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Casually having 25 GBps internet speed... Remind me why I live in the country that has the biggest tech companies in the world + most venture capital, yet my IS

Casually having 25 GBps internet speed... Remind me why I live in the country that has the biggest tech companies in the world + most venture capital, yet my ISP is currently offering 1 GBps max :) (I think I know the answer, yet this is painful to think about)

m463 4y ago
the answer is regulatory capture.
- mschuster91 4y ago
  Usually I'd agree with you, but Switzerland has the advantage that 2/3rds of its population live in extreme density for European standards (426 ppl/km², [1]). The denser the population, the more cost-efficient the buildout of any infrastructure is. Additionally, Switzerland is all but drowning in money (in fact, they have to fight to keep the Swiss Franc affordable [2]) because everyone and their dog who can afford it parks their dark money there. That influx of wealth is reflected in the services and wages that the citizens get. [1] https://www.avenir-suisse.ch/wie-dicht-ist-die-schweiz-besiedelt/ https://www.avenir-suisse.ch/wie-dicht-ist-die-schweiz-besie... [2] https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/geldpolitik/schweizer-notenbank-snb-greift-zur-franken-schwaechung-tiefer-in-die-tasche/28161194.html https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/geldpolitik/schweizer-...
  - kybernetikos 4y ago
    Although the density thing is true, the entire population of the country of Switzerland is less than that of a large metropolitan area (e.g. London) so while it might not be possible to have Swiss level infrastructure in rural US areas it should be perfectly possible in major cities.
    - vitus 4y ago
      Put more concretely: the population of NYC proper (ignoring the broader metro) and Switzerland are pretty comparable (both around 8-9m people), but NYC is about 50x more dense (300 mi² vs 16000).
      - Brian_K_White 4y ago
        But the Swiss poulation is not evenly spread over it's land area.
        vitus 4y ago
        While that's true, the two densest cities in Switzerland are Geneva (~12k / km^2) and Basel (~7k / km^2). NYC sits at about 11k / km^2. Unless 10Gbps internet and up in Switzerland is only available in Geneva, there's clearly more than just population density at play.
    - protomyth 4y ago
      The funny part is that parts of the rural US have better internet speeds than the cities. Rural Electric Cooperatives do like their fiber. Carrington ND has a billboard proclaiming the availability of 10Gbe fiber to the home.
  - Nimitz14 4y ago
    These are really half-baked thoughts. 1. As you may know half of Switzerland is filled with mountains, so building infrastructure there is actually not that trivial (no, the high speeds are not just in the big cities, they're everywhere). 2. Dark money in Switzerland hasn't been a thing for a while. The wealth comes from sensible policies like a sovereign currency, low taxes and reasonable levels of regulation and bureaucracy. All that money also makes everything expensive, so the extra money kind of cancels out when it comes to doing stuff inside Switzerland.
akira2501 4y ago
> that has the biggest tech companies in the world + most venture capital, yet my ISP is currently offering 1 GBps max These two facts are completely related. A wide array of competition is to be desired, not "biggest in the world."
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
quickthrower2 4y ago
Lucky to get 25Mbps max here :-(. And no, not rural. In a metropolitan area.
- JaggerJo 4y ago
  germany?
bradknowles 4y ago
Same country, but restricted to DSL speeds because the sole vendor who provides near-gigabit service in this neighborhood is Spectrum, whose service quality is so low that AT&T DSL is still a better option. Go two miles in any direction from our neighborhood, and you have multiple providers with gigabit or near gigabit speeds, including AT&T. Regulatory capture indeed.

m463 4y ago

the answer is regulatory capture.

mschuster91 4y ago
Usually I'd agree with you, but Switzerland has the advantage that 2/3rds of its population live in extreme density for European standards (426 ppl/km², [1]). The denser the population, the more cost-efficient the buildout of any infrastructure is. Additionally, Switzerland is all but drowning in money (in fact, they have to fight to keep the Swiss Franc affordable [2]) because everyone and their dog who can afford it parks their dark money there. That influx of wealth is reflected in the services and wages that the citizens get. [1] https://www.avenir-suisse.ch/wie-dicht-ist-die-schweiz-besiedelt/ https://www.avenir-suisse.ch/wie-dicht-ist-die-schweiz-besie... [2] https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/geldpolitik/schweizer-notenbank-snb-greift-zur-franken-schwaechung-tiefer-in-die-tasche/28161194.html https://www.handelsblatt.com/finanzen/geldpolitik/schweizer-...
- kybernetikos 4y ago
  Although the density thing is true, the entire population of the country of Switzerland is less than that of a large metropolitan area (e.g. London) so while it might not be possible to have Swiss level infrastructure in rural US areas it should be perfectly possible in major cities.
  - vitus 4y ago
    Put more concretely: the population of NYC proper (ignoring the broader metro) and Switzerland are pretty comparable (both around 8-9m people), but NYC is about 50x more dense (300 mi² vs 16000).
    - Brian_K_White 4y ago
      But the Swiss poulation is not evenly spread over it's land area.
      - vitus 4y ago
        While that's true, the two densest cities in Switzerland are Geneva (~12k / km^2) and Basel (~7k / km^2). NYC sits at about 11k / km^2. Unless 10Gbps internet and up in Switzerland is only available in Geneva, there's clearly more than just population density at play.
  - protomyth 4y ago
    The funny part is that parts of the rural US have better internet speeds than the cities. Rural Electric Cooperatives do like their fiber. Carrington ND has a billboard proclaiming the availability of 10Gbe fiber to the home.
- Nimitz14 4y ago
  These are really half-baked thoughts. 1. As you may know half of Switzerland is filled with mountains, so building infrastructure there is actually not that trivial (no, the high speeds are not just in the big cities, they're everywhere). 2. Dark money in Switzerland hasn't been a thing for a while. The wealth comes from sensible policies like a sovereign currency, low taxes and reasonable levels of regulation and bureaucracy. All that money also makes everything expensive, so the extra money kind of cancels out when it comes to doing stuff inside Switzerland.

akira2501 4y ago

> that has the biggest tech companies in the world + most venture capital, yet my ISP is currently offering 1 GBps max These two facts are completely related. A wide array of competition is to be desired, not "biggest in the world."

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

quickthrower2 4y ago

Lucky to get 25Mbps max here :-(. And no, not rural. In a metropolitan area.

JaggerJo 4y ago
germany?

bradknowles 4y ago

Same country, but restricted to DSL speeds because the sole vendor who provides near-gigabit service in this neighborhood is Spectrum, whose service quality is so low that AT&T DSL is still a better option. Go two miles in any direction from our neighborhood, and you have multiple providers with gigabit or near gigabit speeds, including AT&T. Regulatory capture indeed.