SBC Continues to Redline Parts of St. Louis City
I needed to call SBC today to look at adding an additional feature to my phone service. After deciding not to change my service the person tried to push internet or tv service. Little did he know he hit a hot button for me.
You see, SBC’s DSL service is not available everywhere in the City of St. Louis. Some areas, including my house, cannot get DSL. For my internet access I had little choice but to go with Charter Communications (cable). My office on South Broadway in Carondelet is also unable to get DSL.
I find it unacceptable that our Board of Alderman and Mayor allow such a large public utility to continue redlining neighborhoods. How can we attract new residents and businesses without such a basic of modern life?
– Steve
Don’t worry too much, my aunt can’t get SBC DSL at Lemay Ferry and Meremac Bttom in the County either. It’s their lost business. I do have it in my area of S. City though, and I think every single neighbor I know uses it too.
It has little to do with redlining and has much more to do with the technical infrastructure. DSL service depends on a building known as a CO (central office) to be within approx 3 miles of your home/office. If there is one, you’re good to go… if not, then SBC has to install something called a DSLAM — which it is doing in those areas that don’t have COs. This is happening all over the country. What’s ironic, it’s the other way around for me… I can get DSL just fine — the CO is located at Eichelberger and January, just a block from my house on Rosa — but Charter does not offer high-speed Web access to my block. (Or at least didn’t last year.) This was, they claimed, because the former cable company (which Charter bought) had an antiquated cable infrastructure in that area, which Charter had not repaired yet to make it capable of providing high-speed access.
Any poor souls out there that are in areas where both cable and DSL are unavailable?
Aside from the technical infrastructure bit, I’m not sure the Board of Aldermen can do a whole lot about what SBC does. They are a state-regulated utility, so any complaints about their failure to do things right or provide services properly go through the Public Service Commission (PSC).
As for Charter, though: they are of course regulated by the City of St. Louis Communications Division, under the provisions of a 15-year exclusive franchise agreement approved by the Board of Aldermen in April 2002. See
http://stlcin.missouri.org/cityjournal/PDF/85_1_b.pdf
for the full text of the relevant bills.
Charter promised to build out the cable Internet infrastructure starting in the northernmost end of the city, and working their way south. This was a concession to the concerns of several African-American aldermen. So, if you’re way down on January and Rosa, I’m not surprised it’s taken them a while to get it done. Much of the cable TV infrastructure in the City of St. Louis prior to this re-build dated from the early 1980s, the days of STL Cablevision.
Steve,
We feel your pain regarding SBC. We are in the Carondelet neighborhood. SBC was more then happy to offer phone and tv service but no DSL? We solved that problem easily. Dropped SBC phone went with Charter Phone, Cable and Internet. Charter phone cost about 1/2 of SBC and not one bit of difference so far as we can tell. Oh well………..SBC’s loss!
How do you find out what areas are eligible? I’d be interested to see a map, though I doubt there is one publically available.
I’ve gone off on SBC DSL-pushers on the phone before, too. Insistant nagging about “It’s only $7 a month!” when I’ve already said no multiple times is never welcome, and it made me reheaaalllly mad when we were living in Chicago and could barely even pay our rent each month, let alone afford anything extra.
In response to Steve (SoStLouResident@aol.com)That’s exactly where I am headed. First, when I moved they couldn’t continue my DSL service where I moved to. It is in the heart of Hazelwood for god sakes (you know there’s a couple of little businesses there called, Boeing, Ford). When I told them I didn’t need their phone service then, they threatened to charge me the $200 termination fee. Then they continued to charge me for DSL when I no longer had it. I’m planning to go to Charter for all my services, too. I’m glad to hear that you haven’t had any problems with them. Their internet service is a lot higher though, unless there’s a plan I’m not aware of.