Much telephone friction is underway

I happen to live in a rural part of east Tennessee.

I also happen to had been without phone service (including DSL) for going on five days. In my case, like all cases I suspect, I have my bitches, too. In my case it has to do with heart stuff appointments, plus getting my kid into West Point paper work stuff (doing fax stuff, for example), plus helping map a local girls' camp (including horseback riding trails allowed to overgrow), for which I need internet access to make a pretty map, plus I just do my business and email and shopping this internet way these days. And I pay for all this.

Now I don't mind living like a common citizen, since I am one of them these days.

And my phone and internet provider is Frontier, which has a local monopoly for reasons I do not know why, though I can guess.

What I finally got out of them (after five phone calls through my cell phone) is that there is an area wide problem, which at least I can understand. But what I do not accept is the priority given we common citizens in rural east Tennessee. What I heard today is a bucket truck may be needed, and is not available right now, like I have to wait days. And Frontier chooses to keep me in the dark in the meantime.

More than a day without service is unusual. Now I am up to five days. And this area has not suffered some terrible storm damage other Americans have suffered. And my electric and satellite TV service is just fine, and we have had our share of bad thunderstorms. For example, last week I went without electricity for about two hours during the day.

Hence it is time to ask my local politicians to introduce phone company competition to this rural area. If Frontier can't fix their phone problem with their monopoly in five days, maybe somebody else can. I have already started that process, by the way. That process includes local politics to take away their monopoly. And if no one else will bid on land line service, so be it. At least I'll know my choices.

It upsets me that this present day Company has paid leaders who influence my life in an adverse way these days, and kept me in the dark, without service for five days, about whatever the problem was.

Now I also accept that other phone and internet providers may not do as well, especially since the problem may be above their level, sometimes.

At least give me a choice. Then the levels who need to hear might hear. Right now I don't even have a choice. So back to using my cell phone just to gain and verify a heart check appointment (echo sonogram). And, of course, I have shared all this with the Frontier people I can speak with.

And I do have a choice, in the end. I will shop elsewhere, vice having to use my cell phone just to get and verify a heart check appointment. The cell phone service up here is pretty good. And there is competition there for my money. And we have had terrible weather, too, during which the cell phone service did just fine.

Now I assume Frontier's business model includes going into rural areas "with a monopoly" in order to provide rural service. But I also assume that business model is now decades out of date. I "assume" this based on my experience. And if I am supposed to get a message from Frontier, I do.

The message I get "is to go elsewhere", which I will do.

And I used to live in Atlanta, and moved back up here to get away from all this. And I have experienced phone service in various third world countries, and I can report this is poor service here in rural east Tennessee, at least compared to where I used to live in the various third world countries I lived in.

Living on about a square mile of land is a benefit that will probably keep me up here until I die. But lack of land line phone service is something I will not tolerate for going on five days. Thank goodness technology provides me choices not available even ten years ago.

And instead of just complaining, I am now just giving Frontier enough rope to hang itself, like report all this to the various newspapers, and the local politicians. In the old vernacular, I will sing like a canary if they even pick it up. Having been a Marine recruiter, I know how to do a "news release", for example.

Only time will tell. This will be a multi-year effort I assume. But this will be another mission in life, I assure the readers. No future American citizens should put up with this. More than a day or two without phone service is unusual, like something else is going on. Especially if you pay for it.

PS Just the facts, mam. After 5 plus days, a nice repairman showed up and did a 1/2 hour repair job at my house area. And I am back online. Hence this post I can now do.

PPS I have done some homework, and think to hook up my Microsoft home network through wireless is still not an option right now. I do think I can routinely hook up one computer thru wireless, though that is not my objective. Hence my main choice is to try get some land line competition up here, like take away Frontier's monopoly. Hopefully, the timelines of competition and technology changes may converge in the next year or two to my benefit.