Why Is Broadband More Expensive In the US Than Elsewhere?

[Wreckem]

Local monoplies are obviously a factor. But it is a factor created primarily by geographical constraints. South korea is the size of indiana with a GDP 7 times more than indiana. So obviously their networks are going to be much better than indiana's. You should expect them to be 7 times better/cheaper. Imagine if Russia had as good of an infrastructure as we did. It would cost an insane amount since there are so many areas with low population density that basically have to be subsidized by the urban users.

Just be thankful the government and their damn public unions do not have their claws in communications construction. My god prices would skyrocket.

Municipal built/ran/backed broadband in the places that have it is faster and cheaper than going with plans with the private telecos. That is why the telecos lobbied and got most states to ban municipal broadband. The fact of the matter is the Feds gave the telecos shit tons of money to roll out fiber and well, going on the better part of 20 years they haven't dont much. ATT is hell bent on tapping out everything it can on its copper(basically until their copper fails) before they widely deploy fiber and Verizon is wanting to get rid of copper and replace it with wireless coverage.

Shit I wish I had a duopoly where I live. Sadly I only get ATT Uverse, so I can't switch back and forth between ATT and Cable so that I can get discounts every year. When my 1 year rate is up, my rates go from $127 to close to $200 and I am stuck with it or have to cut back on services to lower the cost. Duopolies atleast give you some negotiating power, if you only have one broadband option you get bent over without lube once your new customer rates expires.

 

[unokitty]

Municipal broadband in the places that have it is faster and cheaper than going with plans with the private telecos. That is why the telecos lobbied and got most states to ban municipal broadband. ...

Ex-cable and wireless lobbyist confirmed as FCC chairman

Tom Wheeler will take over as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission after receiving unanimous approval by the Senate today.

... Wheeler has received high marks from AT&T and Comcast. Some consumer advocates expressed skepticism given Wheeler's history as a lobbyist for the companies he will be regulating, but the groups say they look forward to working with him.

Hire a lobbyist to chair the FCC in order to regulate the companies that employed him as a lobbyist.

"Change that you can believe in."

LOL

Uno

 

[dali71]

Wow, it's rare that I max out my 20 Mbps connection. Are you sure 1,000Mbps up and down is correct? That Gigabit internet.

I live in Chattanooga as well, and can assure that he speaks the truth.

https://epbfi.com/internet/

As soon as my contract with Comcast runs out, I'll be rocking gigabit internet

 

[dali71]

Most of the problems we have in the US are rural people's fault. They are both poorly informed and highly influential. That combined with a social stigma against education results in.... Sarah Palin.

And without those rural people that you love to deride, you would most likely starve to death, so feel free to go fuck yourself.

 

[Doppel]

It could be worse. As you can see from the above graphic, if you lived in Spain, Greece, the Slovak Republic, or Turkey, your broadband speed would likely be lower than it is in the USA.

LOL
Uno

Whoot, beating Mexico AGAIN. Take that, Mexico.

 

[AViking]

I don't know what the chart indicates. Advertised? It shows the US being close to Sweden but even there I don't think that's right. All advertisement here is 100Mbps or more. I run gigabit and I don't know anyone using less than 100Mbps anymore. Our mobiles are running between 40-80Mbps so nobody is running slower than that on purpose at home. Well now that I think about it I have an older friend in her 60's and she's running 40Mbps at home off a USB stick modem.

 

[First]

And without those rural people that you love to deride, you would most likely starve to death, so feel free to go fuck yourself.

lol, and vice versa. CA is the top exporter of all agriculture in the United States.

Derp derp.

 

[unokitty]

I don't know what the chart indicates....

You can find more detail here.

Uno

 

[dali71]

lol, and vice versa. CA is the top exporter of all agriculture in the United States.

Derp derp.

Rural ≠ Southern:

So it seems that the prime California farmland lies in rural areas (imagine that). And what about the political leanings of those rural areas?

It appears that those areas tend to skew red, so it seems that those "ignorant" rural conservatives that some lefties here love to denigrate prevent "enlightened" urban liberals from starving to death.

Derp indeed.

 

[zinfamous]

Rural ≠ Southern:


So it seems that the prime California farmland lies in rural areas (imagine that). And what about the political leanings of those rural areas?

It appears that those areas tend to skew red, so it seems that those "ignorant" rural conservatives that some lefties here love to denigrate prevent "enlightened" urban liberals from starving to death.

Derp indeed.

Yeah, pretty much. I actually consider California a rather conservative state, based on public opinion outside of 2 particular cities. People laugh at such a suggestion, but that's because they haven't really been here.

Historically, it is a very conservative state.

 

[her209]

Rural ≠ Southern:

So it seems that the prime California farmland lies in rural areas (imagine that). And what about the political leanings of those rural areas?

It appears that those areas tend to skew red, so it seems that those "ignorant" rural conservatives that some lefties here love to denigrate prevent "enlightened" urban liberals from starving to death.

Derp indeed.

Looks like this one:

You can take a guess what the welfare one looks like.

 

[Engineer]

As said earlier, here is one big reason why....

Kill the competition and no worries.....

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/Comcast-CenturyLink-Try-to-Derail-Seattles-1-Gbps-Mayor-126468

 

[Londo_Jowo]

You can take a guess what the welfare one looks like.

I will guess the vast majority in is in the large cities.

 

[fskimospy]

I will guess the vast majority in is in the large cities.

Depends on if you mean by numbers or by percentage. Since cities by definition are high concentrations of people, absolute numbers wouldn't seem to make much sense.

Why is this even an issue? Cities are the wealth centers in the United States. Generally the more rural an area becomes the poorer it is. That's just how our country is structured. Because of that you end up with wealth transfers from cities to rural areas.

I'm not mad about it, in fact I support it. Let's not kid ourselves though.

 

[ThinClient]

Why Is ANYTHING More Expensive In the US Than Elsewhere?

You don't seem to understand the simple concept of Supply and Demand or understand the phrase "what the market will bear."

Knowing who posted it, I'm not surprised at all.

 

[Engineer]

You don't seem to understand the simple concept of Supply and Demand or understand the phrase "what the market will bear."

Knowing who posted it, I'm not surprised at all.

Absolutely, when you spend hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars to limit the supply of broadband, the prices will go up and the quality will go down. Of course, you've got to spend money to make money, right? Spend a little now to knock everyone else out and make a lot more later with higher prices.

 

[ThinClient]

Absolutely, when you spends hundreds of thousands (or even millions) of dollars to limit the supply of broadband, the prices will go up and the quality will go down. Of course, you've got to spend money to make money, right? Spend a little now to knock everyone else out and make a lot more later with higher prices.

Aye.

 

[unokitty]

Municipal built/ran/backed broadband in the places that have it is faster and cheaper than going with plans with the private telecos. That is why the telecos lobbied and got most states to ban municipal broadband..

Comcast is donating heavily to defeat the mayor who is bringing gigabit fiber to Seattle

One of Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn's big policy initiatives has been expanding the quality and quantity of high-speed Internet access throughout the city. A public-private partnership plans to offer higher speeds at lower prices than most broadband providers currently offer. And incumbent providers, particularly Comcast, have invested heavily in defeating McGinn in Tuesday's mayoral election.

Comcast is a rational entity. If its cheaper to buy politicians than to invest in providing better service, why should they provide better service?

Uno

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally Posted by dmcowen674
Why Is ANYTHING More Expensive In the US Than Elsewhere?

You don't seem to understand the simple concept of Supply and Demand or understand the phrase "what the market will bear."

Knowing who posted it, I'm not surprised at all.

WWYBYWB?