4 ms·

While 30 million is too much, that’s less than 10% of the population. In the most populated areas it’s most common to have a duopoly. Sucks but “I don’t think t

by epcoa 3y ago

While 30 million is too much, that’s less than 10% of the population. In the most populated areas it’s most common to have a duopoly. Sucks but “I don’t think there are many places that aren’t Comcast only” is not close to being accurate. They’re not even the dominant provider in Texas and New York. If anything it makes it easier for them to survive, antitrust below the national scale is much harder to apply.

happytiger 3y ago
It’s not a real number. > At least 49.7 million Americans only have access to broadband from one of the seven largest cable and telephone companies. In total, at least 83.3 million Americans can only access broadband through a single provider. > Over the past two years, federal stats suggest that Charter and Comcast have an absolute monopoly over fewer households, but we think this is mostly a mirage resulting from how the FCC reports data. A significant number of the census blocks showing new competition are likely only partially served. https://ilsr.org/report-most-americans-have-no-real-choice-in-internet-providers/ https://ilsr.org/report-most-americans-have-no-real-choice-i... That’s more accurate but much of the “good data” comes from the providers themselves. Don’t know why you’ve got such a pro-Comcast / Charter bent, but I assure you they aren’t worth defending.
- epcoa 3y ago
  The fiber broadband association themselves reports over 70 million household availability for fiber. That just doesn’t square with your original statement. > Don’t know why you’ve got such a pro-Comcast / Charter bent Kindly go fuck yourself. Stick to facts without baseless accusations.
lotsofpulp 3y ago
DSL / wireless does not count. Very, very few homes have access to fiber. Most homes only have coaxial broadband, and most of those are only served by Comcast.
- epcoa 3y ago
  While it could be better, 70 million households is not 2x very few. I can only imagine you’re going off very outdated information. Of those 70 so million with fiber available about 30 million actually use it.
  - lotsofpulp 3y ago
    I do not believe 70M households have fiber available. I have searched many, many houses in many, many metros, and the ones with fiber are few and far between. The FCC map is not reliable at all. You only see that fiber is not available when you search the address on the ISP website and it returns with the option for DSL. Even in the region I live now, the FCC map says fiber available in most of the city, but in reality, it’s only the newer housing developments. 90% are older homes in developments from a couple decades ago, and they only have coaxial. The common factor in fiber availability is a housing development built after 2005 or even 2010, or built so long ago that the utilities are overhead and maybe they could string up fiber for a sufficiently low price. Any home in any development built 1970 to 2010 with underground utilities that did not already have fiber will most likely not have fiber. Also, any apartment building from before ~2010 will not have Ethernet wired to the apartment, only coaxial wires, and the apartment building owner is not going to wire it up for fiber, even if fiber is run to the building itself.
    - epcoa 3y ago
      These numbers are from the FBA themselves, I don’t see how it is in their interests to lie that way (they have anticonsumer reasons for not doing so, this is not a defense). I’m more inclined that you’re experiencing sampling bias. Infrastructure is clustered - fiber or anything like that is not “few and far between”. More like large swaths have coverage within deserts. If you’re always looking two doors from the house in the desert, it too does not have water. I would personally never buy a house with comcast only and would likely not without fiber (I currently live in a Uverse/Shitcast ghetto which essentially leaves me with only one option). I sympathize with the shittiness of US broadband but I see no reason to stretch the facts, they suck regardless. And we do not represent the normal customer. In reality wireless options and even comcast are options to people if they compete on price, and fiber does have to compete with those in the real world.

by epcoa 3y ago

happytiger 3y ago

It’s not a real number. > At least 49.7 million Americans only have access to broadband from one of the seven largest cable and telephone companies. In total, at least 83.3 million Americans can only access broadband through a single provider. > Over the past two years, federal stats suggest that Charter and Comcast have an absolute monopoly over fewer households, but we think this is mostly a mirage resulting from how the FCC reports data. A significant number of the census blocks showing new competition are likely only partially served. https://ilsr.org/report-most-americans-have-no-real-choice-in-internet-providers/ https://ilsr.org/report-most-americans-have-no-real-choice-i... That’s more accurate but much of the “good data” comes from the providers themselves. Don’t know why you’ve got such a pro-Comcast / Charter bent, but I assure you they aren’t worth defending.

epcoa 3y ago
The fiber broadband association themselves reports over 70 million household availability for fiber. That just doesn’t square with your original statement. > Don’t know why you’ve got such a pro-Comcast / Charter bent Kindly go fuck yourself. Stick to facts without baseless accusations.

lotsofpulp 3y ago

DSL / wireless does not count. Very, very few homes have access to fiber. Most homes only have coaxial broadband, and most of those are only served by Comcast.

epcoa 3y ago
While it could be better, 70 million households is not 2x very few. I can only imagine you’re going off very outdated information. Of those 70 so million with fiber available about 30 million actually use it.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  I do not believe 70M households have fiber available. I have searched many, many houses in many, many metros, and the ones with fiber are few and far between. The FCC map is not reliable at all. You only see that fiber is not available when you search the address on the ISP website and it returns with the option for DSL. Even in the region I live now, the FCC map says fiber available in most of the city, but in reality, it’s only the newer housing developments. 90% are older homes in developments from a couple decades ago, and they only have coaxial. The common factor in fiber availability is a housing development built after 2005 or even 2010, or built so long ago that the utilities are overhead and maybe they could string up fiber for a sufficiently low price. Any home in any development built 1970 to 2010 with underground utilities that did not already have fiber will most likely not have fiber. Also, any apartment building from before ~2010 will not have Ethernet wired to the apartment, only coaxial wires, and the apartment building owner is not going to wire it up for fiber, even if fiber is run to the building itself.
  - epcoa 3y ago
    These numbers are from the FBA themselves, I don’t see how it is in their interests to lie that way (they have anticonsumer reasons for not doing so, this is not a defense). I’m more inclined that you’re experiencing sampling bias. Infrastructure is clustered - fiber or anything like that is not “few and far between”. More like large swaths have coverage within deserts. If you’re always looking two doors from the house in the desert, it too does not have water. I would personally never buy a house with comcast only and would likely not without fiber (I currently live in a Uverse/Shitcast ghetto which essentially leaves me with only one option). I sympathize with the shittiness of US broadband but I see no reason to stretch the facts, they suck regardless. And we do not represent the normal customer. In reality wireless options and even comcast are options to people if they compete on price, and fiber does have to compete with those in the real world.