[GRLUG] telephony shake-up again

[Bob Kline]

Apparently 25, 50, and 100 Mbps down is
offered, and up to 15 Mbps up,  but FiOS
is not offered very many places yet.  There
are also fiber programs in the Houston and
Seattle areas.

In GR, AT&T has run fibers to within about
2,000 feet of the premises.  With that distance
the bit rate for DSL can be quite high.  Even
within a mile of the CO 6Mpbs is possible.

AT&T could run the fiber right to someone's
home on a premium basis, but doesn't that
I know of.  Broadband penetration has
slowed recently, perhaps part of the overall
deterioration of the economy.  AT&T response
to this is apparently to raise DSL prices,  since
lowering them more is not working just now.
I doubt it will show much interest in running
fibers to the home, even while I hope it does.

GR has-had a program to cover the city with
wireless.  One heard a lot about it a year ago
and more, but nothing recently.  A contract
was let out, but no prices were ever stated,
save that 5% of the capacity would go to the
poor for some nominal amount.  Otherwise,
the bit rate was quite mundane.  About 1.5Mbps
down,  maybe 128Kbps up.

Comcast apparently assigns 40Mbps per 500
customers, and figures that one a statistical
basis that is adquate.  It has been experimenting
with higher speeds, but these are clearly just
burst mode.  If you try to download a large file,
like a new DVD of Linux,  the speed will quickly
settle down to your nominal service speed.  The
burst speeds are intended to create the illusion
that the system is fast at the level of a web page.

Comcast has been called in to testify to the FCC
this week.  Despite assuring Congress that it
believes in, and practices, net neutrality,  it clearly
does neither.   Comcast claims it has to control
the movement of content in the name of managing
its network,  and so far the FCC seems to be
buying it.  In reality Comcast clearly seems to be
violating net neutrality even while it tells Congress
no new laws on the subject are needed.

Since Comcast is the 800 pound gorilla in GR
I doubt it will try to provide truly higher speeds
in the GR area any time soon.

   -Bob


On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 4:45 PM, Steve Romanow <slestak989 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Verizon FIOS was being rolled out in Baltimore as I was leaving. It
> promised AMAZING speed, for a good price. They are fighting with comcast
> for subscribers.
>
> I dont doubt that if/when they get market share from cable, their rates
> will likely be more than cable.
>
>
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