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> AT&T and local cable operator Grande Communications have beaten Google to market Oh, gee, look at all this bandwidth I just found... > AT&T maintains it has

> AT&T and local cable operator Grande Communications have beaten Google to market Oh, gee, look at all this bandwidth I just found... > AT&T maintains it has been planning this fiber upgrade for a long time, and that Google's announcement didn't affect the timing of its network. No, no, we planned this all along... > What Google recognized that others didn't is that Americans want to have the best communications infrastructure Yes, as it turns out study after study showing Americans were fiercely proud of being in 15th place, may have suffered some sort of statistical vagaries. We're looking into it.

notatoad 12y ago
yeah, and it's just a total coincidence that AT&T's upgrades that they've been "planning all along" are only in the cities that google announces Fibre in.
- jmspring 12y ago
  PacBell installed a bunch of fiber in the Bay Area that suddenly went unused/projects cancelled when SBC bought them. Competition they call it.
- jrockway 12y ago
  AT&T, maybe, but Time Warner recently doubled speeds in NYC for free. The announcement was rather silent; I noticed downloads being faster, did a speed test, and had to search for information about it. A couple months later, I got a little card in the mail about it. 100Mbps isn't 1000Mbps, but I'll take it.
  - higherpurpose 12y ago
    TWC definitely did it because of Google Fiber, too. They started doing this right around the time Google made it clear it's not just an "experiment" anymore, and they were starting to get a lot of media attention. I strongly urge people that if they have to choose between Google Fiber and AT&T or Comcast or any of these other guys who've frustrated you for years and couldn't care less about you until Google Fiber arrived, to dump them immediately and go with Google Fiber anyway, even they are matching speeds and prices by then. They don't deserve you as a customer anymore, and they wouldn't have given you this speed were it not for Google Fiber. So Google Fiber deserves to be rewarded with customers because of that, and Comcast/TWC/AT&T does not. If Google Fiber isn't rewarded with customers for its fiber expansion, then it might die, and then what do you think will happen then? Comcast/etc will go back to their shitty services once again and not care one bit about upgrading anymore, and we'll be in the same situation we are now 5-10 years from now, or perhaps much worse if there's no net neutrality anymore, and all the current telco cartel boys get to bully small start-ups without any fear of any real competition that might not do that, and without having to risk losing customers again. That's why you should quit them immediately.
    - mhurron 12y ago
      What has Google done to deserve you as a customer. What in the data gathering they do now makes it a good deal to expand their view of you? The only thing that makes Google different in this situation is they haven't pissed you off yet. No I would not be getting Google Fiber when/if it showed up, but I don't live anywhere where it would any time soon, if ever.
      - deleted 12y ago
        [deleted]
      - coldpie 12y ago
        > What has Google done to deserve you as a customer[?] Introduced competition into a market that had none. That's worthy of a switch in my opinion.
        mhurron 12y ago
        There was a time that the cable companies did that. Then everything converged to a new normal. I don't buy into the Google worship. They are a corporation like any other and act like one. When switching to Google Fiber means ubiquitous Google data collection, I don't see it as a positive thing. I suppose if you have the memory of a goldfish Google fiber is great as huge speed bump.
        ehPReth 12y ago
        Grab a VPN or two and forget about all of your data collection worries
        mercnet 12y ago
        Sadly, I would take data collection w/fiber over Comcast anyway. If I want protection than I can just purchase a VPN account.
  - area51org 12y ago
    They doubled it, but how much faster would Google Fibre have been? More than double, I suspect.
wahsd 12y ago
That is not inconsistent at all. They were planning it and part of that plan was to hold out extorting and defrauding America as long as they could before initiating the roll-out plan when a threat to their monopoly and collusion is detected. That was the whole plan. This is also very consistent with America in general, we say we like competition, but our businesses don't like competition beyond the lip service of uttering the word. We have virtually zero competition in so many aspects of our economy and society, especially in those that matter in the current type of world. What we are not realizing is that our corporations are actually strangling America like a psychopath strangling a hooker, repeating "I love you, mommy!"
- msandford 12y ago
  This is super cynical but it sure seems correct.

notatoad 12y ago

yeah, and it's just a total coincidence that AT&T's upgrades that they've been "planning all along" are only in the cities that google announces Fibre in.

jmspring 12y ago
PacBell installed a bunch of fiber in the Bay Area that suddenly went unused/projects cancelled when SBC bought them. Competition they call it.
jrockway 12y ago
AT&T, maybe, but Time Warner recently doubled speeds in NYC for free. The announcement was rather silent; I noticed downloads being faster, did a speed test, and had to search for information about it. A couple months later, I got a little card in the mail about it. 100Mbps isn't 1000Mbps, but I'll take it.
- higherpurpose 12y ago
  TWC definitely did it because of Google Fiber, too. They started doing this right around the time Google made it clear it's not just an "experiment" anymore, and they were starting to get a lot of media attention. I strongly urge people that if they have to choose between Google Fiber and AT&T or Comcast or any of these other guys who've frustrated you for years and couldn't care less about you until Google Fiber arrived, to dump them immediately and go with Google Fiber anyway, even they are matching speeds and prices by then. They don't deserve you as a customer anymore, and they wouldn't have given you this speed were it not for Google Fiber. So Google Fiber deserves to be rewarded with customers because of that, and Comcast/TWC/AT&T does not. If Google Fiber isn't rewarded with customers for its fiber expansion, then it might die, and then what do you think will happen then? Comcast/etc will go back to their shitty services once again and not care one bit about upgrading anymore, and we'll be in the same situation we are now 5-10 years from now, or perhaps much worse if there's no net neutrality anymore, and all the current telco cartel boys get to bully small start-ups without any fear of any real competition that might not do that, and without having to risk losing customers again. That's why you should quit them immediately.
  - mhurron 12y ago
    What has Google done to deserve you as a customer. What in the data gathering they do now makes it a good deal to expand their view of you? The only thing that makes Google different in this situation is they haven't pissed you off yet. No I would not be getting Google Fiber when/if it showed up, but I don't live anywhere where it would any time soon, if ever.
    - deleted 12y ago
      [deleted]
    - coldpie 12y ago
      > What has Google done to deserve you as a customer[?] Introduced competition into a market that had none. That's worthy of a switch in my opinion.
      - mhurron 12y ago
        There was a time that the cable companies did that. Then everything converged to a new normal. I don't buy into the Google worship. They are a corporation like any other and act like one. When switching to Google Fiber means ubiquitous Google data collection, I don't see it as a positive thing. I suppose if you have the memory of a goldfish Google fiber is great as huge speed bump.
        ehPReth 12y ago
        Grab a VPN or two and forget about all of your data collection worries
        mercnet 12y ago
        Sadly, I would take data collection w/fiber over Comcast anyway. If I want protection than I can just purchase a VPN account.
- area51org 12y ago
  They doubled it, but how much faster would Google Fibre have been? More than double, I suspect.

wahsd 12y ago

That is not inconsistent at all. They were planning it and part of that plan was to hold out extorting and defrauding America as long as they could before initiating the roll-out plan when a threat to their monopoly and collusion is detected. That was the whole plan. This is also very consistent with America in general, we say we like competition, but our businesses don't like competition beyond the lip service of uttering the word. We have virtually zero competition in so many aspects of our economy and society, especially in those that matter in the current type of world. What we are not realizing is that our corporations are actually strangling America like a psychopath strangling a hooker, repeating "I love you, mommy!"

msandford 12y ago
This is super cynical but it sure seems correct.