[wellylug] TAKE THAT TELECOM!!

[pmilne at paradise.net.nz]

Quoting Jeremy Naylor <jeremy.naylor at r2.co.nz>:

> At 22:38 03/05/2006, you wrote:
> >Linux is a product of the Internet and Internet users so I don't 
> >think it is THAT wildly off topic.
> >
> >This will hopefully lead to more ISPs being peered into WIX / APE as 
> >a competitive advantage thereby delivering the ability to more 
> >easily/cheaply provide local mirrors for Linux ISOs
> 
Hopefully, this may force TelstraClear to re-peer to WIX, thus ending the
Balkanisation of Wellington as a wired city.  Switching from 'cable' to 'dsl' is
rather unattractive at present, but with more 'dsl' competition, this will
become an attractive proposition.

Saturn and Citylink were originally allowed to erect their networks on
favourable terms (ie by allowing overhead reticulation) by WCC in order to
achieve a 'wired' city.  By de-peering the saturn cable network from Citylink,
TelstraClear has IMO breached the social contract with the people of Wellington.
 In doing so it has shifted significant expense on to WCC (including extra costs
incurred by WCN), the local Universities, Government Departments, etc.  It has
also resulted in the termination of local mirroring services provided by
Citylink as a public service.

There is something wrong when local servers have to be located off-shore for
economic reasons, or the most expedient way of directing internet traffic is to
'trumbone' it offshore.

There is however a rather horrible 'bugbear'.  With the current Telecom network,
it is reasonably easy to give access to the 'bare copper' to others, especially
as most exchanges have significant spare floor space following removal of
electromechanical switches.  Telecom plans to replace most of these exchanges
with fibre optic overlays and street cabinets, and sell the released real
estate.  Deregulating the 'loop' would be more difficult with such an
arrangement since there needs to be a 'dsl head' in each cabinet, and multiple
'dsl heads' are unlikely to be economic and would also lead to clusters of
cabinets which would be an eyesore (note for example the cluster of fire alarm
cabinets on the corner of Featherston and Whitmore Streets).  Perhaps Telecom
may have the last laugh after all.