3 ms·

Do individual consumers honestly have enough choice in broadband at a single location that this would actually add value? It's been a while but last I checked

Do individual consumers honestly have enough choice in broadband at a single location that this would actually add value? It's been a while but last I checked "one ISP, two if you're super lucky" is the norm. To the extent that you do have options, how likely is it that the secondary player is the same size and playing level as the majority player? Does this benefit them or hurt them? I'm in a Top 50 market. You've got Fiber and DSL from AT&T, 5G from T-Mobile and Cable from Comcast. AT&T and Comcast have very uneven areas of coverage still and mostly don't overlap and 5G rollout started, but it's only available at a small fraction of addresses within the city. This would have almost no value for a residential consumer here.

mdasen 4y ago
Even if you only have one ISP, they often have multiple plans and it can be hard to compare them. Most cable companies won’t even tell you what their upload speeds are. It definitely still has value even if you only have one ISP.
em-bee 4y ago
even if there is no choice wouldn't a clear label help the consumer recognize how bad the offer is compared to other areas, and thus create pressure to improve the service?
kube-system 4y ago
> I'm in a Top 50 market. You've got Fiber and DSL from AT&T, 5G from T-Mobile and Cable from Comcast. And probably viasat, hughesnet, and starlink. And mobile broadband plans from the three major carriers and probably a couple dozen MVNOs. But two is enough to compare. And if there’s only one option, it’s even more important that consumers are fairly informed.
kortilla 4y ago
Yes, this is super valuable. You’re biased because your mental filter as a techie has already taken out all of the choices people actually have. You didn’t include geo sat, starlink, 4g tethering, microwave stuff, and whatever other WISP miscellaneous things each area has going on. To you they aren’t “high speed choices”, but that’s just because you’re picky. If someone just wants to be able watch Netflix there are many options. If someone just wants to email pictures and pay their bills, there are many different options there too. Getting this will give all of the non-power users a way to see what’s available and pick something when they don’t need 1gbps 20ms latency.
bscphil 4y ago
I would love to see Comcast forced to put a precise number on what upload speed they're giving me. They actively refuse to say. There's nowhere, anywhere in the Xfinity interface, that tells me what upload speed I'm supposed to be getting. I've pretty much figured it out based on forum posts and repeated testing.
- namibj 4y ago
  On similar technology, here in Germany, I get 1000 Max down, and 50 Max up. But the latter are only promising 35 average and 15 min; numbers are for AFAIK 5min slices, averages over nominal 24 or 48 hours. I forgot the download promises, but they where like 850 700 or so for the non-max values in same order and same definition. Edit: these AFAIK act as SLAs that give me instant unilateral contact cancellation rights with no notice period. And possibly fraud if they knew they couldn't provide it to me with the network like they had it when I joined; they are required to keep the network up to continue holding compliance, but it's wonky.
gabereiser 4y ago
No. Many places are operated under a monopoly and you only have one choice of provider (but multiple plans so it’s ok?)

mdasen 4y ago

Even if you only have one ISP, they often have multiple plans and it can be hard to compare them. Most cable companies won’t even tell you what their upload speeds are. It definitely still has value even if you only have one ISP.

em-bee 4y ago

even if there is no choice wouldn't a clear label help the consumer recognize how bad the offer is compared to other areas, and thus create pressure to improve the service?

kube-system 4y ago

> I'm in a Top 50 market. You've got Fiber and DSL from AT&T, 5G from T-Mobile and Cable from Comcast. And probably viasat, hughesnet, and starlink. And mobile broadband plans from the three major carriers and probably a couple dozen MVNOs. But two is enough to compare. And if there’s only one option, it’s even more important that consumers are fairly informed.

kortilla 4y ago

Yes, this is super valuable. You’re biased because your mental filter as a techie has already taken out all of the choices people actually have. You didn’t include geo sat, starlink, 4g tethering, microwave stuff, and whatever other WISP miscellaneous things each area has going on. To you they aren’t “high speed choices”, but that’s just because you’re picky. If someone just wants to be able watch Netflix there are many options. If someone just wants to email pictures and pay their bills, there are many different options there too. Getting this will give all of the non-power users a way to see what’s available and pick something when they don’t need 1gbps 20ms latency.

bscphil 4y ago

I would love to see Comcast forced to put a precise number on what upload speed they're giving me. They actively refuse to say. There's nowhere, anywhere in the Xfinity interface, that tells me what upload speed I'm supposed to be getting. I've pretty much figured it out based on forum posts and repeated testing.

namibj 4y ago
On similar technology, here in Germany, I get 1000 Max down, and 50 Max up. But the latter are only promising 35 average and 15 min; numbers are for AFAIK 5min slices, averages over nominal 24 or 48 hours. I forgot the download promises, but they where like 850 700 or so for the non-max values in same order and same definition. Edit: these AFAIK act as SLAs that give me instant unilateral contact cancellation rights with no notice period. And possibly fraud if they knew they couldn't provide it to me with the network like they had it when I joined; they are required to keep the network up to continue holding compliance, but it's wonky.

gabereiser 4y ago

No. Many places are operated under a monopoly and you only have one choice of provider (but multiple plans so it’s ok?)