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Can you expand on when competition came to Seattle and how? I've been using Condo Internet (now Wave Broadband) for something close to 5-6 years. When was the t

Can you expand on when competition came to Seattle and how? I've been using Condo Internet (now Wave Broadband) for something close to 5-6 years. When was the tipping point in terms of competition?

nostromo 6y ago
Centurylink now offers fiber gigabit to the home for about $65 or so a month. It happened because a former mayor (Ed Murray, who has since left office after a personal scandal) made it easier for ISPs to build out their networks and removed homeowners and neighborhood groups from the process which previously allowed them to block things like communications boxes on sidewalks. At the time, a bunch of local columnists moaned about this "corporate giveaway"[1] -- but it's pretty clear in retrospect it was the right move. 1. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/mayors-centurylink-giveaway-sure-to-create-controversy/ https://www.seattletimes.com/business/mayors-centurylink-giv...
- filoleg 6y ago
  Don't forget about Google Webpass, they started advertising heavily in Seattle area starting about a year ago. I switched to them earlier last year due to having periodic issues with WaveG in my new apt building about 8 months into my lease (their technician would come a week or two after I report constant outages, fix something in the server room of my building, and then the issues would start again in a few weeks; haven't had any issues with WaveG at my previous apt though). Service has been great, pricing is even cheaper than WaveG (I pay about $50/mo for their gig fiber offering), no contracts or any other lock-in (unless you pick the option to pay for the whole year upfront for a small discount). It definitely does feel like there is a good amount of real competition in Seattle now.
  - filmgirlcw 6y ago
    Yup! My apartment building was pre-wired for fiber and I can get WaveG, Century Link, or WebPass. I can also get Comcast if I wanted to torture myself. That’s the most options I have ever had in my entire life for an ISP. We’re with WaveG and have no reason to switch but the fact that I have multiple fiber options if I need to makes me really happy. In Brooklyn, I couldn’t get FiOS in my building even though the building across the street and next door could do it. Something with the zoning and no matter how hard we (and Verizon) tried, nada. The upshot was Cablevision was an exceptional ISP (let me run a server out of the apartment as part of the written TOS, which was incredible), but it was still slower than FiOS. In Atlanta, my parents’ house was prewired for fiber and gigabit but they have been stuck with not even the fastest available cable because of ISP tie-ups. It’s painful and they have zero choice.
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      > The upshot was Cablevision was an exceptional ISP (let me run a server out of the apartment as part of the written TOS, which was incredible), but it was still slower than FiOS. This is no longer the case since Altice purchased cable vision/optimum. They jacked up the prices and Andy reduced quality of service.
  - ViViDboarder 6y ago
    I had WebPass in my first two apartments in San Francisco and it was my favorite ISP. I paid $500 for the year up front for 300/300 service. Then I moved to a different unit where the absolute fastest option was 20/3 DSL for $70/mo. Thankfully I’m now on Gigabit cable, but I can’t wait to get off Xfinity for something better.
- fergbrain 6y ago
  Also Ziply Fiber bought Frontier’s network in WA, OR, and ID, and started investing in their infra and expanding areas.
- eyelidlessness 6y ago
  Lest we forget the personal scandal, he molested young boys. Not to distract from the ISP progress, but I don’t think it should be papered over.
  - edoceo 6y ago
    PUT YOUR PITCHFORKS DOWN! Accused! Not proven. Murray maintains he has never abused anyone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Murray_(Washington_politician)#Child_sexual_abuse_allegations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Murray_(Washington_politici...
    - eyelidlessness 6y ago
      I have no pitchforks, just trauma that hasn't been proven (nor tried by anything claiming to prove anything) but certainly happened.
      - cambalache 6y ago
        How do you know? If you have proof why have you not share that important piece of evidence with the authorities?
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
        eyelidlessness 6y ago
        How do I know that I’ve experienced trauma? Because I experienced it. I don’t need to prove it to you or anyone.
        edoceo 6y ago
        Your experiences are your own and nobody is asking you to prove yourself. You are valid as is. However, one should not be saying someone IS a vile thing when they've only been ACCUSED (and not convicted) of being a vile thing.
loeg 6y ago
CenturyLink fiber is relatively recent to the Seattle area (2017 or 2018) and serves a broader customer base than Wave née Condo. Condo was historically only available in a small number of buildings very close to the Westin building downtown (site of the Seattle Internet Exchange). It is slightly broader now, but only slightly. Here's a big old PDF of Seattle area internet service (2019)[1]. Most of Seattle is CenturyLink + Comcast. The second biggest portion is Comcast-only. Wave covers very little of the city. [1]: https://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/gigabit-availability https://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/gigabit-a...
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- rconti 6y ago
  Seems like I was hearing my Seattle friends brag about their Centurylink Fiber quite a long time ago -- I want to say 5 or 8 years. Maybe the initial rollout was small and it took awhile to get going? I'm a Seattle native, down in the bay area now, and JUST got gigabit fiber. Couldn't be happier.
  - loeg 6y ago
    Maybe CenturyLink rolled out to a limited availability sooner than I'm remembering. There was also a very limited Verizon FTTH rollout on the east side some time earlier as well, but I don't know anyone who was in a service area for it.
jeffwilcox 6y ago
The speedy providers are all jumping over each other to compete, now that the "gentlemen's agreement" between providers is no longer a thing... but they are cherry picking from people willing to pay and easily providing the service. Seems like maybe 3 years ago when all the cable companies were able to compete without exclusivity by block? In my condo building of 200+ units we have 5 providers now: - Wave broadband cable - Comcast cable - Wave G (10Gbps connection to the building) - Webpass Google Fiber (microwave to the building) - CenturyLink (DSL maybe?) The bummer is outside the high-rise towers, there is not much competition in the neighborhoods and single family homes it seems.
- eru 6y ago
  I wonder whether the promise of faster Internet would diminish some of the NIMBY opposition to high rise towers?
  - MikeTheGreat 6y ago
    I'm going to say "Probably not". You're talking about people who have chosen to live in lower-density housing with lower internet speeds. I'm sure they'd love higher internet speeds, but not so much that they'd give up the 'lower density housing' part :)
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  In my experience, new construction has access to fiber, and very little old construction has access to fiber.

Can you expand on when competition came to Seattle and how? I've been using Condo Internet (now Wave Broadband) for something close to 5-6 years. When was the tipping point in terms of competition?

nostromo 6y ago

Centurylink now offers fiber gigabit to the home for about $65 or so a month. It happened because a former mayor (Ed Murray, who has since left office after a personal scandal) made it easier for ISPs to build out their networks and removed homeowners and neighborhood groups from the process which previously allowed them to block things like communications boxes on sidewalks. At the time, a bunch of local columnists moaned about this "corporate giveaway"[1] -- but it's pretty clear in retrospect it was the right move. 1. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/mayors-centurylink-giveaway-sure-to-create-controversy/ https://www.seattletimes.com/business/mayors-centurylink-giv...

filoleg 6y ago
Don't forget about Google Webpass, they started advertising heavily in Seattle area starting about a year ago. I switched to them earlier last year due to having periodic issues with WaveG in my new apt building about 8 months into my lease (their technician would come a week or two after I report constant outages, fix something in the server room of my building, and then the issues would start again in a few weeks; haven't had any issues with WaveG at my previous apt though). Service has been great, pricing is even cheaper than WaveG (I pay about $50/mo for their gig fiber offering), no contracts or any other lock-in (unless you pick the option to pay for the whole year upfront for a small discount). It definitely does feel like there is a good amount of real competition in Seattle now.
- filmgirlcw 6y ago
  Yup! My apartment building was pre-wired for fiber and I can get WaveG, Century Link, or WebPass. I can also get Comcast if I wanted to torture myself. That’s the most options I have ever had in my entire life for an ISP. We’re with WaveG and have no reason to switch but the fact that I have multiple fiber options if I need to makes me really happy. In Brooklyn, I couldn’t get FiOS in my building even though the building across the street and next door could do it. Something with the zoning and no matter how hard we (and Verizon) tried, nada. The upshot was Cablevision was an exceptional ISP (let me run a server out of the apartment as part of the written TOS, which was incredible), but it was still slower than FiOS. In Atlanta, my parents’ house was prewired for fiber and gigabit but they have been stuck with not even the fastest available cable because of ISP tie-ups. It’s painful and they have zero choice.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    > The upshot was Cablevision was an exceptional ISP (let me run a server out of the apartment as part of the written TOS, which was incredible), but it was still slower than FiOS. This is no longer the case since Altice purchased cable vision/optimum. They jacked up the prices and Andy reduced quality of service.
- ViViDboarder 6y ago
  I had WebPass in my first two apartments in San Francisco and it was my favorite ISP. I paid $500 for the year up front for 300/300 service. Then I moved to a different unit where the absolute fastest option was 20/3 DSL for $70/mo. Thankfully I’m now on Gigabit cable, but I can’t wait to get off Xfinity for something better.
fergbrain 6y ago
Also Ziply Fiber bought Frontier’s network in WA, OR, and ID, and started investing in their infra and expanding areas.
eyelidlessness 6y ago
Lest we forget the personal scandal, he molested young boys. Not to distract from the ISP progress, but I don’t think it should be papered over.
- edoceo 6y ago
  PUT YOUR PITCHFORKS DOWN! Accused! Not proven. Murray maintains he has never abused anyone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Murray_(Washington_politician)#Child_sexual_abuse_allegations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Murray_(Washington_politici...
  - eyelidlessness 6y ago
    I have no pitchforks, just trauma that hasn't been proven (nor tried by anything claiming to prove anything) but certainly happened.
    - cambalache 6y ago
      How do you know? If you have proof why have you not share that important piece of evidence with the authorities?
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - eyelidlessness 6y ago
        How do I know that I’ve experienced trauma? Because I experienced it. I don’t need to prove it to you or anyone.
        edoceo 6y ago
        Your experiences are your own and nobody is asking you to prove yourself. You are valid as is. However, one should not be saying someone IS a vile thing when they've only been ACCUSED (and not convicted) of being a vile thing.

loeg 6y ago

CenturyLink fiber is relatively recent to the Seattle area (2017 or 2018) and serves a broader customer base than Wave née Condo. Condo was historically only available in a small number of buildings very close to the Westin building downtown (site of the Seattle Internet Exchange). It is slightly broader now, but only slightly. Here's a big old PDF of Seattle area internet service (2019)[1]. Most of Seattle is CenturyLink + Comcast. The second biggest portion is Comcast-only. Wave covers very little of the city. [1]: https://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/gigabit-availability https://www.seattle.gov/tech/initiatives/broadband/gigabit-a...

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
rconti 6y ago
Seems like I was hearing my Seattle friends brag about their Centurylink Fiber quite a long time ago -- I want to say 5 or 8 years. Maybe the initial rollout was small and it took awhile to get going? I'm a Seattle native, down in the bay area now, and JUST got gigabit fiber. Couldn't be happier.
- loeg 6y ago
  Maybe CenturyLink rolled out to a limited availability sooner than I'm remembering. There was also a very limited Verizon FTTH rollout on the east side some time earlier as well, but I don't know anyone who was in a service area for it.

jeffwilcox 6y ago

The speedy providers are all jumping over each other to compete, now that the "gentlemen's agreement" between providers is no longer a thing... but they are cherry picking from people willing to pay and easily providing the service. Seems like maybe 3 years ago when all the cable companies were able to compete without exclusivity by block? In my condo building of 200+ units we have 5 providers now: - Wave broadband cable - Comcast cable - Wave G (10Gbps connection to the building) - Webpass Google Fiber (microwave to the building) - CenturyLink (DSL maybe?) The bummer is outside the high-rise towers, there is not much competition in the neighborhoods and single family homes it seems.

eru 6y ago
I wonder whether the promise of faster Internet would diminish some of the NIMBY opposition to high rise towers?
- MikeTheGreat 6y ago
  I'm going to say "Probably not". You're talking about people who have chosen to live in lower-density housing with lower internet speeds. I'm sure they'd love higher internet speeds, but not so much that they'd give up the 'lower density housing' part :)
lotsofpulp 6y ago
In my experience, new construction has access to fiber, and very little old construction has access to fiber.