4 ms·

competition with an inferior technology outdated product. What a competition. I can see Comcast sweating.

by malka 12y ago

rayiner 12y ago
For most people, wireless is a superior product. I don't know if you have noticed, but the 1990's futuristic ideal of a big fat desktop connected to a fat fiber pipe isn't what people actually ended up wanting. They want a thin light tablet connected to wireless internet they can take on the go. Demand for that "inferior technology" is increasing much faster than demand for wireline technology.
- chc 12y ago
  And even more people buy toilet paper. And yet toilet paper is also not real competition for cable broadband. Counting customers doesn't establish real competition. I have both cable broadband and wireless. Neither is a meaningful substitute for the other. I can't watch movies over the wireless and I can't take my cable modem out with me, so I'm not sure what you're getting at by pointing out that wireless is growing faster.
- PaulHoule 12y ago
  The average smartphone bill is like $160 a month, and charges $10 a GB once you go beyond somewhere around 250MB to 10GB. Contrast to $70-$80 a month for fiber optic that, if capped, is somewhere around 300 GB. Verizon and AT&T won't give us optical fiber not because it is "too expensive" but because it is too cheap. If we had universal optic fiber we could have good wireless coverage where everybody lives and works for 1/10 the OPEX of expensive and high latency LTE. Legacy LTE technology is great if you want to play angry birds when you crash your car, but other than that it is a horrible way to provision internet bandwidth.
  - danielweber 12y ago
    The average smartphone bill is like $160 a month, For a family of 4, or for an individual?
    - PaulHoule 12y ago
      And that thinking is how they screw you. The fastest way I've seen people under 20 end up with a 300 credit score is when they think they are saving money with a "framily" plan. Then things go bad, then they have to pay cancellation fees, pay back handset subsidies and pretty soon it's worse than the average drug deal gone bad.

competition with an inferior technology outdated product. What a competition. I can see Comcast sweating.

by malka 12y ago

competition with an inferior technology outdated product. What a competition. I can see Comcast sweating.

For most people, wireless is a superior product. I don't know if you have noticed, but the 1990's futuristic ideal of a big fat desktop connected to a fat fiber pipe isn't what people actually ended up wanting. They want a thin light tablet connected to wireless internet they can take on the go. Demand for that "inferior technology" is increasing much faster than demand for wireline technology.

chc 12y ago
And even more people buy toilet paper. And yet toilet paper is also not real competition for cable broadband. Counting customers doesn't establish real competition. I have both cable broadband and wireless. Neither is a meaningful substitute for the other. I can't watch movies over the wireless and I can't take my cable modem out with me, so I'm not sure what you're getting at by pointing out that wireless is growing faster.
PaulHoule 12y ago
The average smartphone bill is like $160 a month, and charges $10 a GB once you go beyond somewhere around 250MB to 10GB. Contrast to $70-$80 a month for fiber optic that, if capped, is somewhere around 300 GB. Verizon and AT&T won't give us optical fiber not because it is "too expensive" but because it is too cheap. If we had universal optic fiber we could have good wireless coverage where everybody lives and works for 1/10 the OPEX of expensive and high latency LTE. Legacy LTE technology is great if you want to play angry birds when you crash your car, but other than that it is a horrible way to provision internet bandwidth.
- danielweber 12y ago
  The average smartphone bill is like $160 a month, For a family of 4, or for an individual?
  - PaulHoule 12y ago
    And that thinking is how they screw you. The fastest way I've seen people under 20 end up with a 300 credit score is when they think they are saving money with a "framily" plan. Then things go bad, then they have to pay cancellation fees, pay back handset subsidies and pretty soon it's worse than the average drug deal gone bad.