Failed fiber optic deployments have cost America over $206 billion in higher phone rates, tax breaks and other financial perks to the phone companies.
* Do you have a 45 Megabit-per-second (Mbps), bi-directional (downloading and uploading are the same speed), fiber optic service offering 534 video channels for about $50 bucks a month today? (We will explain all of these terms in future sections.)
* We argue that you, your family and friends, not to mention your company, school, library, and everyone you know, paid for this fiber optic service through higher phone rates, not to mention other perks your phone company received for promising to roll out these fiber-based services. In essence, you have been paying a hidden broadband tax ? about $2000.00 per household, to fund these other networks. (NOTE: Every state had different laws and different commitments.)
* Speed is the issue: If you?re using DSL or cable modems, your speed is about 50 times slower than what was promised in 1992. Dialing-up the Internet is 1000 times slower.
* DSL is not a substitute. DSL goes over the old copper wiring to the home or office, and should have been replaced by glass-based fiber optic wiring.
* "Fiber to the home", the direct connect to the home or office, is the Holy Grail of broadband. It is sometimes called "The Last Mile", "Last 100 Feet", "FTTH" (Fiber optics-to-the-home), "FTTP" (Fiber-to the-Premises), "FTTC" (Fiber-to-the-Curb) ? This fiber optic wiring is NOT somewhere in the ether of the network, but directly to your home or office.
