I have Earthlink DSL as my ISP. A few days ago I get a call from AT&T asking if I want 6.0 Mbps DSL connection (download; 1.0 Mbps upload) by changing my ISP to AT&T (this is faster than the DSL connection speed I have now.) AT&T says that this speed is available in my area.
I call Earthlink and they say that they cannot offer me the same speed. But Earthlink must be using, for their DSL service, the same physical landlines to go my house than AT&T is using! My home phone bill (landline) comes from AT&T.
How can AT&T offer me a faster speed through the same physical line? I would be happy to stay with Earthlink if they offered the same speed at a similar price.
Note - I’m basing this on my experience with Bell Canada. YMMV.
CRTC (Canadian Radio and Tele-communications Commission) regulations differentiate between an ILEC (Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier) and a CLEC (Competing Local Exchange Carrier). The ILEC is the carrier that usually owns the copper cables in the region, owns the real estate the central offices (local exchanges) occupy, and the remote offices (exchanges for areas more than X miles from a CO). The CLECs lease copper cables and space in the COs from the ILEC.
Now, CRTC regulations require the ILEC to give space to the CLECs in the COs, but not in the remotes. ATT has got you hooked up to a CO for local phone service. You’re probably closer to a remote, but because Earthlink doesn’t have any jurisdiction over the remotes, they cannot request that your local phone line be moved to one to increase your DSL speeds. ATT does own the remote, and therefore could move your local line to the remote in your area, thus increasing the DSL speed available.
I’m guessing that ATT is the ILEC and Earthlink is the CLEC in this case. Although CRTC regs obviously don’t apply in your area, I’m willing to bet the setup is similar.
Does this mean that once I signup with AT&T and they move a line to a remote office, Earthlink could offer the same speed? But what happens if I cancel with AT&T? They would then “punish” me by moving my line back to a central office and then Earthlink would again be stuck with offering me a lower speed?
It depends on how picky ATT is with their resellers. They will probably not move you off the remote as a matter of course, but Bell Canada reserves ports in remotes for their direct customers, leaving a limited amount of space for resellers. They may hook you up on the remote since you’re there already, or they may run you back to the CO or tell Earthlink there are no facilities available. I’ve seen all three options happen on our resold lines.
The problem is the FCC requires ILECs like AT&T and Verizon to allow DSL competitors to co locate in their central offices, ONLY. If the CO is too far from a neighborhood AT&T could install a DSLAM into the slick (SLC) in a neighborhood. These SLC boxes are too small to allow numerous competitors access so EarthLink, and the rest, are SOL…the FCC does not make the ILEC provide SLC access to competitors.
I’d go with AT&T. Every time I would call Earthlink they’d say they have to contact AT&T to see what was up with the lines. And then of course I would never hear back. So I just went straight to the source.
True. It does save a bit of time to hear “we can’t find the problem” direct from the source.*
Based on my personal experience with AT&T DSL, which began to suffer consistent speed problems every night that were eventually resolved by switching to their U-Verse Internet service---- which thankfully has worked nearly flawlessly for several months.
Believe it or not, it’s been 3 years since the OP and I’ve never made the move away from Earthlink (because of an earthlink account that’s still in use). When I do, I’ll have to resurrect this thread.
