You suspected it, but here's a third party report that proves it. A research study was re-released, showing that RBOCs fail to cooperate with ISPs and hinder the DSL deployment process.

by ISP-Planet Staff [June 15, 2001]

You suspected it, but here's a third party report that proves it. A research study was re-released, showing that RBOCs fail to cooperate with ISPs and hinder the DSL deployment process.

While some information in the report is dated (it appears to count NorthPoint as an independent corporation that is still in business) the conclusions remain viable.

ATLANTIC-ACM, an international strategy consulting and research firm said it re-released its DSL report "in response to Verizon's recently filed lawsuit" and characterized the DSL market as "once burgeoning, now finger-pointing."

"The results show that ISPs, neutral mediators in the DSL installation process, report RBOCs are less cooperative than wholesale DSL providers,'' explained Dr. Judy Reed Smith, CEO of ATLANTIC-ACM.

ATLANTIC-ACM's research, which includes information from 92 evaluations of DSL providers by their ISP customers, finds that Rhythms, NorthPoint, and Covad came out on top with scores of 6.0, 5.8 and 5.7, respectively, while RBOCs rated about 5.1.

While the wholesale providers scored slightly above the average, RBOCs failed to meet an "average'' grade.

Senior Consultant Nick Regas noted, "This lack of cooperation and dedication to implementation has significantly hindered DSL proliferation.''

xDSL Market Sizing: Provider Report Card 2000-2006 is available now for $1,950.00(US).

Fiber data
A similar report (Wholesale Long Distance: Carrier Report Card 2000-2004), released in February of 2000, contained data on the fiber market. It noted, "Resellers gave Global Crossing (Frontier) a top ranking in its ability to provide customers with services overall, followed by MCI WorldCom and Williams. But no carriers are successfully differentiating themselves in the 'provisioning' category, a critical factor in resellers' purchasing decisions."

The report also noted a tradeoff between price and provisioning. "Qwest led the survey in price satisfaction, while AT&T and Sprint fared poorly. On provisioning, however, Qwest was at the bottom, with Global Crossing at the top."

— End