The basic truth about internet access that cable & phone companies don't want you to know

[ksen]

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/31/7137457/broadband-speed-chattanooga-kansas-city-lafayette

This achievement is really impressive when you consider that Chattanooga, Kansas City, and Lafayette aren't even remotely as dense as Seoul or Hong Kong or Tokyo, which get similar speeds. When we put our minds to it in this country, we can do great things. And what works for Chattanooga could work even better in bigger cities like Chicago or Miami.

But there's a catch. The American cities that are delivering best-in-the-world speeds at bargain prices are precisely the cities that aren't relying on Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Time-Warner, etc. to run their infrastructure. In Kansas City, Google built a state-of-the-art fiber optic network largely just to prove a point. In Chattanooga and Lafayette, the government did it. . .

So even though we have the technical ability to deliver cheap, super-fast internet and we have the financial ability to finance the construction, we don't actually have the network. In fact, we're so in hock to the interests of the broadband incumbents that we don't even use all the fiber networks we've already built.

God bless the free market.

ISP services should be a public good. The corporations currently overseeing it all have shown that they are not up to the task.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Our public one is chugging along and Qwest suddenly dropped prices on DSL once municipal broadband was in place. Comcast still gets people to pay top dollar and requires them to get basic cable.

 

[NobleSavage]

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/31/7137457/broadband-speed-chattanooga-kansas-city-lafayette

This achievement is really impressive when you consider that Chattanooga, Kansas City, and Lafayette aren't even remotely as dense as Seoul or Hong Kong or Tokyo, which get similar speeds. When we put our minds to it in this country, we can do great things. And what works for Chattanooga could work even better in bigger cities like Chicago or Miami.

But there's a catch. The American cities that are delivering best-in-the-world speeds at bargain prices are precisely the cities that aren't relying on Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, Time-Warner, etc. to run their infrastructure. In Kansas City, Google built a state-of-the-art fiber optic network largely just to prove a point. In Chattanooga and Lafayette, the government did it. . .

So even though we have the technical ability to deliver cheap, super-fast internet and we have the financial ability to finance the construction, we don't actually have the network. In fact, we're so in hock to the interests of the broadband incumbents that we don't even use all the fiber networks we've already built.

God bless the free market.

ISP services should be a public good. The corporations currently overseeing it all have shown that they are not up to the task.

Maybe it's just market demand. Unless you are running an internet server why the hell do you need 1G/s? I've got 50mb/s and I can stream two HD movies from Netflix and still surf the net and talk on my phone over wifi. And I'm only paying $45 a month. My only complaint is that my speed is not symmetrical. I move a lot of big files around and it takes some time uploading. But I'm in that 1% category. Most people are just consuming media.

 

[Tigers!]

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/31/7137457/broadband-speed-chattanooga-kansas-city-lafayette



God bless the free market.

ISP services should be a public good. The corporations currently overseeing it all have shown that they are not up to the task.

Maybe it's just market demand. Unless you are running an internet server why the hell do you need 1G/s? I've got 50mb/s and I can stream two HD movies from Netflix and still surf the net and talk on my phone over wifi. And I'm only paying $45 a month. My only complaint is that my speed is not symmetrical. I move a lot of big files around and it takes some time uploading. But I'm in that 1% category. Most people are just consuming media.

Distressingly Australia does not get a guernsey, even with our you-beaut NBN network.

 

[ksen]

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/31/7137457/broadband-speed-chattanooga-kansas-city-lafayette



God bless the free market.

ISP services should be a public good. The corporations currently overseeing it all have shown that they are not up to the task.

Maybe it's just market demand. Unless you are running an internet server why the hell do you need 1G/s? I've got 50mb/s and I can stream two HD movies from Netflix and still surf the net and talk on my phone over wifi. And I'm only paying $45 a month. My only complaint is that my speed is not symmetrical. I move a lot of big files around and it takes some time uploading. But I'm in that 1% category. Most people are just consuming media.

You think the market is demanding slower, more expensive internet connections?

 

[NobleSavage]

Maybe it's just market demand. Unless you are running an internet server why the hell do you need 1G/s? I've got 50mb/s and I can stream two HD movies from Netflix and still surf the net and talk on my phone over wifi. And I'm only paying $45 a month. My only complaint is that my speed is not symmetrical. I move a lot of big files around and it takes some time uploading. But I'm in that 1% category. Most people are just consuming media.

You think the market is demanding slower, more expensive internet connections?

No. Their accountants simply looked at fiber to the home and figured that it would be a stupid capital investment at the current time. Yeah, Google is doing it in a few cities i.e. Kansas City, but that is more of a masturbatory project than anything practical. In my area where there is competition the prices are dropping and the speed is increasing. My city the government had big plans to build a fee for everyone solar powered WiFi network. The project ended in complete disarray and millions wasted.

I'm not the type to say that the private sector is always better. And a simple division between government vs private sector is way too simplified. I think there is a tread open where I can spew my ideas.

 

[ksen]

Google Fiber is just a masturbatory project? The big ISP's don't seem to think so and are starting to shake in their wingtips.

The other places with faster and cheaper internet are run by municipalities. Unfortunately in most places the big ISP providers have purchased enough politicians to actually make it illegal for municipalities to set up and run their own ISP. I'm not sure how that jibes with free market philosophy but there you go.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Yep.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

In my area where there is competition the prices are dropping and the speed is increasing.

In my area, the prices are increasing and the speeds aren't. And they want to add caps. I guess I should consider myself lucky that there is UVerse DSL in my area, instead of slow DSL, which used to be good enough.

I'd look into getting cable internet, but it seems like it'd be easier for me to find the Unifying Theory than it is to find out how much the cable internet would cost after discounts.

 

[braces_for_impact]

In my area where there is competition the prices are dropping and the speed is increasing.

In my area, the prices are increasing and the speeds aren't. And they want to add caps. I guess I should consider myself lucky that there is UVerse DSL in my area, instead of slow DSL, which used to be good enough.

I'd look into getting cable internet, but it seems like it'd be easier for me to find the Unifying Theory than it is to find out how much the cable internet would cost after discounts.

I can't personally afford Internet access at home per se. I live in a Brighthouse area. My options here for Internet access are Brighthouse or I can have DSL if I get a land line first with AT&T. I don't want or need a land line. Utter waste of money in my situation. Brighthouse won't just give me Internet, they insist on bundling it with at least their basic cable package or phone. Another waste of money.

So I wirelesly thether through my cell phone. I'm not supposed to, and it isn't exactly fast, but it mostly works (although at times it's a pain in the ass.)

 

[ksen]

Brighthouse won't give you internet without a bundle?

That's weird because I use Brighthouse and all I have with them is internet.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

We were told all these acquisitions would be good for the development of the product and increase competition. Yet, we don't have that much of competition and not that great of a landline product. Verizon is the only land product that competes with satellite.

And Time Warner wants to mere with Comcast, AT&T with Directv?!

 

[TV and credit cards]

We were told all these acquisitions would be good for the development of the product and increase competition. Yet, we don't have that much of competition and not that great of a landline product. Verizon is the only land product that competes with satellite.

And Time Warner wants to mere with Comcast, AT&T with Directv?!

All in the spirit of competition, to be sure.

In the last legislative session Sen. Hoyle tried to put a moratorium on any more local governments expanding into municipal broadband.

When the I-Team asked him if the cable industry drew up the bill, Senator Hoyle responded, “Yes, along with my help.”

When asked about criticism that he was “carrying water” for the cable companies, Hoyle replied, “I’ve carried more water than Gunga Din for the business community—the people who pay the taxes.”

And fund my campaign.

 

[ksen]

Alrighty, so Hoyle is admitting to being racist and corrupt all in one soundbite.

He'll probably win reelection.

 

[Jarhyn]

When it comes to FTTH internet, the issue is most certainly NOT the viability of such a service. in minneapolis, USInternet is already embarking on city-wide fiber deployment at about the same rates as Google Fiber. CenturyLink is also being forced by USInternet to follow suit with their own fiber option, and it's little surprise they're only barely outpacing USInternet's rollout.

The real reason FTTH is t deployed country wide is that the costs are proven to be low, far lower than for cable or DSL, and far faster than most (much more expensive) business connections. It's a death knell for companies that would want to charge high rates for shitty service because Google was up front and honest from day 1 about the real costs of FTTH.