Competition = good for consumers? Who’da thunk it?
mordecai98 on
Community isp is even better
nobody_smith723 on
that we left telecom/high speed internet up to shitty companies and not just made it a public utility. Is why america is falling so far behind other countries.
Thing_On_Your_Shelf on
My parent have had active it’s as long as it’s been a thing.
Over the past few years both ATT Fiber and Google Fiber have started becoming available around them, and in that time, without making any changes to their current plan, have been granted upgrades progressively from like 20mbps now up to 200mbps.
Crazy how competition actually works
TapTheMic on
I wish they’d come to New York City.
I spoke with someone who worked in Google Fiber (She was part of their planning division)
She explained that expansion in cities like New York is complicated because of all the red tape around property.
In a midwestern city, there are fewer regulations. This means Google has the capacity to make a contract with a jurisdiction and roll out the service without having to jump through hoops. They aren’t required to get permission from multiple groups of people every time they expand service by a few blocks.
That’s ultimately why Kansas City was the first place to get the service. It was basically an R&D playground and the city was happy to have them.
In New York City, they don’t give approvals like that. Google would have to contract with every single building in NYC individually in order to roll out the service. Each building is considered its own jurisdiction and they have to invite a service like Google to come in and wire the building. Even then, most buildings require a majority vote by the residents to allow that since it could result in tenant costs.
Verizon apparently suffered the same issues when they were pushing out Fios internet here. That’s why the expansion was such a slow and ridiculous process in different parts of the city.
That and Verizon had no incentive because there was no real competition.
If we want Google Fiber to expand, we need to change the way internet infrastructure laws work in major cities. They won’t be able to offer their services everywhere if cities don’t allow loosen right of access and maintenance laws around infrastructure.
No_Bit_1456 on
It would take 50 years for them to really get deep into the US. You’d need at least one major city in the US that you committed to taking so much of a loss, to rapidly expand.
Extracrispybuttchks on
I’m sure the ISPs are getting ready to start a lobbying campaign against it. They might even send some judges on vacations.
_JustDefy_ on
Yeah, but Google fiber is being installed in new neighborhoods at the speed of a dial-up connection.
TheHuggableZombie on
In Minneapolis, we have a local company that offers fiber internet at a very attractive price ($75 for 1000/1000). Before they were a thing, it was either Comcast or CenturyLink DSL. Now CenturyLink has a comparable fiber service with similar prices, and Comcast reigned in their pricing.
I will always try my best to avoid Comcast. If I have another choice that’s comparable, I’ll always choose the other guy.
Telemere125 on
My city is installing fiber to every house in the city limits and it’s terrifying mediacom. Which is good, because fuck mediacom’s outrageous prices.
10 Comments
Competition = good for consumers? Who’da thunk it?
Community isp is even better
that we left telecom/high speed internet up to shitty companies and not just made it a public utility. Is why america is falling so far behind other countries.
My parent have had active it’s as long as it’s been a thing.
Over the past few years both ATT Fiber and Google Fiber have started becoming available around them, and in that time, without making any changes to their current plan, have been granted upgrades progressively from like 20mbps now up to 200mbps.
Crazy how competition actually works
I wish they’d come to New York City.
I spoke with someone who worked in Google Fiber (She was part of their planning division)
She explained that expansion in cities like New York is complicated because of all the red tape around property.
In a midwestern city, there are fewer regulations. This means Google has the capacity to make a contract with a jurisdiction and roll out the service without having to jump through hoops. They aren’t required to get permission from multiple groups of people every time they expand service by a few blocks.
That’s ultimately why Kansas City was the first place to get the service. It was basically an R&D playground and the city was happy to have them.
In New York City, they don’t give approvals like that. Google would have to contract with every single building in NYC individually in order to roll out the service. Each building is considered its own jurisdiction and they have to invite a service like Google to come in and wire the building. Even then, most buildings require a majority vote by the residents to allow that since it could result in tenant costs.
Verizon apparently suffered the same issues when they were pushing out Fios internet here. That’s why the expansion was such a slow and ridiculous process in different parts of the city.
That and Verizon had no incentive because there was no real competition.
If we want Google Fiber to expand, we need to change the way internet infrastructure laws work in major cities. They won’t be able to offer their services everywhere if cities don’t allow loosen right of access and maintenance laws around infrastructure.
It would take 50 years for them to really get deep into the US. You’d need at least one major city in the US that you committed to taking so much of a loss, to rapidly expand.
I’m sure the ISPs are getting ready to start a lobbying campaign against it. They might even send some judges on vacations.
Yeah, but Google fiber is being installed in new neighborhoods at the speed of a dial-up connection.
In Minneapolis, we have a local company that offers fiber internet at a very attractive price ($75 for 1000/1000). Before they were a thing, it was either Comcast or CenturyLink DSL. Now CenturyLink has a comparable fiber service with similar prices, and Comcast reigned in their pricing.
I will always try my best to avoid Comcast. If I have another choice that’s comparable, I’ll always choose the other guy.
My city is installing fiber to every house in the city limits and it’s terrifying mediacom. Which is good, because fuck mediacom’s outrageous prices.