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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

#241

Post by rdiddly »

Aurornis wrote: post #161

This article came up before. It's heavy on the clickbait, if you couldn't guess from the title. Some important points that they leave out: - 25G internet isn't available everywhere in Switzerland. It's just the fastest tier available in some locations. - The United States is 85 times larger than Switzerland. The entire country of Switzerland is the size of a small US state. Covering the US with broadband is much hard…

The area of just the contiguous US is almost 200 times as big as Switzerland. Where did the 85 come from? Did you divide square miles by square kilometers?

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

#242

Post by edukite »

gleenn wrote: post #196
ElProlactin wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Corruption, aging infrastructure... There are developing ("third-world") countries that have better overall internet than the US.

I heard someone argue that because original phones rolled out in the US much earlier and more broadly, we spend all this money on copper wiring. Because Europe didn't have as much, they transitioned to fast cellular quickly. Being first does not mean you will be best certainly.

Cheap excuses. It's like saying Europe started without asphalt streets so we don't have it. Building/upgrading asphalt street is order of magnitude more costly than cable yet majority of streets aren't dirt and stones

The issue lies in willingness to upgrade and cutting costs on end users

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

#243

Post by bigstrat2003 »

lyu07282 wrote: post #104
up2isomorphism wrote: post #67

Who told you US telco sector is a free market?

I think the people who think "free market" will fix any problem are the same exact people who think that it would be a great idea if companies are allowed to own their own fiber or put thousands of satellites into orbit. They will see it as a problem of regulations that it is too cumbersome to put fiber into the ground as a company, and advocate for deregulation, "micro trenching" and privatization, that in order to…

The problem here is, unironically, caused by the government getting involved. Many of these companies are granted legal monopoles in their service areas. If someone dares to start a competitor, the incumbent harasses them with lawsuits to try to shut them out. The free market isn't all sunshine and rainbows (and natural monopolies like infrastructure are a place where it frequently fails), but the market is not particularly free in this case.

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

#244

Post by greggoB »

maxignol wrote: post #210

Thus the prices in switzerland are higher than anywhere else. I don’t know about you, but I’d have no use of 25gbits/s

These sound like two entitely disconnected points, also sans facts?

I could get 25 gbps in Switzerland for CHF 69 pm right now through init7. From what I've seen, this would be considered quite competitive in other countries. In Switzerland this is actually very affordable when compared to salaries.

The article goes to some efforts to show how the Swiss model drives competition which has given us these relatively competitive prices. I'm not seeing how your personal lack of utility for 25 Gbps addresses that, let alone refutes it.

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

#245

Post by ricardobayes »

Also Spain followed the Swiss model, with a twist. The line was laid by telefonica/movistar, everyone rents from them. You can normally get at least 1Gbps at any residential location (often even rural ones if at least a few houses are clumped together).

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

#246

Post by mrits »

yogorenapan wrote: post #193
johnsmith1840 wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

US has the largest railway on earth by a large margin

Largest freight rail. Public transport for normal people is still shit compared to Europe.

Have you been to Europe? What area do you enjoy the public transportation?

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

#247

Post by ricardobayes »

guiambros wrote: post #173
Aurornis wrote: post #161

This article came up before. It's heavy on the clickbait, if you couldn't guess from the title. Some important points that they leave out: - 25G internet isn't available everywhere in Switzerland. It's just the fastest tier available in some locations. - The United States is 85 times larger than Switzerland. The entire country of Switzerland is the size of a small US state. Covering the US with broadband is much hard…

I live in NYC, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, and yet Verizon Fios 1 Gbps is my only option. I tried to upgrade to Fios 2 Gbps, but it's not available. Spectrum only goes to 200Mbps; no other providers in my area. I have no idea if Switzerland is any better, but the US situation in 2026 is appalling. If we're this bad in NYC, imagine what someone in rural America goes through.

Exactly why starlink's business was viable.

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

#248

Post by Nursie »

ra wrote: post #202
guiambros wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in NYC, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, and yet Verizon Fios 1 Gbps is my only option. I tried to upgrade to Fios 2 Gbps, but it's not available. Spectrum only goes to 200Mbps; no other providers in my area. I have no idea if Switzerland is any better, but the US situation in 2026 is appalling. If we're this bad in NYC, imagine what someone in rural America goes through.

Sydney, Australia - the most I can get is 500mbps from our government owned nbn. I have a 1Gb plan, but in reality it's half that.

Just outside Perth, WA. I pay for 400Mbps 'fixed wireless', which became available last year (prior to that it was capped at 250). On a good day I get 200/14.

Starlink was approximately the same at a similar pricepoint but I switched to NBN because hey, Elon doesn't need my money and at least I have an alternative now.

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

#249

Post by Foobar8568 »

jimnotgym wrote: post #212
gleenn wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I heard someone argue that because original phones rolled out in the US much earlier and more broadly, we spend all this money on copper wiring. Because Europe didn't have as much, they transitioned to fast cellular quickly. Being first does not mean you will be best certainly.

Europe? I heard that about Asia and Africa, maybe post soviet Eastern Europe, but not Europe in general. We had telephones...

France had Minitel and now, for less than 50, you have up/down 8Gbps with TV etc. 5G is half that price.

Switzerland might be even cheaper with Salt for the fiber, 5G, can be pretty cheap here too, or bloody expensive ( Swisscom )

US just has many excuses that's it.

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

#250

Post by Foobar8568 »

Gasp0de wrote: post #204
guiambros wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in NYC, one of the most densely populated cities in the world, and yet Verizon Fios 1 Gbps is my only option. I tried to upgrade to Fios 2 Gbps, but it's not available. Spectrum only goes to 200Mbps; no other providers in my area. I have no idea if Switzerland is any better, but the US situation in 2026 is appalling. If we're this bad in NYC, imagine what someone in rural America goes through.

It is harder to install fiber in densely populated areas than in some backcountry farm. Imagine tearing open a busy street in NYC for a few weeks to install fiber vs. digging a trench in the dirt next to the farm road. Which one do you think costs more? For which do you think you need to jump through 1001 bureaucratic hoops?

Imagine providing fibers in city such as London, Paris or Geneva. Oh wait.
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