

So long, broadband duopoly? Cable's high-speed triumph - Goronmon
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/01/so-long-broadband-duopoly-cables-high-speed-triumph.ars

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steadicat
The whole article is based on the flawed assumption that DSL is reaching its
theoretical maximum.

20+ Mbit DSLs are already widely available in many countries
(<http://en.wikipedia.org/wikipedia/ITU_G.992.5>). And 100+ Mbit DSLs are
being rolled out (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDSL2>).

Is there a reason why DSL speeds can't keep up in the US?

~~~
MichaelApproved
That might be fine for dense cities but once you get any real distance in the
lines the speed drops way off.

~~~
steadicat
Operators typically bring fiber close to homes, while still using DSL for the
last mile. True, this requires investments, but not much compared to wiring
each home with phone lines, cable, or fiber (all of which have been done
before).

Note that part of the reason that cable is able to reach such high speeds is
precisely because they use the same infrastructure I described: fiber to the
neighborhood, then coaxial cable for the last mile. I don't see why DSL
operators shouldn't be expected to do the same if they want to compete.

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bretpiatt
This is talking about leading edge tech heavy users. The difference between
being able to get 24Mbps at AT&T (
<http://www.att.com/u-verse/explore/internet-landing.jsp> ) and 50Mbps from
Verizon ( Link is down at the time of posting:
[http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/FiOSInternet/Plans/Plan...](http://www22.verizon.com/Residential/FiOSInternet/Plans/Plans.htm)
) or a cable company doesn't matter to 99% of the population. By the time the
"average user" wants higher speed the providers will spend the capital to roll
out the infrastructure.

Look at the numbers provided by Internet World Stats for the USA for 2010 (
<http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/us.htm> ) and you'll see that only a
third of the users are even on broadband at all...

People in the USA: 310,232,863

People in the USA on the Internet: 239,893,600

People in the USA on the Internet with broadband: 85,287,100

This isn't due to the fact they have no option to get cable/DSL/Satellite --
it is that their dial-up "works just fine for me". These are fixed line stats,
not mobile -- so this may show that many are skipping fixed line broadband and
going full mobile.

~~~
jonprins
If I could get unmetered 10mbps mobile internet, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I'd pay $150 a month for such a thing.

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draebek
Not to diminish "net neutrality" but this state of monopoly--or duopoly, if
you're so lucky--seems like a more immediate issue to me. If there was
competition amongst providers I could even see net neutrality becoming less of
an issue.

I don't know what to _do_ about this issue, though. Nationalize cable lines?
Consider Internet access a piece of common infrastructure and have governments
build it out, competing with the existing private companies?

~~~
Retric
There are really three competing systems phone lines, cable, and fiber. Now, I
switched from cable to FIOS a while ago and it's a huge upgrade so IMO even
cable is a distant second place. Verizon realized they needed to ditch copper
a while ago and now it's just a question of how much fiber they can roll out.

~~~
matwood
Earlier this year VZW said they were stopping FiOS rollout and would only
finish what they had already announced.

~~~
chadaustin
Citation? I'd love to hear more about that.

~~~
matwood
[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230341040457515...](http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303410404575151773432729614.html)

It sounds like working through the red tape in each community was costing them
so much they finally said screw it.

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kayoone
The cable provider in my area in germany just upgraded to DOCSIS 3 which
enables me to get 128Mbit instead of 32 which already was twice as fast as the
fastest DSL in the area. I am going for 64Mbit though, 128 still is to pricy
but i like the development of bandwidth here. Also had many problems with DSL
in the past (losing sync, broken splitters etc) while my cable connection is
flawless. But many people say their experience was the other way round, so it
heavily depends on the area i guess.

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krakensden
I believe it, I can already see it happening among my peer group. Some of it
is poor reliability with AT&T, but mostly it's better latency and download
speeds.

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MichaelApproved
Sure, it's a duopoly now and could turn into a monopoly in the near future but
wireless/mobile networks are making improvements and that could bring real
competition to customers.

~~~
beoba
Yeah, all 4 of them (quality varying by location), oh boy!

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moe
Did someone miss the memo?

The future is wireless.

~~~
ahiker
South Korea has very advanced wireless infrastructure. Yet, most people access
internet through cable.

