[Discuss] CLECs

[tmetro+blu at gmail.com (Tom Metro)]

Richard Pieri wrote:
> Matthew Gillen wrote:
>> Just because they're not in business now doesn't mean the idea of open
>> access is doomed to failure.
> 
> To the contrary, I maintain that since none of the big CLECs had any
> long-term success with it demonstrates that the model -- running your
> business on your direct competitor's infrastructure -- is doomed to fail.
> 
> Verizon started deploying FiOS in 2005. The DSL CLEC industry collapsed
> in 2001 as an adjunct to the dot-com bust. My conclusion is that FiOS
> had nothing to do with the CLEC industry collapse.

I'm not sure this is all that interesting of a tangent as we're all
speculating, so I've changed the subject.

What is your theory for why CLECs failed, then, if not for being
technologically surpassed?

Keep in mind that there is more to CLECs than just DSL. In fact I raised
mention of them originally in the context of using them to provide local
voice service.

You can't point to FiOS exclusively as explaining or not explaining the
failure of CLECs, as the more broader trend which predates FiOS was the
arrival of cable Internet, which made easy work of surpassing the DSL
service that the telcos had been dragging their feet on.

We seem to be repeating them same pattern now where existing broadband
providers are dragging their feet on increasing speeds in order to milk
the existing infrastructure for maximum profits, while Google Fiber
comes along and makes it seem easy as pie to deliver 1 Gbps speed.

It's hard to draw conclusion on the viability of the idea of shared
infrastructure when you are talking about the 50+ year old copper plant
that was on the verge of obsolescence when the CLECs started getting
into the game.

Fiber optics are a different animal. A fiber is a continuous piece of
glass between the CO and the customer. The raw fiber has massive
bandwidth capabilities. The equipment on the ends of that fiber can be
upgraded to extend the capabilities for decades.

More importantly, the vendor who maintains the plant has far less
involvement in keeping that fiber running than the telcos did with
copper. No patch bays, line amplifiers, corroded connections, splices
under water in manholes, etc.

A CLEC leasing your fiber could have their own termination equipment in
the CO and their own customer premise equipment. The telco mostly just
comes into the picture for installations and when a tree falls on a wire.

 -Tom

-- 
Tom Metro
Venture Logic, Newton, MA, USA
"Enterprise solutions through open source."
Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/