSL budget, explaining the equipment differences. Fortunately, AT&T is pretty reasonable about not wasting money on unnecessary equipment. If they have the choice between making their workers use older equipment or laying off some people or giving out pay cuts, they would choose to make them get by with what they have. I think this is a good quality actually, as it shows me they are interested in the fair wages of their employees. Similar things go on within the tech support department. We don't have the best tools for troubleshooting connection issues, but I'm happy with that knowing the choice was between that or having lay offs (unless it were overseas reps haha -- fat chance, they're the cheap ones) > Though it would not be beyond any big company to do layoffs in decent > amounts. I sure hope that does not happen to you or anyone locally, or > anywhere for that matter. But to have a job is to have the potential to > lose it for many reasons just as any. One reason I have remained self > employed. Only I can fire myself. Take that Trump! :) Agreed, I aspire to do the same someday. I find it silly to work relentlessly without being properly reimbursed for your efforts. It's disappointing to see someone being paid as well or better than you who intentionally take advantage of the company, do not have pride in their work, are unable to resolve simple issues, etc. There's a lot of value in being the one who benefits from your work rather than it being for someone else. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Archive http://marc.info/?l=jaxlug-list&r=1&w=2 RSS Feed http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml Unsubscribe [email protected]
