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Only if it's cheaper to build in Chicago suburbs than Nashville suburbs. There isn't a lot of pricing power for consumer Internet with alternatives available so
by hueving 8y ago
Only if it's cheaper to build in Chicago suburbs than Nashville suburbs. There isn't a lot of pricing power for consumer Internet with alternatives available so Google fiber can't charge twice as much even if it costs twice as much to build. The majority will just crawl back to the cable company if the price is too high (despite their incomes).
In other words, wealthy people aren't really relevant. Density of middle class and upper middle class is what makes these build-outs successful.
- tptacek 8y agoRight, I get that the target is "density of households above a threshold income"; I'm just saying I'd be surprised if there were more of those in Nashville (the city) than in the Chicago suburbs. There are 6.8 million people in the Chicago combined MSA excluding Chicago, which is almost exactly 10 times the entire population of Nashville.
- hueving 8y agoSorry, I wasn't being clear enough. I'm sure the wealth density is there, I'm just suggesting that the regulatory costs of building in Chicago suburbs are higher enough that it made more sense to start in Nashville. Cynicism: the wheels require a lot more grease in Chicago than they do in Nashville.
- dionidium 8y ago> Chicago combined MSA Just a note to say that this is an awkward construction. The OMB defines Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Combined Statistical Areas, but nothing called Combined MSA, which seems to be a conflation of the two.