The culprit: bankrupt DSL wholesaler NorthPoint, which pulled the plug on its national network after selling its assets, but not its customers, to AT&T. ISPs that had leased NorthPoint's DSL connections and resold them at retail prices to consumers and businesses were left scrambling for alternatives. The end result was far from pretty--businesses by the thousands were suddenly unable to access the Internet.
The thought of being cut off from the Web is sure to send shudders up the spines of small businesses that rely on the Internet for communication, online applications, and e-tailing. It's enough to make you sleepless, and not just in Seattle.
Learning from the disasters of others, of course, is part of business. So what, exactly, can we learn from the demise of NorthPoint and the pain of its DSL users? Plenty--especially these three lessons.
