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Qualcomm promises 73.5 Mb/s wireless broadband by 2008
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Just like the old saying of a female and closet space.
Provide it and they will fill it, even though what is in it will never b e used more than once.
3chordcharlie
Diamond Member
Lack of competition is a free market? (edit: or should I say, the kind of free market you believe makes people better off).
It's true, and understandable, that consumer-level networking products have outpaced consumer-level bandwidth in terms of performance and cost, but the fact is bandwidth keeps getting cheaper, and service costs for high speed are higher for me now, with less bandwidth than they were in 1999.
That's not indicative of a free market in action.
There is more competition in telecom today than ever, so I am not sure what you are talking about. Broad band is soon to be available via mobile phone networks(should be a big deal for rural areas). Cable companies are offering land line service and telcos are starting to over iptv. THe choices for consumer choice are expanding, not shrinking.
GroundedSailor
Platinum Member
In 2000 I was paying $26 for standard cable and $30 for cable internet (the @home service for those who remember). My basic no frills local phone service was $14.
Today my basic cable TV is over $55 and my cable is $47. I cannot get DSL where I live. My basic no frills local phone service is over $30 today.
The cost of technology keeps going down yet prices rise over 100% in just over five years? 20% inflation every year? Where is the positive effect of this competition you talk of?
Words that come to my mind are: monopolistic pricing, price gouging, political business nexus etc.
GroundedSailor
Platinum Member
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
Bill Gates, 1981
😀
GroundedSailor
Platinum Member
Where do you get such ideas? Go live in Europe and see what food prices are - both in terms of actual exchange rate conversion and as a percentage of their incomes. Start with UK prices :disgust:
In 2000 I was paying $80/month for an IDSL(144/144) line. Today I have 5 meg cable for $40 and an option for dsl at $15. The cost of basic dialup is 1/2 what it was then.
I really have not kept track of cable bills, but I know they are higher. There is currently little competition in this area. I will let you know how things change once iptv starts rolling out this spring. However phone cost has been cut in 1/2(mostly long distance costs). Paying about $50/month for unlimited local and long distance for my land line.
I have seen quite the opposite.
Maybe you should shop around some more.
[/quote]
dmcowen674
No Lifer
Let's see. Now down to three Telecom Companies in the U.S.:
AT&T
Qwest
Verizon
hmmmmmmmmm
3chordcharlie
Diamond Member
That's funny, because more competition, and improving technologies mean the same service I was buying 7 years ago has become cheaper to provide, yet I am paying more.
Oops, forgot to mention - my cable internet company has actually cut the available bandwidth from 3Mbps to 2Mbps in that same time period.
GroundedSailor
Platinum Member
[/quote]
Maybe you missed the part in my post where I stated that I cannot get DSL. So what other broadband options should I shop around for? Satellite DSL? I have that at my office and it?s $60 per month for slow unreliable service. If I need to do some internet intensive work I work from home.
By saying the cost of dial up ½ of what it was you?re rephrasing my point about technology becoming cheaper with time. Yet all my utilities have gone UP on an average of 20% over the last 5 years - that?s heavy inflation. Why is that?
For e.g. here the ANNUAL pricing for 8mb broadband in UK:
Bulldog Communications £100.41 = $175
Prodigy Networks £153.00 = $267
NewNet £162.04 = $282
AAISP £236.46 = $412
HomeChoice £307.09 = $535
UK Online £356.24 = $620
Taken from here: http://www.adslguide.org.uk/
There?s a link in another topic (Let there be Wi-Fi) which is worth reading
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0601.podesta.html
Let me quote a couple of lines from there
The US is lagging behind in broadband technology. Our govt is not providing any tools to improve the situation. Instead they agree with companies who want to limit competition and want to milk the consumer for every penny they can get. What has the FCC done about providing competition in the cable industry? There is almost no place in the US where you can choose from more than 1 cable provider. Isn't that a monopolistic practice? That IMHO is one of the most outrageous issues today. When industry lobbyists write legislation which is passed by politicians ? that is called political business nexus. We?ve seen that trend increase a lot lately and the current administration and crop of politicians are the worst offenders that I can think of in this regard.
Read that article linked above. There?s a lot more in there to think about.
dmcowen674
No Lifer
Thanks as always Bober :thumbsup:
They'll be a lot more to the downfall of the U.S. than just keeping Americans in the dark.
I dont know that situation of UK DSL, but I do know the dsl situation here has greatly improved in the last few years. Better meaning, cheaper, faster and more available.
art of this is due to population density and par of it is due to aging US infrastructor. The telco are spending billions right now to upgrade equipment and push fiber closer to the home. Verizon is currently rolling out fiber to its customers, but that is going to require over a decade to finish(population density). SBC/ATT is pushing fiber to with 5000feet of most its customers. This should provide a significant increase in capabalities inclusing faster broadband and iptv. This buildout is still going to take a couple of years, but more customers will get more benefits faster.
That all being said cable is a goverment regulated monopoly as is local phone service. At this point they are at least competing with each by offering the same services. This is relatively new and will be very good for the consumer.
GroundedSailor
Platinum Member
You're missing my point. I agree that the technology is available and is being rolled out. But at what & whose cost. The price should be coming down but free enterprise system is working in reverse here - not to provide lower costs and better service to consumers - rather to improve the bottom line of the businesses.
We don't have real competition here. Cable TV vs Dish is not true competition as they are different technologies and require different hardware. I would like to see 2 or more companies capable of providing cable TV to my house and then I could choose between them to get the better deal.
The govt regulation of the monoploy obviously has not been very good.
imported_Tango
Golden Member
Well, I must admit that it puzzles me to see Internet services in the US lagging so much behind the European ones, while being more expensive in the same time. Telecoms are heavily taxed in the EU, and despite this manage to make large profits with lower prices.
Some scholars researching the links between techology and lifestyle changes are pointing out that the US doesn't lead the pack anymore in the digital revolution, and generally speaking the public in the US has little or no idea on what people in other countries get for their bucks. You have 20Mega symmetric cable plus TV and telephone for 30 bucks a month in Italy, 20 Mega/1.5Mega plus TV and telephone (including international calls) for 29 euros in France, and similar services in Germany. And this is without taking into consideration East Asia. I remember when I bought my first apartment in NY in 2000 I had a very hard time when looking for a fast connection. Most internet providers basically laughed and told me they couldn't understand what I was needing more that a 1Mega connection for. Eventually I had to get a corporate connection set up and pay more than 200 bucks. Now things are better, and if you are fine with 8-mega cable connections, many internet providers in New York provides them. But there still is a lag I have a hard time understanding. Shouldn't the US be the country where people use the internet in the most extensive way? Especially considering that many corporations operating in the Internet business are media conglomerates, I can't understand what they are waiting for... they could use the web for their media content and enjoy positive economies of scale.
Some scholars researching the links between techology and lifestyle changes are pointing out that the US doesn't lead the pack anymore in the digital revolution, and generally speaking the public in the US has little or no idea on what people in other countries get for their bucks. You have 20Mega symmetric cable plus TV and telephone for 30 bucks a month in Italy, 20 Mega/1.5Mega plus TV and telephone (including international calls) for 29 euros in France, and similar services in Germany. And this is without taking into consideration East Asia. I remember when I bought my first apartment in NY in 2000 I had a very hard time when looking for a fast connection. Most internet providers basically laughed and told me they couldn't understand what I was needing more that a 1Mega connection for. Eventually I had to get a corporate connection set up and pay more than 200 bucks. Now things are better, and if you are fine with 8-mega cable connections, many internet providers in New York provides them. But there still is a lag I have a hard time understanding. Shouldn't the US be the country where people use the internet in the most extensive way? Especially considering that many corporations operating in the Internet business are media conglomerates, I can't understand what they are waiting for... they could use the web for their media content and enjoy positive economies of scale.
I would disagree. Costs of telecom has really dropped in most areas. Cable TV has not because it has very little competititon.
They do compete and it has heped keep prices in check. They use different hardware, but that is rather irrelevent as it is provided with the service.
YEt you seem to want more goverment regulation.
[/quote]
I certainly am no expert but it seems just from a geographical standpoint that it would be harder and more expensive in the US then Europe.
Most European Countries are smaller then the state of California. So would not have to deal with the sheer volume of distances. and Geographical barriers.
As far as cable TV prices, I don't pay anything a month. Amazing as it seems I have been able to survive without 80 channels.
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