Last week I met with two Utah cities that are providing fiber to the home. These are respectable places who deserve better than having me bring up their names in my blog. So I won't be mentioning them by name. But I can provide details if pressed. I have my sources.

Well, anyway, here's the bottom line. For $28.95 in City A a customer will get DSL service with 2 megabits down and 1 meg up. Pretty styling prices and service. In City B you can receive 5 megabits up and down for a not so pricey $40 per month. Other packages are available. These were just the two that interested me the most.

City B ran a test last year. Three months free. $40 per month gets their gold package, after the first 90 days. There take rate was north of 50% for the free trial period. Once that ended, some of the residents dropped the service. Average time to return to the gold package was about one day, according to my sources. Once you download Microsoft patches at 5000k, it's tough to go back. The take rate remains above 50% and will likely grow.

Why do these residents buy. Internet, pure and simple. Nothing exotic here.

One question that I always asked. "Did you approach the local LEC about participating?" Always the same answer. "Yes, they weren't interested." What will it take?

My brother-in-law, Mike, works in Oklahoma for the second biggest LEC in the state. Cox Communication came into some SBC communities last year with their triple play (voice, video and data). Within a few months Cox market share reached close to 60%. That number is very scary to the smaller LECs in Oklahoma. Well, really it's scary to all the LECs in Oklahoma. What would happen if Qwest lost 60% of its market share over night?

I'd love to see our local LEC cooperate with municipalities to build fiber infrastructure. It could happen. And that venture could help preserve market share, get customers more of what they want and provide a bundle of cash to forward thinking LECs. Such a world!.........
9:31:12 PM    comment []