3 ms·

Not to diminish "net neutrality" but this state of monopoly--or duopoly, if you're so lucky--seems like a more immediate issue to me. If there was competition

by draebek 16y ago

Not to diminish "net neutrality" but this state of monopoly--or duopoly, if you're so lucky--seems like a more immediate issue to me. If there was competition amongst providers I could even see net neutrality becoming less of an issue. I don't know what to do about this issue, though. Nationalize cable lines? Consider Internet access a piece of common infrastructure and have governments build it out, competing with the existing private companies?

Retric 16y ago
There are really three competing systems phone lines, cable, and fiber. Now, I switched from cable to FIOS a while ago and it's a huge upgrade so IMO even cable is a distant second place. Verizon realized they needed to ditch copper a while ago and now it's just a question of how much fiber they can roll out.
- matwood 16y ago
  Earlier this year VZW said they were stopping FiOS rollout and would only finish what they had already announced.
  - chadaustin 16y ago
    Citation? I'd love to hear more about that.
    - matwood 16y ago
      http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404575151773432729614.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230341040457515... It sounds like working through the red tape in each community was costing them so much they finally said screw it.
- Raphael 16y ago
  My understanding is Verizon has abandoned fiber-to-the-home and sold off the franchise to Frontier Communications. (Assumedly they still maintain a fiber backbone to serve their wireless networks.)
  - Retric 16y ago
    "While Frontier's $8.5 billion acquisition of six million users consists largely of DSL and landline customers, there are roughly 100,000 FiOS customers that also have been transitioned to Frontier" "At the end of the last quarter, we had 3.4 million FiOS Internet customers and 2.9 million FiOS TV customers. " http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon-at-Home/FiOS-Where-We-Stand/ba-p/172689 http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon-at-Home/FiOS-Where-We-S... So, I think that works out to ~3% of FIOS customers. IMO, selling off their DSL customers is probably a mixed bag. They are getting ~1500$ per customer in a vanishing market so it sounds like a great deal. But, up selling service to existing customers is probably less expensive overall.

by draebek 16y ago

Retric 16y ago

There are really three competing systems phone lines, cable, and fiber. Now, I switched from cable to FIOS a while ago and it's a huge upgrade so IMO even cable is a distant second place. Verizon realized they needed to ditch copper a while ago and now it's just a question of how much fiber they can roll out.

matwood 16y ago
Earlier this year VZW said they were stopping FiOS rollout and would only finish what they had already announced.
- chadaustin 16y ago
  Citation? I'd love to hear more about that.
  - matwood 16y ago
    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404575151773432729614.html http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230341040457515... It sounds like working through the red tape in each community was costing them so much they finally said screw it.
Raphael 16y ago
My understanding is Verizon has abandoned fiber-to-the-home and sold off the franchise to Frontier Communications. (Assumedly they still maintain a fiber backbone to serve their wireless networks.)
- Retric 16y ago
  "While Frontier's $8.5 billion acquisition of six million users consists largely of DSL and landline customers, there are roughly 100,000 FiOS customers that also have been transitioned to Frontier" "At the end of the last quarter, we had 3.4 million FiOS Internet customers and 2.9 million FiOS TV customers. " http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon-at-Home/FiOS-Where-We-Stand/ba-p/172689 http://forums.verizon.com/t5/Verizon-at-Home/FiOS-Where-We-S... So, I think that works out to ~3% of FIOS customers. IMO, selling off their DSL customers is probably a mixed bag. They are getting ~1500$ per customer in a vanishing market so it sounds like a great deal. But, up selling service to existing customers is probably less expensive overall.