[AusNOG] Telstra perhaps forced to provide wholesale naked DSL

[Heinz N]

> For those who have turned their back on Telstra completely this may get them 
> a little closer to the price point.

Unbundled would be nice but it is completely impractical when something 
goes wrong with the physical copper. Especially when it is of an 
intermittent nature and everybody is blaming everyone else (sound 
familiar?). Copper is aging and will only degrade further with time.

I tell anyone that will listen that "naked" is very dangerous, especially 
if it is for SOHO type use. With "naked", you have absolutely NO recourse 
if there is a physical copper problem. You cannot complain to the copper 
provider: "I have noise on the line". When your DSL starts going down, the 
copper provider will do absolutely nothing but say : "contact your ISP". 
The ISP will get the supplier to check the line and the supplier will say 
the line is fine (intermittent problems DON'T show up at convenient times 
for testing, also exchange tests will not show semi-open copper). The ISP 
will then say that there is no problem (which is what they have been 
told).

I won't go into the details of a horror three months I had where the 
physical DSL was going down up to 40 times a day and the copper supplier 
had sent technicians out 4 times and nothing was fixed. (The problem was 
eventually found to be fractured wires in the pit). I had full control of 
the copper and could keep insisting: "I hear noise!". As a technician, I 
do know what I am talking about, but even with the copper deliberately 
rented directly from the owner, I still had massive problems. In an 
unbundled/naked situation, I would have been totally screwed. Don't go 
naked! That "small" monthly rental is VERY CHEAP insurance. (No, I don't 
work for the big T). Without that insurance, you have no leverage to force 
the copper owner to do anything.

These are my own personal beliefs from bitter experience.

Heinz N.
Equisoft P/L