From: heller@deepsoft.com  
    
  At Sun, 6 Jul 2014 20:22:43 -0700 (PDT) hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:  
    
  >  
  > On Sunday, July 6, 2014 4:04:09 PM UTC-4, Robert Heller wrote:  
  >  
  > > ... And the 50 or so miles of copper is basically crap. Most of it is  
  wor=  
  > n out and overdue for replacement.  
  >  
  > When say the "copper is worn out", do you actually mean the insulation of  
  e=  
  > ach wire and the sheath of the cable itself?  I would think the copper  
  itse=  
  > lf doesn't wear.  
    
  It does if water leaks into the cables, the copper will 'rust' (slowly turn  
  to  
  non-conductive copper oxide).  Also as the cables swing in the wind, there  
  is  
  metal fatigue going on as well.  There are also places where drops connect  
  and  
  although there are weatherproof boots, sometimes the boots leak, causing  
  corrosion of the connections.  There are pole mounted connector blocks,  
  cable  
  splices, etc.  All places that rain water, snow, ice, etc. can get in and  
  then  
  seep into the cables.  
    
  >  
  > The telephone cable serving our row houses was attached to the back wall,  
  w=  
  > ith periodic junction units that had the drops to each individual house.  
  O=  
  > riginally it was in a lead pipe.  I remember going by about when the place  
  =  
  > was about 40 years old (circa 1988) and noticed the cable was replaced by  
  a=  
  >  hard rubber tubing.  So, I presume the cables had a finite life and were  
  p=  
  > eriodically replaced, though after a long period of time.  
    
  That is the *theory*, but Verizon has stopped replacing copper cables.  
    
  >  
  >  
  > >(Verizon is NOT going to replace it, per corp. policy).=20  
  >  
  > Perhaps some day the various regulatory authorities will wake up and see  
  th=  
  > e abuses by the various carriers.  Utility regulation was created for very  
  =  
  > good reasons, and the service quality problems and high costs--the reasons  
  =  
  > regulation was applied in the first place--have returned much as they were  
  =  
  > like in the old days.  
    
  At this point the the various regulatory authorities are pretty much  
  powerless  
  -- Verizon has deep enough pockets to be immune to anything the various  
  regulatory authorities are authorized to do. Maybe if the various regulatory  
  authorities had the power of summary execution? Maybe a guillotine on the  
  Boston Common where Verizon's local managers could have their heads chopped  
  off? They could sell tickets -- I'm sure thousands of people from Western  
  Mass  
  would drive into Boston to see Verizon's corp. weenies be executed. In some  
  ways the Medieval world had the right idea...  
    
  >  
  > It amazes me that some folks think the present environment of consumer  
  abus=  
  > e is superior.  
    
  It is called 'free enterprise'. Free enterprise cures all  
  ills.  The American system is superior to all others. The USA is  
  15th in the world in terms of Internet connectivity (down from 11th a year  
  or  
  so ago).  
    
  >  
  >  
  >  
    
  --  
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