Helping out a client the other day reminded me of my early years of living in the Commonwealth of Virginia.

I lived in a town where the phone company was… The Charlottesville phone company.  Yup.  That small.  And, it eventually got acquired- by yet another small phone company.

And, as I was writing this, I realized that too many of you don’t know how phone service used to be.

I’m old enough to remember party lines.  That meant everyone on my block basically had the same phone number.  And, you could only make a call or get a call if no one else was using it.

Which also meant that my mother was notified that she was being kicked off the party line. She would talk incessantly on the phone.  And, I remember the screaming about how much money that cost our family.  (Phone bills for private lines were astronomical back then.  The complaints also got amplified when my father couldn’t make calls for his business, because my mother was always on the line- which necessitated the installation of yet another phone line in the house.  Yes, I know how crazy that sounds.  20 neighbors all shared a party line and my family had two private lines.)

Now jump ahead a few years.  Very few folks (except in rural areas) still had party lines.  But, non-local phone rates went by time of day.  From 8 AM to 5 PM was prime time.  The highest rates were charged.  They dropped about 25% at 5:00 PM.  And, then dropped to 10 cents a minute at 11 PM- about 15% of the prime time rate.

So, my business partners and I all made our calls after 11.  After all, we lived 500 to 1000 miles apart.  But, if I lifted up my phone at 11:01, and pressed 1- not even the next 10 numbers, I got a busy signal.  Yes, our phone company had about 10 outbound lines open- and if you weren’t quick enough, you weren’t making a call.  So much for using the cheaper rates.

Well, just imagine if you live in a small town now- or are considering moving to one such locale.  (I know many folks have been considering that since the pandemic has made it possible for folks to live in one place and work in another.)

So, how do you find out if this new locale has internet service?

No, wait, not a dial up, not DSL.  But, high speed internet?

And, you can’t wait for that infrastructure bill to cut in and ensure that America finally has adequate NATIONAL internet service.  And, that FCC map showing broadband?  You can’t rely on its accuracy at all.   (When the infrastructure buildouts occur, the providers will finally have to share true internet speed information.)

 

 

Sure, the realtor tells you this house has internet.  But, like I said dial up and DSL are internet- just not adequate for use.  (Kind of like the real estate notice presented here, right?)  Many homeowner’s don’t know their internet speeds, so they aren’t reliable either.  (The Liechtman Research Group published survey results that told us 45% of broadband subscribers have no clue as to their internet speeds.)

And, then, there’s folks that have to rely on service like HughesNet.  (This is a typical choice in rural America.)  This service charges high fees and throttles one’s service if you exceed a 50 GB limit.  Other folks have to come up with the equivalent of a house down payment to get broadband to connect to their abode.  (My COO who lived in a rural enclave outside of Charlottesville had to drop a ton of bucks when he finally needed to get telephone service at his home.  Now, that’s the same situation when one wants internet.)

Other folks are luckier- they can link up to SpaceX (actually the service is called Starlink) that costs about ½ of what HughesNet charges and imposes no throughput caps.

Even if you live in metropolitan areas (like Alexandria, VA), the providers often do not supply service at speeds that are adequate for working from home (WFH).  You have to upgrade service to their top tiers (at inflated prices) to get adequate upload speeds.

The best you can do is visit the abode before you buy it.  Check to see if there’s internet service and verify that speed.  Or ask the homeowner if you can hook up a cable to verify the internet speed.

Ah, yes,  back to Caveat Emptor.