Good thing we don't get our water from Comcast.
Or air...
US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
131–140 of 166 posts
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#132I think by now it's hard to deny that Comcast & friends are stifling the progress of the US economy. The US is 31st worldwide on bandwidth speed (which really can't be explained by the US's size alone), consumers and businesses are complaining across the board about high pricing, bad service, and lack of options. These companies do the country and its inhabitants a big disservice. I think the only reasonable option f…
I think they should be broken up and their infrastructure sold off.
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honest question, does your repeated support of the cable companies' excuses have anything to do with your living in Philadelphia (per your profile) near Comcast HQ?
I was in Philadelphia for a one year appointment to work for the federal court here. I have no personal affiliation with Comcast. As for my views favoring cable companies, it's because I'm a disgruntled urbanist. If you think Verizon or Comcast are bad, wait till your internet service becomes the subject of the absolute batshit insanity of American municipal politics.
The people in Chattanooga don't seem to be complaining one little bit about "American municipal politics" with their 1 gigabit symmetric connections.
We've had to put up with this bullshit from Comcast and TWC for decades. I say let's try the alternative.
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maine has a population density of 43 people per square mile, less than 1/10th the density of the U.K. or Germany. Maine is just Northeast's version of Montana.
Let's see, Washington DC has a population density ~10 times that of Japan. Guess which has the faster Internet speeds? As an independent state that have no need to subsidize anyone in low population areas yet the Internet is just not that fast. Population density is something of a misnomer as for example parks significantly lower population density but there basicly irrelevant when building a network.
You can't compare an urban city with a whole country. Japan's landmass includes farm land, mountains and shit.
Washington, DC isn't very dense for the core of a city. There aren't any high rises. Most of the city is single family homes and 3 story walk up apartments.
I live in Arlington, VA which used to be part of DC. I get Verizon Fios. I get 75/75 and cable tv for 80 a month. It's not the dark ages.
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would the connection up to a DSLAM have more contention than a fiber-to-the-home network? Shouldn't most DSLAMs be using fiber already?
Yeah, there's no contention AT ALL up to the DSLAM. DSLAM is DSL Access Module. Every DSL customer has their own dedicated copper pair from the DSLAM to their house--- it's their phone line. There may be congestion between the Central Office where the DSLAM lives and the rest of the internet, but in practice that rarely happens. The big limit on DSL is getting reasonable speeds a mile down the line over ancient coppe…
DSL seems to somewhat taper off at 100 MBit/s over here in Germany, but that's actually quite reasonable speed for non-business customers, with 1080p taking 27 MBit/s.
I once had cable in a crowded neighbourhood, it was pretty terrible at peak times.
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#136> Chattanooga has the largest high-speed internet service in the US, offering customers access to speeds of 1 gigabit per second – about 50 times faster than the US average. The service, provided by municipally owned EPB, has sparked a tech boom in the city and attracted international attention. EPB is now petitioning the FCC to expand its territory. Comcast and others have previously sued unsuccessfully to stop EPB’…
"I don't know of any city where the local cable co offers anything like that"
Any internet provider in Moscow. It's actually even cheaper.. US internet and phone service prices are ridiculously high.
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, there's no contention AT ALL up to the DSLAM. DSLAM is DSL Access Module. Every DSL customer has their own dedicated copper pair from the DSLAM to their house--- it's their phone line. There may be congestion between the Central Office where the DSLAM lives and the rest of the internet, but in practice that rarely happens. The big limit on DSL is getting reasonable speeds a mile down the line over ancient coppe…
DSL seems to somewhat taper off at 100 MBit/s over here in Germany, but that's actually quite reasonable speed for non-business customers, with 1080p taking 27 MBit/s. I once had cable in a crowded neighbourhood, it was pretty terrible at peak times.
Isn't the speed of DSL highly dependent on the details of the actual analog line?
I have an ADSL line, and my contract says "50Mbps", but I rarely actually get over about 4Mbps. As far as I can figure, the reason is because my house is near the limit of distance from the central office... (the phone company actually has a calculator web app thing that lets you plug in your address and get the line length...and then a separate calculator that maps from line-length to expected speed)
[I'm not complaining or anything.... It's a cheap line which I've had for ages, they're very up-front about the caveats of ADSL, and I could easily get fiber or cable (from multiple providers) for a bit more money. So far I just haven't cared enough to change it.]
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#138I think by now it's hard to deny that Comcast & friends are stifling the progress of the US economy. The US is 31st worldwide on bandwidth speed (which really can't be explained by the US's size alone), consumers and businesses are complaining across the board about high pricing, bad service, and lack of options. These companies do the country and its inhabitants a big disservice. I think the only reasonable option f…
>The US is 31st worldwide on bandwidth speed (which really can't be explained by the US's size alone)
So? That's like saying the US is 31st on average car speed. Very few people need a car that goes more than 70mph, just like very few people need an internet connection that goes faster than "can stream HD video".
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the problem is that you compare population densities without comparing population distributions. The comparison with the Scandinavian countries is less unfair than you claim: "almost everyone lives on the coasts, unlike in the U.S." Over 50% of the US population lives in the largest 20 cities, and > 75% live in cities, mostly near coasts and rivers and the great lakes. The centers of population in the US are…
Comparing population distributions makes the distinctions even more stark. 80% of the U.S. population lives in an "urban area" but that definition includes towns of 2,500 people. My friend in rural Georgia that has to drive several hours to get to an international airport technically lives in an "urban area" according to the Census Bureau. The population of the 20 largest cities (New York down to Memphis) is 33 milli…
I live in Germany, 1.5h from the nearest International Airport – and I can get 200mbps for 80$ everywhere here, in some areas even more. And these speeds are provided by for-profit companies, not by municipalities.
Your argument is invalid.
Re: US cable giants calls on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
Let's see north east US, Main = 14 MBPS or 0.1 MBPS faster than Mongolia woot! Comparing nations to states is ridiculous. However, if you read the report it's damming with faint praise. "the average connection speeds seen in the United States and Mexico remained more than twice as fast as the next fastest country" Sure, if you discount everyone that's better than you then you can call yourself #1 at anything. PS: Not…
Maine has a population density of 43 people per square mile, less than 1/10th the density of the U.K. or Germany. Maine is just Northeast's version of Montana.
What's Mongolia's population density (I haven't checked but my guess is not very high)?