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These articles never take into account the cost of laying fiber, equipment, etc, etc to move those bits. The US has some incredibly sparse population in certai

These articles never take into account the cost of laying fiber, equipment, etc, etc to move those bits. The US has some incredibly sparse population in certain areas. Compare to the population densities of Europe/Asia. Of course, my father, living on a farm 18 miles from the closest grocery store just had fiber turned up (connected). There are many gov't programs set up to pay for this. Check you bill sometime (cell, phone, internet) those taxes go to equal access, etc. Obama and congress have an additional program to subsidize broadband to under served areas. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/More-Details-On-Obama-6-Billion-Broadband-Plan-100274 http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/More-Details-On-Obama-6-B... And yes, we are mapping are fiber, trying to figure out where it all is. The gov't wants to find out how much capacity is out there so they have a base to figure out the improvement in capacity. *Disclosure: I work for a telecom (of sorts).

pragmatic 16y ago
I also wonder what the overbuild in the late 90's/early 00's did to the broadband market.
joeyh 16y ago
Agreed, they never do. When my sister got DSL, it involved running a mile of underground cable through a swamp, just for her. This doesn't come cheap. Comparisons to Russia, China, Australia, etc would be of value. Though that doesn't really explain crappy broadband in NYC or why my ISP, who installed fiber to my home, only lets me pull 6 megabit over it.
- quizbiz 16y ago
  Why didn't she get a Clear Wire type service?
  - wwortiz 16y ago
    Most likely because dsl was the cheapest option I live in a place where you basically have 3 semi-useful options for broadband service: * DSL at 60 a month * Satellite at PRICE a month (to be honest I don't want the latency so I never looked into it) and * Wireless broadband at 300 dollars a month before any equipment rental or purchase.
MrFoof 16y ago
Even for urban areas, sometimes the options are less than thrilling. A perfect example is Boston. Since Mayor Menino won't give Verizon a significant tax break, Verizon refuses to consider a FIOS deployment. Surrounding cities such as Cambridge and Somerville (which are next door), Quincy, Watertown, Waltham, Newton, etc... they all have FIOS. In Boston your options are the incumbent Comcast or being limited to DSL via Verizon. We're the hole in the fiber donut (ferrule). http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/boston-a-copper-hole-in-the-fiber-donut-demands-fios.ars http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/boston-a-cop... It's probably not as bad for students since the number of well-regarded schools here is very significant, and all of which have far superior options. However to live in one of the bigger tech hubs in the country and to deal with these sorts of limitations is nothing short of ridiculous.

pragmatic 16y ago

I also wonder what the overbuild in the late 90's/early 00's did to the broadband market.

joeyh 16y ago

Agreed, they never do. When my sister got DSL, it involved running a mile of underground cable through a swamp, just for her. This doesn't come cheap. Comparisons to Russia, China, Australia, etc would be of value. Though that doesn't really explain crappy broadband in NYC or why my ISP, who installed fiber to my home, only lets me pull 6 megabit over it.

quizbiz 16y ago
Why didn't she get a Clear Wire type service?
- wwortiz 16y ago
  Most likely because dsl was the cheapest option I live in a place where you basically have 3 semi-useful options for broadband service: * DSL at 60 a month * Satellite at PRICE a month (to be honest I don't want the latency so I never looked into it) and * Wireless broadband at 300 dollars a month before any equipment rental or purchase.

MrFoof 16y ago

Even for urban areas, sometimes the options are less than thrilling. A perfect example is Boston. Since Mayor Menino won't give Verizon a significant tax break, Verizon refuses to consider a FIOS deployment. Surrounding cities such as Cambridge and Somerville (which are next door), Quincy, Watertown, Waltham, Newton, etc... they all have FIOS. In Boston your options are the incumbent Comcast or being limited to DSL via Verizon. We're the hole in the fiber donut (ferrule). http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/boston-a-copper-hole-in-the-fiber-donut-demands-fios.ars http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/boston-a-cop... It's probably not as bad for students since the number of well-regarded schools here is very significant, and all of which have far superior options. However to live in one of the bigger tech hubs in the country and to deal with these sorts of limitations is nothing short of ridiculous.