Telcos want to lower the definition of "broadband"

[artherd]

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/04/mg-explains-why-isps-want-to-lower-the-definition-of-broadband/

[bohoki]

i got dsl and it has ben getting slower since the day i signed up

day one i did one off the speed tests and got 900k and the introductiory rate was $15 a month

today i did one and only got 650k

cablemodems are superfast but i have to choose dsl or mount a "hughes net" on my house and it is throttled back for my $19 monthly fee


i say minimum for broadband ought to be 2 meg down/ one meg up

how else am i going to watch those crying baby hand cam movies fullscreen

[sfwdiy]

I read about this and it's bullsh*t. Japan and Korea are pushing 80+ Mbps. Comcast is trying to call 256Kbps up and down broadband.

And the telcos in this country wonder why they're getting a continuous middle finger from just about every one of their customers.

--B

[Rekrab]

Yeah, unfortunately the big telcos own all the phone lines, so we don't have a choice in the matter. It's like they're all trying to see who can screw over their customers the worst.

[GrinderCB]

That whole bit a few years back about how you were supposed to be able to have a choice of your wireline carrier never really happened. Those who owned the lines were supposed to be required to sell/lease access to other providers in the interest of generating competition and all that. That being said I have little choice for high-speed except AT&T U*Verse since AT*T is our local wireline carrier. I'm actually very happy, testing just now (ironically using http://infospeed.verizon.net) and getting 5.358 Mbps. If I'm ever able to get Verizon I would plan on signing up for their FIOS service, but I'll just have to wait.

[POLICESTATE]

I can't get Comcast where I live, only AT&T DSL, with a max speed of 2mpbs and only 400k upload, so when I have to remote into work and work at night it's soooo slow. I need more speed not less.

[odysseus]

Absolutely no stimulus money for an infrastructure that is very much sub par to standards well in place. However we know this is just part of the negotiating strategy to form policy. Shows us what kind of oligarchy we currently have nationwide for telco infrastructure.

[mquejr]

i think u.s. is ranked around 15th in the world as far as speed...

[den888]

Visited S. Korea in January for work. 100 mbps access is about $30 US dollars a month for residential service.

I read about this and it's bullsh*t. Japan and Korea are pushing 80+ Mbps. Comcast is trying to call 256Kbps up and down broadband.

And the telcos in this country wonder why they're getting a continuous middle finger from just about every one of their customers.

--B

[SAN compnerd]

Telco lobbyists have had a very cozy relationship with the FCC for years now and as telco's get into the cable market their influence continues to expand. Verizon successfully lobbied with many states to change the cable franchise laws from local/township/city level to statewide under the promise of lower prices and greater competition and only now after several years are states beginning to realise that this simply allows them to cherry pick deployments to areas where they will get the best return with no consumer oversite. Now a group called ConnectedNation which is just a front group for the telco's is getting stimulus funds to help certain states work on mapping broadband penetration. The telco's dont want accurate data about where broadband is available as it would force them to compete and cut into profits. And of course the FCC is not doing any consumer protection or advocation, they just give the telco's what they want, mostly because the FCC staff is ex telco employees.

[stormy_clothing]

I read about this and it's bullsh*t. Japan and Korea are pushing 80+ Mbps. Comcast is trying to call 256Kbps up and down broadband.

And the telcos in this country wonder why they're getting a continuous middle finger from just about every one of their customers.

--B

lol Spain is about to unleash 1GBps service this year for home use.

att would upgrade there speeds but the 126 billion they make in profit every year doesn't allow them too.....

[rynando]

If you think you're getting ripped off go to a datacenter and see what 10Mbps costs there. Also, just because some nations have FastE (or better) service to the home doesn't mean users over there will see anything close to those rates. If you talk to people who live over in Japan (for example) you'll often hear that they're having a hard time getting 1Mbps out of those lines.

R

[artherd]

You mean the backend does not keep up with the last mile?

[locosway]

What's sad is the US is so far behind other developed countries when we're talking the internet, the very thing that was invented here!

Netherlands (or NZ) has a community fiber system in place. I'd love to see dark fiber run all over the place and then charge people a nominal fee to connect to it, maybe as part of your renting/leasing/home tax.

[locosway]

If you think you're getting ripped off go to a datacenter and see what 10Mbps costs there. Also, just because some nations have FastE (or better) service to the home doesn't mean users over there will see anything close to those rates. If you talk to people who live over in Japan (for example) you'll often hear that they're having a hard time getting 1Mbps out of those lines.

R

Datacenter with a SLA is a far cry from broadband. We had a private colo inside of TimeWarner in Irvine. Inside their CO!

We had three GigE lines. This setup ran us $40k a month.

Anyway, at this price we are paying $13 a meg. Average DSL is 1.5Mbps with a price of $30 and NO SLA.

So, tell me again how expensive this is for the telco's and how consumers should be lucky?