[IP] Fast internet facts corrected
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 11:03:37 -0800
From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[Note: This comment comes from reader Dave Burstein. DLH]
At 13:55 -0500 3/17/04, Dave Burstein wrote:
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 13:55:06 -0500
To: dewayne@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: Dave Burstein <dave@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Fast internet facts corrected
Dewayne
Enough inaccuracies in the power line note to be worth a correction,
unfortunately. Power line is interesting, but
1- Broadband U.S. homes are just hitting 25M, not the 50M cited.
2- Lots of internet service is faster than 3 Mbps. 40,000 in Phoenix Qwest
have VDSL, many SBC subscribers are now getting 6M (if they are lucky on
distance), several cable companies routinely deliver 6-7 Mbps. All cable
modems originally were designed for up to ten meg on uncongested nodes,
and only recently have many shaped traffic down to lower.
3- "Pretty soon, you'll be able to get broadband Internet over your power
lines." is very misleading. The technology is just in early trials, and no
where in the world is it available to even 5% of the population in a large
area. In particular, while they are solving the technical problems, no one
has proven the economics works well, so no providers have gone wide. So
the odds are "you'll (mostly likely not) be able to get ... anytime soon,
because deployment in volume is years away in most places.
Personally, although I write about DSL and fiber, I'm anxious for more
choices and competition and hope power line works out. But it shouldn't be
used, as the FCC Chair does, as an excuse not to do anything to actively
protect consumers from oligopoly control.
Dave Burstein
Archives at: <http://Wireless.Com/Dewayne-Net>
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>
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