Sprint Broadband Direct provides wireless Internet service, and thus does not need to use anyone else's lines. Sprint broadcasts wireless signals via towers that serve a 35-mile radius from atop Monument Peak in Fremont. However, the company admits to service problems as well. Upstream speed affects the time it takes to send e-mail and other data to other users. Some users say customer service problems will exist until local providers have a real excuse to pay for long-term fixes.
Installation time is perhaps the most common complaint against local broadband providers.
Pac Bell says that its average wait time has dropped to seven days from nine days in December. To decrease installation time, providers such as Covad and Pac Bell are supplying customers with self-installation kits. Covad expects customers of Northpoint Communications, which filed for bankruptcy this year, to have the most grievances. Northpoint's 100,000 customers are being threatened with losing their DSL services completely, although a large group of service providers is scrambling to take over those accounts. This piece originally ran in the San Jose Business Journal, a sister publication.