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Thank GOD they're disrupting this industry. All the telcos are worthless "Soviet bureaus" that deserve death. It's really sort of amazing to think about. In al

by api 14y ago

Thank GOD they're disrupting this industry. All the telcos are worthless "Soviet bureaus" that deserve death. It's really sort of amazing to think about. In all my years on this planet I have never been pleased with a telecom company. Never. I have always felt like I was paying far too much for inferior service, contemptible customer support, and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls trying to sell me more stuff, intrusive DNS systems that redirect me to their crappy web sites, etc. There is not a single other industry I can say that about, certainly not one that comes to mind so quickly. Hell, I can't even say that about the government. As if that's not bad enough, this industry seems to spend a lot of money lobbying to destroy the open Internet, which is like a car company lobbying to increase the number of annoying traffic regulations in order to make it less enjoyable to drive.

philwelch 14y ago
Be careful what you wish for. I'm dubious of getting any kind of service from a company known for not having any kind of customer service whatsoever.
- ktizo 14y ago
  I don't mind having no call centers to call as long as the service works better and the network is smart. Currently, you are having to use a phone to verbally tell the telco where the problems are on the network they run, which is insane.
  - wtvanhest 14y ago
    You will be on a phone one way or another when the internet is down.
    - b0 14y ago
      Unless you have ADSL...
    - ktizo 14y ago
      Yes, but I would rather not spend all of that listening to fur-elise for the umpteenth time while getting lost in the arcane submenus of a corporate telephone system, all the while being told how valued I am as a customer by a repeating disembodied voice.
- dholowiski 14y ago
  Um... I've called google tech support numerous times (for google apps, and google adwords) and had great experiences. I'd be ecstatic if my ISP gave me the same level of support.
  - philwelch 14y ago
    That's directly contrary to everything I'd ever heard about Google before. Interesting, maybe they've learned their lesson.
- nickpinkston 14y ago
  Though to be honest - how good is ComCraptic at service? At least when Google has bugs they're solved quickly.
  - Tloewald 14y ago
    Last night my Comcast cable tv set top box started telling me it was unauthorized. I went through their phone tree twice (they simply booted me the first time ... Telling me to hang up an call again WTF?). I finally talk to a human -- nice and seems competent -- and he can't find any evidence of my having a set top box. Eventually he says that maybe the relevant system is down, try to call again in the morning. Fine, not his fault. But before I hang up he reads out a recorded item about how they are there ready to support me 24/7. Oh and I love how I have to enter the same phone number twice AND give it to the human ... "For security purposes."
- notatoad 14y ago
  TelCo call centers are universally useless. Google could have a phone number you call and a robot on the other end that informs you of service disruptions and tells you to turn it off and turn it on again, and they would have better service than most ISPs.
  - ricardobeat 14y ago
    My local TelCo, despite being shitty, plays a recorded message everytime there are specific issues affecting the area.
    - mturmon 14y ago
      I get a message like that from Time Warner. I love it, because it always says, "A service disruption has been reported in the Los Angeles area. Service is expected to be restored by 8pm." Classic.
    - notatoad 14y ago
      most telcos do that. the problem is usually that they are too vague to be of any use. i've called telus before and gotten the message "we are currently experiencing service intteruptions in some areas". thanks guys, that helps.
  - redthrowaway 14y ago
    Maybe it's different in the States, but my experiences with Shaw/Rogers have been universally positive on the tech support front. 24/7 call center, and either the problem is fixed then and there, or there's someone out to replace the modem the next day. Hell, I even had one of them walk me through cloning my MAC address to force a new IP when I got banned from 4chan back in the day.
- jvanenk 14y ago
  I actually have some experience with GoogCustSvc now. I bought a Nexus 7. It has touch-screen problems. They provided a way to contact them here (http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/request.py?contact_type=contact_policy http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/request.py?contact_type=...). I talked to the rep (after waiting about 30 minutes). They were helpful, direct, competent, and provided a way for me to contact the person I talked to via e-mail after the call was ended. They organized a replacement device and even worked through the fact that I'd purchased the tablet from my brother-in-law. If their future customer service offerings are the same as what I experienced last night, I have no concerns.
  - brianjolney 14y ago
    For me they charged the wrong card for my Nexus 7, and I wrote them to see about fixing that. Exactly 10 days later I received an email about american express cards being declined, and that I should now be good to go. Google is great, just not when it comes to human beings helping you.
  - jrabone 14y ago
    Me too - exact same issue, and the same experience; apart from the hold time the support people I spoke with were polite and helpful, and the second person resolved the problem with my original RMA request over the phone. Turned out I gave the first person the wrong serial number (there are two with very similar acronyms, marked SSN & CSSN). They got a replacement device to my desk within 24 hours once they had the correct number.
  - gcb 14y ago
    1000s of people got a nexus one with touch screen problem. there are even law suits. i never got one email replied, even complaining to the email address for seller claims in google wallet (which i used to buy from google directly)
- fourmii 14y ago
  Anything is better than the rubbish we currently get from Comcast...
  - telcodud 14y ago
    Not very long ago, I'd to wait for ~30 minutes in a line that stretched out to the street at my local Comcast office to, wait for this, exchange the set top box for one that had HDMI out! For such privileges, and cable and internet, I pay over $100 a month.
- apenwarr 14y ago
  Google Fiber has customer service by phone. The phone number is visible at https://fiber.google.com/help/ https://fiber.google.com/help/
- cciesquare 14y ago
  What are we comparing the customer service to though? For ISPs google cannot do worse, it's impossible. I've used Verizon, AT&T, Charter, Time Warner and they all have terrible customer service, and I am understating it.
- WettowelReactor 14y ago
  Having used Google customer service as a paying customer I have never had an issue. Customer service on their free offerings is another story all together but what do you expect on that end anyways?
maratd 14y ago
> contemptible customer support Because Google will be so much better? Look, I hate telcos just like the next guy, but the suckage is mostly due to the nature of the business. They form natural monopolies and that sort of thing doesn't lead to customer satisfaction. The only way that sector is going to get truly disrupted is through gigabit wireless internet. You can have multiple competitors in one space with comparatively limited infrastructure investment on their part. That free tier? That is outright illegal and its sole purpose is to eradicate all competition. It' a good thing for Google that sort of thing isn't really enforced anymore. They'll still get sued though. Look up price bashing. Once Google is the only player in town, you still think they'll shit lilacs and spread rainbows and unicorns? That's just not how monopolies work.
- eavc 14y ago
  "That free tier? That is outright illegal and its sole purpose is to eradicate all competition." No - the purpose is to increase people willing to pay for installations in a given neighborhood so they can go ahead and roll out service to more people.
- AsylumWarden 14y ago
  You know, I've never had trouble with Google customer support. I've contacted them twice: once for a Google Maps issue and again because I couldn't access my account. No problems for me. I find these kinds of complaints strange. Most of the time I hear this complaint the person doing the complaining hadn't ever even tried to contact Google; they just read that it was a problem somewhere. Oh, I will admit they don't make finding the contact information easy but with the number of users barely able to order a happy meal without calling 911 when their fries aren't right who would want to make it easy?
- EthanHeilman 14y ago
  Plain and simple: Google makes money if people use the internet. Anything that increases the number of times someone views a website makes google money. It's like a billboard company offering to add free windows to your house so you watch their ads from your living room. I agree with the motivation of your post. Monopolies are bad and customers have a vested interest in preventing google (or anyone else) from having monopolistic control of consumer internet. Unfortunately this is already true in many parts of the United States (Comcast is the only game in town where I live). At least in the short term Google entering this market should reduce monopolies not create them.
dysoco 14y ago
I suppose Google is not an exception, and we will eventually start to hate Google too. I hope that doesn't happen of course.
- fromhet 14y ago
  That really depends - as you know Google's motto is "don't be evil". And it is apparent that the other american telcos don't share this motto. If Google manages to stay not evil it is the only way they will be relevant in the future. I think it is possible, and it's the only way to survive competition.
  - Tloewald 14y ago
    Yeah google has a nice motto.
    - mythz 14y ago
      It's the worst company motto of all time! They seemingly can't make any pro-company decision without being accused of consorting with the Devil. In contrast everyone knows Apple just cares about Apple. Whenever they do something evil, it just gets labelled as "Oh, that's just Apple being Apple".
      - nathansobo 14y ago
        I think Apple may end up eventually paying for their treachery.
        mythz 14y ago
        Somehow I don't think they're feeling it... It saw them from near-death to the worlds most valuable company - where one of their biggest problems now is what to do with their $115B in the bank.
      - mag487 14y ago
        It's an awesome motto that's served them extremely well. Google's ability to frame themselves as the "good guys" is the only real marketing advantage they have.
paulitex 14y ago
> There is not a single other industry I can say that about, certainly not one that comes to mind so quickly. Airlines? > contemptible customer support IMHO better than Google's dogmatic avoidance of any kind of customer support.
- Lockyy 14y ago
  Why has this guy been down-voted? This has happened to me in the past, complain about lack of customer support from google, get down-voted with no responses.
- dillona 14y ago
  I've had nothing but positive experiences on JetBlue
  - mahyarm 14y ago
    For me, it's not the airlines themselves most of the time, but the airports & governments and the requirements they force on airlines. The airports & government bureaucracy take something that should just be a catching a greyhound within 10 minutes of boarding into a 2-4 hour stressful nightmare.
    - pavel_lishin 14y ago
      Which requirements are you talking about, specifically?
      - Goronmon 14y ago
        Probably mostly around security. For instance, when I take the train to get to work and back, I can hop on the second before it leaves. And they don't check anything except for tickets, which doesn't start until after the train is already on the way. It's a bit different than taking a flight, even though there is often more people on the train I take than most flights I've been on.
      - mahyarm 14y ago
greggman 14y ago
Yes! This is what happened in Japan. The telcos dragged their feet. Dial up Internet was pay per minute and adsl was $60-$90 a month. Yahoo Japan came in and offered adsl 1mbit speed for $20 a month unlimited. That is the moment Internet usage took off In Japan. The telcos lowered their prices to match. Yahoo doubled the speed for the same price. That continued up to at least 8mbit speed for $20 month Similar things need to happen here
- GuiA 14y ago
  Same thing happened in France with Free.
  - agumonkey 14y ago
    The 0$ offer reminds me of Free too. I wonder if they could be partners to deploy fiber access in France.
- justincormack 14y ago
  I get my internet for under $10 a month for 14Mb (in UK). Paying that little I dont mind providing my own ipv6 tunnel and using google name servers. I used to pay for service instead, but cheap works too. I might switch back to service if it cost less than $50 per month, but I dont really need support for adsl.
bound008 14y ago
They are not doing much of a job of disrupting the tv part of the deal. $120/mo with Comcast gets you the same channels, Internet, dvr, and telephone service with no contract. They also have customer service. When you call Comcast about a service outage, they prorate it every single time. The real disruption here is free Internet. And for that I tip my hat to google. Disruption to cable would be a la carte channel selection in any market.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- jonknee 14y ago
  No, the real disruption here is speeds 50x faster without any caps. There is no comparison with Comcast, but their fast package of 105/10 Mbps is $199.95 a month. Yes, 10 megabits of upload... They have a limited available tier of 305/65 Mbps (FWIW this plan is a day old and probably to fight FiOS Quantum, it used to be 50Mbps) which runs $299.95. http://www.comcast.com/internet-service.html http://www.comcast.com/internet-service.html tl;dr Comcast is a joke.
  - repsilat 14y ago
    Another point of difference is that Google's $120 plan comes with a free Nexus 7 and 2TB of storage.
- Scene_Cast2 14y ago
  The idea is that TV is "obsolete" because of the Internet (see Hulu, Netflix, etc).
fghh45sdfhr3 14y ago
I have experienced everything you said as true in most places where I have lived. But I did also live in a place where Time Warner, Verizon and Comcast all competed with each other. And guess what? Service was great and prices were low! Yes, thank God Google is entering some markets, but we wouldn't need Google if only local governments had not succumbed to lobbying to kill competition.
- chimeracoder 14y ago
  You were very, very lucky. If I remember correctly, fewer than 20% of the US population has more than one option for their cable provider. I'm moving into a new apartment (in NYC) and the only 'choice' I have is how much I want to pay Time Warner for what's likely the same speed.
drzaiusapelord 14y ago
I'm actually somewhat content with my broadband options. No, I'm not ecstatic and am glad this is happening but PLEASE someone disrupt the damn cell phone business. My ISP doesn't install software on my computer, doesn't hit me with mystery fees, and doesn't tell MS or Apple what to do, but cell carriers do all these things and more. >and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls trying to sell me more stuff, Never happened to me, but all carriers text subscribers "deals" and other marketing garbage. > intrusive DNS systems that redirect me to their crappy web sites, etc. Never noticed and if I did its trivial to change DNS. Cell phones on the other hand do all these things. I mean, Verizon just told google that its Wallet NFC stuff simply isn't allowed. Imagine if Comcast said "You can't install LibreOffice on your computer because we're thinking of entering the office game." I won't even go into uninstallable carrier apps, commercial spying, mystery charges, and billing fraud. Maybe Google Fiber will the the backend for a future wireless roll out. One can hope.
- kennon 14y ago
  > My ISP doesn't install software on my computer, ... Not for lack of trying. I recently helped my friend set up Comcast and part of the installation process included downloading a required suite of "configuration" software. We were able to figure out a way around it but most people probably just click through without a thought.
  - Periodic 14y ago
    Maybe it's because I'm always setting up with a home router, but I haven't had to install anything for my last three internet setups. I wasn't even asked to for this last one I believe. The tech just made sure the modem was working properly and he could get a solid connection from it, and then I plugged in my router and was good to go.
    - firebird84 14y ago
      I recently upgraded my Fios connection and when the tech replaced my router he asked to install some software. I was currently booted into my Linux partition at the time, so he basically said "oh, well" and everything worked fine out of the box. It's likely bloatware.
Nrsolis 14y ago
Really? You might change your mind when you consider that Bell Labs (part of the "Soviet Bureau" you despise) created: - The transistor - The laser - The C language - The Unix operating system Other notable discoveries (but not of concern to those who discount anything not Internet-related) are things like the cosmic background radiation, etc. etc. etc. SO: as much as I hate to defend "the telcos" (wired/wireless/cable) which according to the OP are completely interchangable and not at all distinguishable, they had their good points. What you're (probably) pissed about is the business model that (most) telcos are forced to follow since deregulation. Consider this: since deregulation, the cost to deliver bandwidth has dropped so significantly that it's actually CHEAPER to build a "telco" now than it was just 10 years ago. Once you factor in the cost to build out fiber links and light those with equipment, you get more bandwidth today than your earlier competitors got. Hey, there's still a few dialup providers around. Maybe you think thats a better option?
- papsosouid 14y ago
  >You might change your mind when you consider that Bell Labs (part of the "Soviet Bureau" you despise) created Just because bell labs was owned by a telco, doesn't mean they were a telco. A research organization existing under the ownership of a telco company doesn't make telcos provide good service, or have fair prices, or have good customer service.
  - larrys 14y ago
    "Just because bell labs was owned by a telco" They were able to do that because they were a public utility with guaranteed profits. The stock and earnings were stable ("widow and orphan" money was an expression for people who needed these safe investments). Something important to keep in mind. Really not possible to do that in today's competitive disruptive environment.
    - javert 14y ago
      Yeah, I completely agree, it's just obviously not possible for companies to do research anymore. Anyone who doesn't see this - I just don't understand how you can fail to.
randomdata 14y ago
I'm pretty happy with my telco. They are owned by the customers, so everything they do has to be with the customer in mind. It is kind of funny when people in the big cities are still practically lucky to have dialup access while here they have fiber installed into farmhouses.
jjolsen 14y ago
In business school I read a study showing that for a few industries (telcos & utilities among them) there is an inverse relationship between customer satisfaction and profitability.
mrkurt 14y ago
Google's currently doing the best job of anyone of disrupting the cell phone industry. I have a $350 unlocked, contract free handset that's near the best you can get right now and I can run it on any pay as you go plan (like a $45/mo Straight Talk plan).
dkrich 14y ago
How is this a disruption? Seems to me that they are building out their own fiber optic network to go toe-to-toe with the best-in-class internet/cable products on the market at a price point that doesn't really seem any better.
- deveac 14y ago
  >at a price point that doesn't really seem any better. $70/mo for gigabit speeds and a terabyte of cloud storage and a wifi router? Or a one time installation fee for free internet comparable to what people are paying $50/mo for now? Can you direct me to the pricing for the companies that are doing anything close to this? Really, I'd love to see it. Currently, the only thing comparable is Verizon FiOS at 300mbs for over $200/mo. http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/google-fiber-launches-in-kansas-city-new-fiber-tv-announced/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/google-fiber-launches-in-ka... This is the very definition of disruption.
  - dkrich 14y ago
    "This is the very definition of disruption." Is that a fact? My interpretation of the Christensen version of disruption (which I'm told is pretty much official since he wrote the book on it- literally) is when a company offers a minimal version of a product, usually much cheaper than those offered by the incumbents that are better than those offerings only on one or two dimensions. Usually these are things like consuming less power or simply costing less. Eventually these products become good enough on the other dimensions while maintaining the original value proposition that they "disrupt" the incumbents from the bottom. This is why the book is about things like hard drives, steam shovels, cell phone cameras, and minimills. You might want to double-check next time before making such a bold statement. It seems here that you are declaring the definition of a term without having even a tenuous understanding of what it is. Clearly attacking the market with a superior product at a price point that is more expensive than what you can currently buy is not a disruption. Offering a better product than what's currently available isn't disruption, it's innovation.
    - deveac 14y ago
pacmon 14y ago
Seriously. In my current location I am stuck with a 5mb connection because I'm at the edge of my DSL provider's range and the only cable option in the entire city is Charter (who has truly horrifying customer service AND awful reliability). A friend of mine in town has had to call Charter tech support many many times because of issues he has with their service. I think my entire city would abandon Charter if google dropped fiber here.
chj 14y ago
Now, the purchase of motorola makes sense after all.
lucian1900 14y ago
I'm mostly pleased with my current ISP. 60Mbps for £30/month. Downsides are stupid search page instead of NXDOMAIN, adherence to UK court orders and potential surveillance.

by api 14y ago

philwelch 14y ago

Be careful what you wish for. I'm dubious of getting any kind of service from a company known for not having any kind of customer service whatsoever.

ktizo 14y ago
I don't mind having no call centers to call as long as the service works better and the network is smart. Currently, you are having to use a phone to verbally tell the telco where the problems are on the network they run, which is insane.
- wtvanhest 14y ago
  You will be on a phone one way or another when the internet is down.
  - b0 14y ago
    Unless you have ADSL...
  - ktizo 14y ago
    Yes, but I would rather not spend all of that listening to fur-elise for the umpteenth time while getting lost in the arcane submenus of a corporate telephone system, all the while being told how valued I am as a customer by a repeating disembodied voice.
dholowiski 14y ago
Um... I've called google tech support numerous times (for google apps, and google adwords) and had great experiences. I'd be ecstatic if my ISP gave me the same level of support.
- philwelch 14y ago
  That's directly contrary to everything I'd ever heard about Google before. Interesting, maybe they've learned their lesson.
nickpinkston 14y ago
Though to be honest - how good is ComCraptic at service? At least when Google has bugs they're solved quickly.
- Tloewald 14y ago
  Last night my Comcast cable tv set top box started telling me it was unauthorized. I went through their phone tree twice (they simply booted me the first time ... Telling me to hang up an call again WTF?). I finally talk to a human -- nice and seems competent -- and he can't find any evidence of my having a set top box. Eventually he says that maybe the relevant system is down, try to call again in the morning. Fine, not his fault. But before I hang up he reads out a recorded item about how they are there ready to support me 24/7. Oh and I love how I have to enter the same phone number twice AND give it to the human ... "For security purposes."
notatoad 14y ago
TelCo call centers are universally useless. Google could have a phone number you call and a robot on the other end that informs you of service disruptions and tells you to turn it off and turn it on again, and they would have better service than most ISPs.
- ricardobeat 14y ago
  My local TelCo, despite being shitty, plays a recorded message everytime there are specific issues affecting the area.
  - mturmon 14y ago
    I get a message like that from Time Warner. I love it, because it always says, "A service disruption has been reported in the Los Angeles area. Service is expected to be restored by 8pm." Classic.
  - notatoad 14y ago
    most telcos do that. the problem is usually that they are too vague to be of any use. i've called telus before and gotten the message "we are currently experiencing service intteruptions in some areas". thanks guys, that helps.
- redthrowaway 14y ago
  Maybe it's different in the States, but my experiences with Shaw/Rogers have been universally positive on the tech support front. 24/7 call center, and either the problem is fixed then and there, or there's someone out to replace the modem the next day. Hell, I even had one of them walk me through cloning my MAC address to force a new IP when I got banned from 4chan back in the day.
jvanenk 14y ago
I actually have some experience with GoogCustSvc now. I bought a Nexus 7. It has touch-screen problems. They provided a way to contact them here (http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/request.py?contact_type=contact_policy http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/request.py?contact_type=...). I talked to the rep (after waiting about 30 minutes). They were helpful, direct, competent, and provided a way for me to contact the person I talked to via e-mail after the call was ended. They organized a replacement device and even worked through the fact that I'd purchased the tablet from my brother-in-law. If their future customer service offerings are the same as what I experienced last night, I have no concerns.
- brianjolney 14y ago
  For me they charged the wrong card for my Nexus 7, and I wrote them to see about fixing that. Exactly 10 days later I received an email about american express cards being declined, and that I should now be good to go. Google is great, just not when it comes to human beings helping you.
- jrabone 14y ago
  Me too - exact same issue, and the same experience; apart from the hold time the support people I spoke with were polite and helpful, and the second person resolved the problem with my original RMA request over the phone. Turned out I gave the first person the wrong serial number (there are two with very similar acronyms, marked SSN & CSSN). They got a replacement device to my desk within 24 hours once they had the correct number.
- gcb 14y ago
  1000s of people got a nexus one with touch screen problem. there are even law suits. i never got one email replied, even complaining to the email address for seller claims in google wallet (which i used to buy from google directly)
fourmii 14y ago
Anything is better than the rubbish we currently get from Comcast...
- telcodud 14y ago
  Not very long ago, I'd to wait for ~30 minutes in a line that stretched out to the street at my local Comcast office to, wait for this, exchange the set top box for one that had HDMI out! For such privileges, and cable and internet, I pay over $100 a month.
apenwarr 14y ago
Google Fiber has customer service by phone. The phone number is visible at https://fiber.google.com/help/ https://fiber.google.com/help/
cciesquare 14y ago
What are we comparing the customer service to though? For ISPs google cannot do worse, it's impossible. I've used Verizon, AT&T, Charter, Time Warner and they all have terrible customer service, and I am understating it.
WettowelReactor 14y ago
Having used Google customer service as a paying customer I have never had an issue. Customer service on their free offerings is another story all together but what do you expect on that end anyways?

maratd 14y ago

> contemptible customer support Because Google will be so much better? Look, I hate telcos just like the next guy, but the suckage is mostly due to the nature of the business. They form natural monopolies and that sort of thing doesn't lead to customer satisfaction. The only way that sector is going to get truly disrupted is through gigabit wireless internet. You can have multiple competitors in one space with comparatively limited infrastructure investment on their part. That free tier? That is outright illegal and its sole purpose is to eradicate all competition. It' a good thing for Google that sort of thing isn't really enforced anymore. They'll still get sued though. Look up price bashing. Once Google is the only player in town, you still think they'll shit lilacs and spread rainbows and unicorns? That's just not how monopolies work.

eavc 14y ago
"That free tier? That is outright illegal and its sole purpose is to eradicate all competition." No - the purpose is to increase people willing to pay for installations in a given neighborhood so they can go ahead and roll out service to more people.
AsylumWarden 14y ago
You know, I've never had trouble with Google customer support. I've contacted them twice: once for a Google Maps issue and again because I couldn't access my account. No problems for me. I find these kinds of complaints strange. Most of the time I hear this complaint the person doing the complaining hadn't ever even tried to contact Google; they just read that it was a problem somewhere. Oh, I will admit they don't make finding the contact information easy but with the number of users barely able to order a happy meal without calling 911 when their fries aren't right who would want to make it easy?
EthanHeilman 14y ago
Plain and simple: Google makes money if people use the internet. Anything that increases the number of times someone views a website makes google money. It's like a billboard company offering to add free windows to your house so you watch their ads from your living room. I agree with the motivation of your post. Monopolies are bad and customers have a vested interest in preventing google (or anyone else) from having monopolistic control of consumer internet. Unfortunately this is already true in many parts of the United States (Comcast is the only game in town where I live). At least in the short term Google entering this market should reduce monopolies not create them.

dysoco 14y ago

I suppose Google is not an exception, and we will eventually start to hate Google too. I hope that doesn't happen of course.

fromhet 14y ago
That really depends - as you know Google's motto is "don't be evil". And it is apparent that the other american telcos don't share this motto. If Google manages to stay not evil it is the only way they will be relevant in the future. I think it is possible, and it's the only way to survive competition.
- Tloewald 14y ago
  Yeah google has a nice motto.
  - mythz 14y ago
    It's the worst company motto of all time! They seemingly can't make any pro-company decision without being accused of consorting with the Devil. In contrast everyone knows Apple just cares about Apple. Whenever they do something evil, it just gets labelled as "Oh, that's just Apple being Apple".
    - nathansobo 14y ago
      I think Apple may end up eventually paying for their treachery.
      - mythz 14y ago
        Somehow I don't think they're feeling it... It saw them from near-death to the worlds most valuable company - where one of their biggest problems now is what to do with their $115B in the bank.
    - mag487 14y ago
      It's an awesome motto that's served them extremely well. Google's ability to frame themselves as the "good guys" is the only real marketing advantage they have.

paulitex 14y ago

> There is not a single other industry I can say that about, certainly not one that comes to mind so quickly. Airlines? > contemptible customer support IMHO better than Google's dogmatic avoidance of any kind of customer support.

Lockyy 14y ago
Why has this guy been down-voted? This has happened to me in the past, complain about lack of customer support from google, get down-voted with no responses.
dillona 14y ago
I've had nothing but positive experiences on JetBlue
- mahyarm 14y ago
  For me, it's not the airlines themselves most of the time, but the airports & governments and the requirements they force on airlines. The airports & government bureaucracy take something that should just be a catching a greyhound within 10 minutes of boarding into a 2-4 hour stressful nightmare.
  - pavel_lishin 14y ago
    Which requirements are you talking about, specifically?
    - Goronmon 14y ago
      Probably mostly around security. For instance, when I take the train to get to work and back, I can hop on the second before it leaves. And they don't check anything except for tickets, which doesn't start until after the train is already on the way. It's a bit different than taking a flight, even though there is often more people on the train I take than most flights I've been on.
    - mahyarm 14y ago

greggman 14y ago

Yes! This is what happened in Japan. The telcos dragged their feet. Dial up Internet was pay per minute and adsl was $60-$90 a month. Yahoo Japan came in and offered adsl 1mbit speed for $20 a month unlimited. That is the moment Internet usage took off In Japan. The telcos lowered their prices to match. Yahoo doubled the speed for the same price. That continued up to at least 8mbit speed for $20 month Similar things need to happen here

GuiA 14y ago
Same thing happened in France with Free.
- agumonkey 14y ago
  The 0$ offer reminds me of Free too. I wonder if they could be partners to deploy fiber access in France.
justincormack 14y ago
I get my internet for under $10 a month for 14Mb (in UK). Paying that little I dont mind providing my own ipv6 tunnel and using google name servers. I used to pay for service instead, but cheap works too. I might switch back to service if it cost less than $50 per month, but I dont really need support for adsl.

bound008 14y ago

They are not doing much of a job of disrupting the tv part of the deal. $120/mo with Comcast gets you the same channels, Internet, dvr, and telephone service with no contract. They also have customer service. When you call Comcast about a service outage, they prorate it every single time. The real disruption here is free Internet. And for that I tip my hat to google. Disruption to cable would be a la carte channel selection in any market.

deleted 14y ago
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jonknee 14y ago
No, the real disruption here is speeds 50x faster without any caps. There is no comparison with Comcast, but their fast package of 105/10 Mbps is $199.95 a month. Yes, 10 megabits of upload... They have a limited available tier of 305/65 Mbps (FWIW this plan is a day old and probably to fight FiOS Quantum, it used to be 50Mbps) which runs $299.95. http://www.comcast.com/internet-service.html http://www.comcast.com/internet-service.html tl;dr Comcast is a joke.
- repsilat 14y ago
  Another point of difference is that Google's $120 plan comes with a free Nexus 7 and 2TB of storage.
Scene_Cast2 14y ago
The idea is that TV is "obsolete" because of the Internet (see Hulu, Netflix, etc).

fghh45sdfhr3 14y ago

I have experienced everything you said as true in most places where I have lived. But I did also live in a place where Time Warner, Verizon and Comcast all competed with each other. And guess what? Service was great and prices were low! Yes, thank God Google is entering some markets, but we wouldn't need Google if only local governments had not succumbed to lobbying to kill competition.

chimeracoder 14y ago
You were very, very lucky. If I remember correctly, fewer than 20% of the US population has more than one option for their cable provider. I'm moving into a new apartment (in NYC) and the only 'choice' I have is how much I want to pay Time Warner for what's likely the same speed.

drzaiusapelord 14y ago

I'm actually somewhat content with my broadband options. No, I'm not ecstatic and am glad this is happening but PLEASE someone disrupt the damn cell phone business. My ISP doesn't install software on my computer, doesn't hit me with mystery fees, and doesn't tell MS or Apple what to do, but cell carriers do all these things and more. >and endless efforts to further "monetize" me through harassing phone calls trying to sell me more stuff, Never happened to me, but all carriers text subscribers "deals" and other marketing garbage. > intrusive DNS systems that redirect me to their crappy web sites, etc. Never noticed and if I did its trivial to change DNS. Cell phones on the other hand do all these things. I mean, Verizon just told google that its Wallet NFC stuff simply isn't allowed. Imagine if Comcast said "You can't install LibreOffice on your computer because we're thinking of entering the office game." I won't even go into uninstallable carrier apps, commercial spying, mystery charges, and billing fraud. Maybe Google Fiber will the the backend for a future wireless roll out. One can hope.

kennon 14y ago
> My ISP doesn't install software on my computer, ... Not for lack of trying. I recently helped my friend set up Comcast and part of the installation process included downloading a required suite of "configuration" software. We were able to figure out a way around it but most people probably just click through without a thought.
- Periodic 14y ago
  Maybe it's because I'm always setting up with a home router, but I haven't had to install anything for my last three internet setups. I wasn't even asked to for this last one I believe. The tech just made sure the modem was working properly and he could get a solid connection from it, and then I plugged in my router and was good to go.
  - firebird84 14y ago
    I recently upgraded my Fios connection and when the tech replaced my router he asked to install some software. I was currently booted into my Linux partition at the time, so he basically said "oh, well" and everything worked fine out of the box. It's likely bloatware.

Nrsolis 14y ago

Really? You might change your mind when you consider that Bell Labs (part of the "Soviet Bureau" you despise) created: - The transistor - The laser - The C language - The Unix operating system Other notable discoveries (but not of concern to those who discount anything not Internet-related) are things like the cosmic background radiation, etc. etc. etc. SO: as much as I hate to defend "the telcos" (wired/wireless/cable) which according to the OP are completely interchangable and not at all distinguishable, they had their good points. What you're (probably) pissed about is the business model that (most) telcos are forced to follow since deregulation. Consider this: since deregulation, the cost to deliver bandwidth has dropped so significantly that it's actually CHEAPER to build a "telco" now than it was just 10 years ago. Once you factor in the cost to build out fiber links and light those with equipment, you get more bandwidth today than your earlier competitors got. Hey, there's still a few dialup providers around. Maybe you think thats a better option?

papsosouid 14y ago
>You might change your mind when you consider that Bell Labs (part of the "Soviet Bureau" you despise) created Just because bell labs was owned by a telco, doesn't mean they were a telco. A research organization existing under the ownership of a telco company doesn't make telcos provide good service, or have fair prices, or have good customer service.
- larrys 14y ago
  "Just because bell labs was owned by a telco" They were able to do that because they were a public utility with guaranteed profits. The stock and earnings were stable ("widow and orphan" money was an expression for people who needed these safe investments). Something important to keep in mind. Really not possible to do that in today's competitive disruptive environment.
  - javert 14y ago
    Yeah, I completely agree, it's just obviously not possible for companies to do research anymore. Anyone who doesn't see this - I just don't understand how you can fail to.

randomdata 14y ago

I'm pretty happy with my telco. They are owned by the customers, so everything they do has to be with the customer in mind. It is kind of funny when people in the big cities are still practically lucky to have dialup access while here they have fiber installed into farmhouses.

jjolsen 14y ago

In business school I read a study showing that for a few industries (telcos & utilities among them) there is an inverse relationship between customer satisfaction and profitability.

mrkurt 14y ago

Google's currently doing the best job of anyone of disrupting the cell phone industry. I have a $350 unlocked, contract free handset that's near the best you can get right now and I can run it on any pay as you go plan (like a $45/mo Straight Talk plan).

dkrich 14y ago

How is this a disruption? Seems to me that they are building out their own fiber optic network to go toe-to-toe with the best-in-class internet/cable products on the market at a price point that doesn't really seem any better.

deveac 14y ago
>at a price point that doesn't really seem any better. $70/mo for gigabit speeds and a terabyte of cloud storage and a wifi router? Or a one time installation fee for free internet comparable to what people are paying $50/mo for now? Can you direct me to the pricing for the companies that are doing anything close to this? Really, I'd love to see it. Currently, the only thing comparable is Verizon FiOS at 300mbs for over $200/mo. http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/google-fiber-launches-in-kansas-city-new-fiber-tv-announced/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/google-fiber-launches-in-ka... This is the very definition of disruption.
- dkrich 14y ago
  "This is the very definition of disruption." Is that a fact? My interpretation of the Christensen version of disruption (which I'm told is pretty much official since he wrote the book on it- literally) is when a company offers a minimal version of a product, usually much cheaper than those offered by the incumbents that are better than those offerings only on one or two dimensions. Usually these are things like consuming less power or simply costing less. Eventually these products become good enough on the other dimensions while maintaining the original value proposition that they "disrupt" the incumbents from the bottom. This is why the book is about things like hard drives, steam shovels, cell phone cameras, and minimills. You might want to double-check next time before making such a bold statement. It seems here that you are declaring the definition of a term without having even a tenuous understanding of what it is. Clearly attacking the market with a superior product at a price point that is more expensive than what you can currently buy is not a disruption. Offering a better product than what's currently available isn't disruption, it's innovation.
  - deveac 14y ago

pacmon 14y ago

Seriously. In my current location I am stuck with a 5mb connection because I'm at the edge of my DSL provider's range and the only cable option in the entire city is Charter (who has truly horrifying customer service AND awful reliability). A friend of mine in town has had to call Charter tech support many many times because of issues he has with their service. I think my entire city would abandon Charter if google dropped fiber here.

chj 14y ago

Now, the purchase of motorola makes sense after all.

lucian1900 14y ago

I'm mostly pleased with my current ISP. 60Mbps for £30/month. Downsides are stupid search page instead of NXDOMAIN, adherence to UK court orders and potential surveillance.