Help!  I am stuck on dial-up internet service at my office.  For 40
months I had a fractional T-1 cable thru XO communications.  For about
a year BellSouth (thru an Independent Contractor) solicitd my business
for phone and internet service.  they promised substantial savings. 
In a moment of weakness I succumbed to their entreaties and signed up
for their service that would include DSL and phone service.  I also
authorized them to cancel my account with XO and to release the phone
numbers.

BS came and switched the phones over from XO, no problem. They told me
that a different tech would come and switch me from the T-1 to the
DSL.  Later came to find out that DSL was not available to my bldg and
would not be available until May 9th (about 5 weeks).  Then XO cut off
the T-1 and I was w/o internet service for about a month.  then
Bellsouth told me that the DSL service would not be available to my
bldg until Sept 9th. I tried to call back XO Comm. but they want me
sign a two-year agreement which I cannot do.  I have had my Tel tech
set me up with dial up on the Bellsouth line that was installed and it
is slow as molasses.

I called ComCast, the local cable company, for business hi-speed
internet and they said that they had a "box" just 160 feet from my
bldg.  they did a "survey" and told me that it would cost $4,926 to
connect my bldg to cable internet.

They had somebody call me and offer me some kind of cell phone based
internet which would be 3x faster than dial up (big whoop) for
$144/month.

What strategies do I have to get hi-speed internet (for a business)
where it will be reasonable < $125/mo and I don't have to sign a long
term contract. Would consider higher price with 4 phone lines such as
I had with XO.

Big tip for best response.  I am located in 30068.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 21 Jul 2006 09:05 PDT

You might want to consider filing a small claims court action against
BellSouth or the contractor you dealt with.

The purpose isn't so much to make good on your losses (though that
very well could occur), but to get the company's attention, so they
put the resources into getting you wired up properly.

Small claims is pretty easy and inexpensive in most jurisdictions, but
there are also restrictions on who can be sued (they usually have to
have an address within the jurisdiction of the court).

Give it some thought, and let me know how things work out...

pafalafa-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by keystroke-ga on 04 Aug 2006 04:58 PDT

I had a friend in a similar situation to you, they needed internet
access but did not live anywhere near a BB provider, they bought
something known as a 3G data card which will slot into the PCMCIA slot
of your laptop and will dial up to the internet at speeds of at least
512kbps.

Ask your local mobile phone operator if they provide these.

You should note that this will only work if you have a laptop or a
desktop pc that can utilise PCMCIA devices.

--Keystroke-ga

http://www.wildblue.com/
Wildblue does satellite internet.  It is not usually good for
short-term.  They are $299 upfront for equipment and require a 12
month contract.

Is BellSouth the only local telephone company you have there?  My
local is Verizon and I know I can get month to month DSL from them.