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Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

stefan.schueller.net

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Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#151

Post by zdragnar »

callmeal wrote: post #129
PeterHolzwarth wrote: post #123

I don't know that this is an easy comparison to make. Switzerland is 16k square miles in size (and about 9.1 million people). Taking a random, low-density American state as a comparison - say, the innocuous and sparsely-populated western state of Idaho - I see that it has a size of about 85.5 thousand square miles (and about 2 million people). I've never understood the value in comparing relatively densely populated…

>I see that it has a size of about 85.5 thousand square miles (and about 2 million people). >I've never understood the value in comparing relatively densely populated European countries to America. The practical realities of each just make them quite different in terms of basic utilities and infrastructure. That's the lie everyone in America likes to tell themselves - it's very easy to provide electricity and phone s…

> it's very easy to provide electricity

America didn't achieve near-total electrification until 1960 or so. The farm my dad grew up on didn't have electricity or indoor plumbing until well into his childhood in the 50's, despite urban areas being mostly electrified in the 1920's.

The fact that I have fiber Internet service while living in a forest in a relatively rural area is pretty much a miracle by comparison.

Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#153

Post by userbinator »

not_your_vase wrote: post #32
trynumber9 wrote: post #5

I guess they don't bother using Speedtest in Switzerland, as the average speed seems about the same as the US: https://www.speedtest.net/global-index Must be a sampling bias or something.

You know, in Switzerland there is a thing, that if a product or service has the name "Swiss" in its name, then it can be sold for any price regardless of quality - and it will fly off the shelves. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true. Swisscom is the biggest ISP in Switzerland - they charge high prices for very slow internet. But they have the word "Swiss" in their name, so it's okay to sell 100 Mbps connection…

For me, the positive connotation of "Swiss" only applies to mechanical watches.

Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#154

Post by ascorbic »

al_borland wrote: post #89

Switzerland is smaller than West Virginia. Less than 1% of the US. It’s much easier, and cheaper, to wire up a small country than the massive one.

That's not what the article is about. It's about what goes in the ducts when they are connected, and who has access to the infra.

Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#155

Post by microtonal »

trynumber9 wrote: post #5

I guess they don't bother using Speedtest in Switzerland, as the average speed seems about the same as the US: https://www.speedtest.net/global-index Must be a sampling bias or something.

That says as much about socioeconomics (price sensitivity, laws that prohibit calling for upselling, etc.) as actual speed. E.g. in my country, the last time I looked over 95% had a fiber connection to home and the major providers offer 1Gbit (for connections still on AON) or 4 to 8Gbit (on XGS-PON).

Yet, our average is still a mid 230Mbit. Why? People sticking with cable internet out of inertia, people sticking with cable because they have more attractive TV packages. People choosing 100 or 200 Mbit because it's cheaper (e.g. my parents just stick to 200Mbit because they don't need more for web browsing and some streaming).

Same for cellular. My country is only in the 17th position, yet I have 1Gbit 5G cellular with unlimited data for ~25 Euro per month. Most people just don't want to spend more than 10 per month and go for cheap plans/providers.

But such price sensitivity differs a lot per country.

Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#156

Post by Aurornis »

trynumber9 wrote: post #5

I guess they don't bother using Speedtest in Switzerland, as the average speed seems about the same as the US: https://www.speedtest.net/global-index Must be a sampling bias or something.

You're not missing anything. The article is trying to imply that 25G is everywhere in Switzerland, but it's not. They just picked the fastest available speed and ignored the fact that some places in the United States also have 25G internet available.

Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#157

Post by nextlevelwizard »

I have often wondered why my country does not have fast Internet and my own hypothesis is that our phone companies push so hard for mobile data plans that most people just use their phone's Internet for everything. I have seen many people always connecting their laptop and TV and even security cameras to the hotspot provided by their phone, with only mild complaining about how annoying it can be. When I suggest they get a proper home connection they just shrug it off as an extra pointless expense and something only nerds like me care.

We could have so much better connectivity, but average people are happy as long as they can watch .

Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#158

Post by charcircuit »

callmeal wrote: post #129
PeterHolzwarth wrote: post #123

I don't know that this is an easy comparison to make. Switzerland is 16k square miles in size (and about 9.1 million people). Taking a random, low-density American state as a comparison - say, the innocuous and sparsely-populated western state of Idaho - I see that it has a size of about 85.5 thousand square miles (and about 2 million people). I've never understood the value in comparing relatively densely populated…

>I see that it has a size of about 85.5 thousand square miles (and about 2 million people). >I've never understood the value in comparing relatively densely populated European countries to America. The practical realities of each just make them quite different in terms of basic utilities and infrastructure. That's the lie everyone in America likes to tell themselves - it's very easy to provide electricity and phone s…

>but somehow internet is not.

Look up DSL.

Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#159

Post by RachelF »

yawnxyz wrote: post #13

should really look at the Australian system... it's not really a free market there and the internet is awful

Yes, Australia destroys his whole argument. They went the Swiss way with a single provider (NBN).

But then broke it badly when a major lobbyist (Rupert Murdoch) wanted to kill streaming competition for as long as possible.

Re: Why Switzerland has 25 gbit internet and America doesn't

#160

Post by robocat »

al_borland wrote: post #89

Switzerland is smaller than West Virginia. Less than 1% of the US. It’s much easier, and cheaper, to wire up a small country than the massive one.

It is usually silly to compare any country with the whole US.

Instead search for the most similar state to compare with: for example Colorado has similarities with Switzerland.

Does Colorado have similarly affordable 25 Gbit fiber?

> much easier, and cheaper, to wire up a small country than the massive one

If your theory makes any sense at all, then Vermont with 60% of the size and 7% of the population should have amazing internet... does it?

I'm in New Zealand: Our internet isn't like Switzerlands (~1/2 the population in 6x the size). I use Oregon for our benchmark state.

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