Fergie's Tech Blog

techdirt.com: BellSouth's Not-New, Not-WiMax Trial Is Also Not-Naked DSL

Mike over at techdirt.com hits the proverbial nail on the head:

Contributed by Mike on Thursday, June 9th, 2005 @ 01:09AM
from the spin-spin-spin-spin dept.
Wow. Does BellSouth ever have a talent for taking something and making it sound like something completely different. Earlier this week, BellSouth got some press for saying they were launching new WiMax trials in Georgia and Florida. There were two problems. The technology isn't WiMax (not even close, actually) and it isn't new (again, not even close). However, the press seemed to buy both claims. So, if they got away with both of those, why not go one step further and claim that these not-WiMax, not-new trials are "naked DSL." You'll recall that "naked DSL" is when a telco offers DSL service without also requiring a phone line. At one point, BellSouth was required to offer naked DSL, but not everyone agreed, and eventually the FCC said that BellSouth was fine not offering naked DSL at all. So, why does BellSouth claim that this not-WiMax is naked DSL (despite, obviously, not being DSL at all)? It's because customers will be able to order this service without also ordering a phone line. Of course, that completely misses the point. The reason customers don't have to order a phone line is because, unlike with real DSL, this wireless broadband technology doesn't require phone wires to go into the house -- so if they actually required phone service with it, it wouldn't actually make sense. Yet, the company still has the gall to claim that this qualifies as them offering naked DSL... and, of course, the gullible News.com reporter eats it up.

posted by Fergie @ 6/09/2005 07:16:00 AM