Excuse me for butting into an interesting discussion. As the originator of
this string heading, I just wanted to say that I hope no one loses sight of
the original message that prompted my post. That was the one from "yea
right" who wrote in his message
news
"If you value radio, this may be the last and only chance to have your
voice heard to stop BPL from destroying your hobby. The FCC has extended
the comment period for BPL.

It is VERY simple to file a FCC comment. Click the link below and enter

03-104

in box #1 (proceeding number) and fill in the blanks. The simplest way to
comment is to type your comment into the box on the bottom of the form.

http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi "


Anyone who has not given the FCC their input, should (you too, Frank).

AK

"Frank Dresser" wrote in message
...

"Dee D. Flint" wrote in message
...



Plus if BPL does "threaten" to enter a market, the DSL and cable guys
will
drop their prices to keep from losing market share. So I bet they are
monitoring this situation closely. The latter already know it is price
that
keeps some people from switching from dial-up. Just look at some of the
recent ads on TV for their promotions. Cable had been advertising a
$29.99
introductory offer and now they are offering a $19.99 introductory
offer.
DSL and cable know that they have to get close to dial up prices to get
the
customers.

Dee D. Flint, N8UZE


I was wondering how many people have broadband access, so I googled this
up:

"A new, national report by comScore Networks indicates broadband Internet
access is ready to overtake dial-up access as the top online subscription
service in major metro markets in the United States. "

""In the past several months, we've seen the U.S. online population reach
150 million people, and household broadband penetration cross the 33
percent
threshold," said Russ Fradin, executive vice president of comScore
Networks.
"Now we've recorded another milestone, with broadband accounting for more
than half of U.S. major market Internet connections.""

If the story is correct, half of the internet users have broadband access
where it's widely available, and a third of the country has it. Roughly
50
million people in the US have broadband access.

http://www.ectnews.com/story/33108.html

The story doesn't mention dropping price as much of a driving force in the
expansion of broadband, but I don't see how it can't be considered as the
main reason. SBC here runs promotional offers with the first few months
of
DSL broadband for little more than the cost of dial up. Of course, the
price goes up after the promotional period ends.

Anyway, there seems to be a wide interest in broadband, as long as it's
offered at an attractive price.

Frank Dresser