So imagine my surprise when Dwayne, the technician, looked at the network installation and simply asked where the cable interface should go. While he was working, we talked, and he said Cox was determined to serve as many customers as it could, thus explaining the fast pace of the installation and the focus on good service. I thought about the catastrophe that DSL has become, with bankrupt service providers, stranded customers and embarrassment aplenty for the phone companies. Despite the hype about DSL, it's a solution to the last mile connectivity problem for only a tiny fraction of potential Internet users. Worse, DSL's problems are so endemic that it may never grow beyond that tiny fraction.
Carriers remain so disorganized as to make installation and service a nightmare.
And then there's the fact that the phone companies would sell you a T1 line for a few grand a month rather than DSL for under a hundred. While the cable TV providers aren't averse to their own hype, and while they've produced their share of engineering snafus, they're growing up as telecom providers. They've begun concentrating on building out their physical plants and hiring staffers who really know networking. Meantime, cable prices remain stable relative to DSL's, which are rising everywhere. In some cases, yes.