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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Where are the broadband price wars? (Ars Technica)

What is clear is that US broadband isn’t so hot when compared to what’s available in other countries. In Japan, symmetrical 100Mbps connections can be had for under $35 per month, while South Koreans can get fast fiber optic connections for $32. Burstein notes that in France, “twice the speed, 60 channels of TV, and free international calls have settled at about €30, or $40. The French package was closer to $30 when introduced—half the American price without TV, and less than a third of the U.S. ‘triple play’ price.”

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.  I just “upgraded” my DSL services from 1.5Mb down/1.0Mb up to 3.0Mb down/640k up.  So far, I’m pretty unhappy.  I’m paying more for something that seems worse (or at least near equal) to me so far.  The thing is, somebody else in my area may be paying the same amount and be getting 7.0Mb down and 900k up.  WTF?  If my line can’t handle that speed they should either charge me less or upgrade my line. I’m most likely going to be giving my provider a call tomorrow!

Even so, I’m not getting anywhere near 100Mbps for my $40+/month.  Something seriously needs to happen in the U.S. to address DSL service.

posted by Nem W Schlecht at 02:35 in News    

1 Comment »

  1. Yes the cost of Broadband hasn’t really fallen. I agree there isn’t any real competition. My biggest issue is keeping the broadband connection I do have up. I telecommute at least 80% of the time. Multi-hour outages are unbearable when talking to a customer or some other project task.
    I’ve written the mayor, city managers, council members that they had better get a handle on the franchise license they’ve given to the cable company. In my last email I went so far as to tell them it’s a life and death matter to keep the broadband connection up. Yes that’s over the top but true.
    Just last week – Charter Cable called me to add their VOIP service to the package. Unlimited LongDistance and local calls for $29 for 6 months. If Charter sells VoIP to enough people and one of those people try to call 911 during one of their multihour outages there could be serious issues for an elderly person or anyone for that matter.

    I think all in all – we’re getting ripped off and we have no one that will listen.

    Comment by Stan — December 13, 2006 @ 17:26

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