[Tfug] Sprint wireless broadband

[eric christian]

> Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 10:39:37 -0700
> From: "johngalt1" <johngalt1 at uswest.net>
> Subject: Re: [Tfug] Sprint wireless broadband
> To: "Tucson Free Unix Group" <tfug at tfug.org>
> Message-ID: <73206E149135473C8594160A8DAB5800 at oemcomputer>
> Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
> 	reply-type=original
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "eric christian" <ericdanc>
> To: <tfug at tfug.org>
> Sent: Saturday, June 07, 2008 11:10 PM
> Subject: [Tfug] Sprint wireless broadband
>
>
>   
>> Don`t you guys have something like
>>
>> http://www.verivox.de/
>>
>>
>> There are several sites like this. This is how I switched
>> electricity -
>> from e.on (a giant) to "e-wie-einfach".
>> Eric
>>     
>
> Not to my knowledge
>
> In the case of competitive electrical power
> production/distribution, where it has been implemented in
> the US, people have had poor experiences. Instead of
> customers bills going down or being the same, their costs
> have increased at times. There have been cases of predatory
> energy resellers . http://consumerist.com/tag/idt-energy/
> Arizona has delayed competitive electricity implementation
>   
What you write sounds like a horror story. Basically, it's the same 
post-monopoy situation in the US (Ma Bell, Standard Oil & Co.) and EU 
(the State) where the analogous OSI-L1 (tel cable, high voltage power 
lines, RR-tracks etc.) are still in the hands of the former monopolists 
(or their remnants). The last monopolist here - the RR -  is going 
private (stock market), but sans the L1-infrastructure: tracks, bridges, 
tunnels, signaling etc. http://www.verivox.de/ is true competition in 
table form where one can compare prices, contract terms, services etc 
and, then, close a legal contract directly with a company. This  is 
exaclty what I did for my  ca. 3000KWh/year electric needs.  I did  a 
contract with a price guaranty, a few cents /KWh below e.on, for 2 
years. I could have even gotten a better deal, but then I would have had 
to commit to a longer contract period. My contract now runs from month 
to month.

> There is no competition for other utilities.
>
> So then in the US, there is little purpose for a website
> like that with the exception of cell phone services.
>
> ====================================================
> Seems like I have written a post on this sub-topic 
> previously. I gather this is my bi-yearly update.
>
>   
Then, what the hell, lets go back to Standard Oil (25 cents/gallon), Ma 
Bell & Co. At least with Ma Bell we got things like information theory, 
transistors, C, Unix etc. We'll have to get Bell Labs back from the 
French, tho.

Lest this text be seen as OT, then consider a Linux machine without L1, 
power etc...
Eric