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 worn  
  out and overdue for replacement.  
    
  When say the "copper is worn out", do you actually mean the insulation of  
  each  
  wire and the sheath of the cable itself?  I would think the copper itself  
  doesn't wear.  
    
  The telephone cable serving our row houses was attached to the back wall,  
  with  
  periodic junction units that had the drops to each individual house.  
  Originally 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 periodically replaced, though  
  after a long period of time.  
    
    
  >(Verizon is NOT going to replace it, per corp. policy).  
    
  Perhaps some day the various regulatory authorities will wake up and see the  
  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.  
    
  It amazes me that some folks think the present environment of consumer abuse  
  is superior.  
    
  --- SoupGate/W32 v1.03  
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