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And this, folks, is why local loop unbundling initiatives are important. Also: > Dampier found that Charter offers 200Mbps service for $50 a month "[i]n neigh

And this, folks, is why local loop unbundling initiatives are important. Also: > Dampier found that Charter offers 200Mbps service for $50 a month "[i]n neighborhoods where Spectrum enjoys a broadband monopoly." Charter charges $70 for 400Mbps service in those same competition-free neighborhoods. Honestly, even the lower-end prices are not great. In France you can easily get 2Gbps for $60 / month.

geodel 5y ago
> In France you can easily get 2Gbps for $60 / month. In France I can get gasoline for $7 dollar a gallon. So save a bit on internet spend on different item and feel superior because EU is the best?
- 8note 5y ago
  Ideally it would be $20 a gallon and the related taxes would go into replacing the outdated fossil fuel infrastructure
  - 988747 5y ago
    You do realize that a. People still need to commute b. higher gas price means higher prices of everything, due to transportation costs? Ideally, there would be 0% tax on gas, since it is one of the most essential things in the economy.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - Robotbeat 5y ago
      Ground transportation is easy to electrify.
    - PoignardAzur 5y ago
      People need to commute less if we generalize remote work for office workers, car-pooling, etc. Transportation costs are less dependent on gas prices if we build better exchange points between truck freight and train freight. Infrastructure is dependent on gas because we let gas be cheap. If we seriously want to curtail climate change, we need to rip the band-aid off.
- candiddevmike 5y ago
  I would gladly pay $7/gal for 2Gbps at $60/mo
  - geodel 5y ago
    Well that would just show how disconnected from rest of USA you are. Whereas such expensive gas may ruin millions in US but you will be fine with your Gigabit broadband.
- jraph 5y ago
  I live in France and I'm at loss on what a gallon is. I do feel EU is the best and the pricy internet connections in the USA are probably a hidden fine for the sin of using strange units. Sent from a train that does not require gallons. (I hope I sounded as annoying as possible)
  - ryukafalz 5y ago
    The train mention is important. My understanding (and my experience, from the few trips I've made to Europe) is that your transportation infrastructure is generally much better than ours in the US, and thus driving isn't nearly as much of a requirement. (Plus there's not as much of a sharp divide between walkable cities and car-dependent suburbs like we have in the US.) I'm sure there are significant regional differences within Europe, of course.
    - jraph 5y ago
      Indeed, especially in cities that are still riddled with cars but you can manage without if your job is not in a remonte location or doesn't require a car. In the countryside cars are still mandatory. Trains once were reachable from many small villages but many stations have sadly been removed. I hope the train network will improve, or at least not degrade. I like being able to go to work by train every day, and I also like being able to finish my day job in the south east of France and be able to reach north west by 11 PM, doing my stuff or sleeping during the trip, and planning to do this only a few days before.
  - adventured 5y ago
    > I live in France and I'm at loss on what a gallon is. ... probably a hidden fine for the sin of using strange units Strange units, as opposed to strange languages. Since language is far more important than measurement, the French should obviously abandon their entirely unnecessary national language and adopt either English, Spanish or Mandarin as a logical standardization improvement. As French will continue to perpetually decline in importance and use globally, I propose that French is a failed language and it would be wise of France to get out in front of that unstoppable trend and drop their national language sooner than later. Overall English is clearly the best choice as a standard, as it will be adopted by more people this century than any other language as the global population swells toward 10 billion. Mandarin would be a solid second choice, however China's population will rapidly contract and the globe isn't in a hurry to adopt Mandarin given it's particularly difficult to learn. The vast inefficiency of Europe having and intentionally maintaining three dozen major languages is of course silly. Approximately half of the people in Europe can't communicate with eachother effectively because they share no common language. It's a very backwards approach. One might suggest that people can speak multiple languages and that that resolves the matter (it doesn't, the vast inefficiency of time, money & effort dedicated to maintaining failed non-English languages remains). However in that vein, it turns out you can utilize multiple measurement systems as well, as the US very commonly also uses the metric system where it matters to do so. The sole reasonable counter argument, the language-is-culture argument, applies exactly the same for non scientifically critical measurement references in the US. For example using yards, or feet which are tightly bound to US culture (from media to sports to history to routine conversation).
- mhh__ 5y ago
  Focusing on cars is a very American thing to do, they are still important in Europe but I for example have no problem getting about in the UK and our public transport is pretty crap
mschuster91 5y ago
> In France you can easily get 2Gbps for $60 / month. cries in German
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
Broadband infrastructure is expensive to install and upgrade, so it's expected to last a very long time to break even for the installer. Often, broadband speeds are more indicative of how recently the local infrastructure was upgraded than anything else. > Honestly, even the lower-end prices are not great. In France you can easily get 2Gbps for $60 / month. Broadband is extremely dependent on geography and the city. In many places in the US (my city included) it's easy to get gigabit broadband for similar prices. I have friends in remote areas who would be happy to have even reliable 10Mbit at this point, but their properties are so isolated that it's prohibitively expensive for anyone to run infrastructure out to service their sparse neighborhoods.

geodel 5y ago

> In France you can easily get 2Gbps for $60 / month. In France I can get gasoline for $7 dollar a gallon. So save a bit on internet spend on different item and feel superior because EU is the best?

8note 5y ago
Ideally it would be $20 a gallon and the related taxes would go into replacing the outdated fossil fuel infrastructure
- 988747 5y ago
  You do realize that a. People still need to commute b. higher gas price means higher prices of everything, due to transportation costs? Ideally, there would be 0% tax on gas, since it is one of the most essential things in the economy.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - Robotbeat 5y ago
    Ground transportation is easy to electrify.
  - PoignardAzur 5y ago
    People need to commute less if we generalize remote work for office workers, car-pooling, etc. Transportation costs are less dependent on gas prices if we build better exchange points between truck freight and train freight. Infrastructure is dependent on gas because we let gas be cheap. If we seriously want to curtail climate change, we need to rip the band-aid off.
candiddevmike 5y ago
I would gladly pay $7/gal for 2Gbps at $60/mo
- geodel 5y ago
  Well that would just show how disconnected from rest of USA you are. Whereas such expensive gas may ruin millions in US but you will be fine with your Gigabit broadband.
jraph 5y ago
I live in France and I'm at loss on what a gallon is. I do feel EU is the best and the pricy internet connections in the USA are probably a hidden fine for the sin of using strange units. Sent from a train that does not require gallons. (I hope I sounded as annoying as possible)
- ryukafalz 5y ago
  The train mention is important. My understanding (and my experience, from the few trips I've made to Europe) is that your transportation infrastructure is generally much better than ours in the US, and thus driving isn't nearly as much of a requirement. (Plus there's not as much of a sharp divide between walkable cities and car-dependent suburbs like we have in the US.) I'm sure there are significant regional differences within Europe, of course.
  - jraph 5y ago
    Indeed, especially in cities that are still riddled with cars but you can manage without if your job is not in a remonte location or doesn't require a car. In the countryside cars are still mandatory. Trains once were reachable from many small villages but many stations have sadly been removed. I hope the train network will improve, or at least not degrade. I like being able to go to work by train every day, and I also like being able to finish my day job in the south east of France and be able to reach north west by 11 PM, doing my stuff or sleeping during the trip, and planning to do this only a few days before.
- adventured 5y ago
  > I live in France and I'm at loss on what a gallon is. ... probably a hidden fine for the sin of using strange units Strange units, as opposed to strange languages. Since language is far more important than measurement, the French should obviously abandon their entirely unnecessary national language and adopt either English, Spanish or Mandarin as a logical standardization improvement. As French will continue to perpetually decline in importance and use globally, I propose that French is a failed language and it would be wise of France to get out in front of that unstoppable trend and drop their national language sooner than later. Overall English is clearly the best choice as a standard, as it will be adopted by more people this century than any other language as the global population swells toward 10 billion. Mandarin would be a solid second choice, however China's population will rapidly contract and the globe isn't in a hurry to adopt Mandarin given it's particularly difficult to learn. The vast inefficiency of Europe having and intentionally maintaining three dozen major languages is of course silly. Approximately half of the people in Europe can't communicate with eachother effectively because they share no common language. It's a very backwards approach. One might suggest that people can speak multiple languages and that that resolves the matter (it doesn't, the vast inefficiency of time, money & effort dedicated to maintaining failed non-English languages remains). However in that vein, it turns out you can utilize multiple measurement systems as well, as the US very commonly also uses the metric system where it matters to do so. The sole reasonable counter argument, the language-is-culture argument, applies exactly the same for non scientifically critical measurement references in the US. For example using yards, or feet which are tightly bound to US culture (from media to sports to history to routine conversation).
mhh__ 5y ago
Focusing on cars is a very American thing to do, they are still important in Europe but I for example have no problem getting about in the UK and our public transport is pretty crap

mschuster91 5y ago

> In France you can easily get 2Gbps for $60 / month. cries in German

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

Broadband infrastructure is expensive to install and upgrade, so it's expected to last a very long time to break even for the installer. Often, broadband speeds are more indicative of how recently the local infrastructure was upgraded than anything else. > Honestly, even the lower-end prices are not great. In France you can easily get 2Gbps for $60 / month. Broadband is extremely dependent on geography and the city. In many places in the US (my city included) it's easy to get gigabit broadband for similar prices. I have friends in remote areas who would be happy to have even reliable 10Mbit at this point, but their properties are so isolated that it's prohibitively expensive for anyone to run infrastructure out to service their sparse neighborhoods.