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"NoDak" is a bad example - that state is fairly well off and organized. Years ago they got it their head that having 100% cell coverage was a good idea so they

by RijilV 9y ago

"NoDak" is a bad example - that state is fairly well off and organized. Years ago they got it their head that having 100% cell coverage was a good idea so they did it. New federal recommendations for shoulder width so they went and redid their roads. The /tiny/ ILEC that serves my family farm years ago ripped out all of their copper and only runs fiber. If someone got it in their head that non-gas cars were what they should be doing in North Dakota, it would happen. I think poorer states with more conflicted interest would have a harder time. (Sorry for the OT NoDak rant)

neogodless 9y ago
Thanks for clarifying! I thought about population density, but of course there are lots of other variables!
HillaryBriss 9y ago
Doesn't NoDak, a state with a relatively small population, get a large percentage of its cash from oil revenues?
- protomyth 9y ago
  To a point, but a lot of it goes in the future fund. North Dakota is still a farming state and #1 honey producer of the USA. Oil will probably last quite a while given the costs keep dropping as the technology progresses, but the state is mindful of a bust since its happened before.
pythonaut_16 9y ago
Are you saying that NoDak has generally available fiber internet at reasonable prices?
- protomyth 9y ago
  Yep. Rural electrics, local telephone companies, and some cable companies have fiber. It probably is a function of most places now having multiple providers. [edit: examples] https://www.bektel.com/products-amp-services/bekfiber/ https://www.bektel.com/products-amp-services/bekfiber/ https://www.gondtc.com/internet_services.html https://www.gondtc.com/internet_services.html ignore the 90's style websites
- RijilV 9y ago
  In the rural parts of the state, yes. That ends up being roughly 60% of the state[0]. In terms of pricing, my family who's nearest neighbors are over a mile away pay less each month than I do for more bandwidth than I get, and I live in a major tech hub. There's a bit of encouragement from the state government and the rural providers also get free money that everyone else in these United [sic] States pays on their telecommunications bills. However it is still a good example of what can be accomplished in consumer Internet if not for the mega-corporations we have doing it today. If a small provider who's customers are frequently over a mile apart can do fiber to the home, why can't we have the same in metros? The one disadvantage is the transit providers they plug into aren't the best - IIRC I was going through cogent in MSP to get to most popular cloud providers. Their network is worth looking at though[1][2] 0: http://www.csgmidwest.org/policyresearch/0616-fiber-optic-North-Dakota.aspx http://www.csgmidwest.org/policyresearch/0616-fiber-optic-No... 1: http://dakotacarrier.com/services/overview/ http://dakotacarrier.com/services/overview/ 2: http://broadband.nd.gov/nd-broadband-map http://broadband.nd.gov/nd-broadband-map
protomyth 9y ago
The general dynamic of North Dakota has always been a bit of an amazement to me. Its like "nope, not gonna do it" to "let's get on with it, oops done" happens like a flip of the switch. I think folks give too little credit to a farm state's love of "better". Its a weird, stubborn, leap-style advance on getting stuff done.

by RijilV 9y ago

neogodless 9y ago

Thanks for clarifying! I thought about population density, but of course there are lots of other variables!

HillaryBriss 9y ago

Doesn't NoDak, a state with a relatively small population, get a large percentage of its cash from oil revenues?

protomyth 9y ago
To a point, but a lot of it goes in the future fund. North Dakota is still a farming state and #1 honey producer of the USA. Oil will probably last quite a while given the costs keep dropping as the technology progresses, but the state is mindful of a bust since its happened before.

pythonaut_16 9y ago

Are you saying that NoDak has generally available fiber internet at reasonable prices?

protomyth 9y ago
Yep. Rural electrics, local telephone companies, and some cable companies have fiber. It probably is a function of most places now having multiple providers. [edit: examples] https://www.bektel.com/products-amp-services/bekfiber/ https://www.bektel.com/products-amp-services/bekfiber/ https://www.gondtc.com/internet_services.html https://www.gondtc.com/internet_services.html ignore the 90's style websites
RijilV 9y ago
In the rural parts of the state, yes. That ends up being roughly 60% of the state[0]. In terms of pricing, my family who's nearest neighbors are over a mile away pay less each month than I do for more bandwidth than I get, and I live in a major tech hub. There's a bit of encouragement from the state government and the rural providers also get free money that everyone else in these United [sic] States pays on their telecommunications bills. However it is still a good example of what can be accomplished in consumer Internet if not for the mega-corporations we have doing it today. If a small provider who's customers are frequently over a mile apart can do fiber to the home, why can't we have the same in metros? The one disadvantage is the transit providers they plug into aren't the best - IIRC I was going through cogent in MSP to get to most popular cloud providers. Their network is worth looking at though[1][2] 0: http://www.csgmidwest.org/policyresearch/0616-fiber-optic-North-Dakota.aspx http://www.csgmidwest.org/policyresearch/0616-fiber-optic-No... 1: http://dakotacarrier.com/services/overview/ http://dakotacarrier.com/services/overview/ 2: http://broadband.nd.gov/nd-broadband-map http://broadband.nd.gov/nd-broadband-map

protomyth 9y ago

The general dynamic of North Dakota has always been a bit of an amazement to me. Its like "nope, not gonna do it" to "let's get on with it, oops done" happens like a flip of the switch. I think folks give too little credit to a farm state's love of "better". Its a weird, stubborn, leap-style advance on getting stuff done.