The cable industry insists that it's ready and able to compete with Google Fiber when it comes to delivering ultra high-speed broadband.
Indeed, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts last week showed off a 3Gbps cable broadband connection at the industry's annual trade show in Washington, D.C. That's three times faster than Google Fiber, which itself is nearly 150 times faster than the current average broadband connection in the U.S. Armed with that capability, he confidently welcomed Google's challenge to deliver ultra high-speed broadband to consumers.
"I hope there's a demand for (Google Fiber)," he said during a keynote session at the Cable Show. "The more customers crave speed, the more the kids in the garage and the geniuses around the world can invent applications that require speed. That's the best thing that can happen to our industry. We have to embrace that competition."
But Roberts' words and one demo don't match up with the actions of his industry. The cable providers have been slow to make its speedier options broadly available, and when they do, they charge significantly higher prices that escalate as you move to faster tiers. Based on how the industry has chosen to price its service, it's clear that cable operators are not exactly encouraging adoption of ultra high-speed broadband. In comparison, Google is expanding Google Fiber to more markets, and offers a much faster connection at reasonable rates.
Read here.
Is cable holding back superfast broadband adoption on purpose?
Userlevel 7
Userlevel 5
The fastest I've seen offered in the Netherlands for Cable is 200Mbps. This far exceeds what average joe needs. Using DSL myself with a 8Mbps connection and this is enough for what I do with it (and that includes online gaming).
So for the average joe I don't think that 3Gbps is a necessity. The companies are not investing in it, because the customers are not asking for it. I'm not talking the few that would like to have it, but the masses that actually need it. If everybody would need to have those speeds for whatever they do on the internet then that's what they'll start to offer. Again basic economics, why would you invest in something that only a few would really need at this point.
So for the average joe I don't think that 3Gbps is a necessity. The companies are not investing in it, because the customers are not asking for it. I'm not talking the few that would like to have it, but the masses that actually need it. If everybody would need to have those speeds for whatever they do on the internet then that's what they'll start to offer. Again basic economics, why would you invest in something that only a few would really need at this point.
Userlevel 7
+56
Here in Canada Rogers Cable offers 250Mbps Down & 250Mbps Up but the problem we have is the Usage Caps: http://www.rogers.com/web/link/hispeedBrowseFlowDefaultPlans I'm on the Extreme Plan with a great discount!
Daniel
Daniel
Userlevel 4
It sounds like Google fiber will be the way to go. Faster yet inexpensive, that's the ticket. Comcast and ATT Uverse are both way to expensive in my book. I think with the way technology is now you should be able to choose the channel you want and not all the channels they want you to have and charge you big bucks for crappie stuff. Lets go Google fiber. Time will tell. Marc
Userlevel 7
+56
Not bad for 35Mbps Down & 3Mbps Up!
Daniel
Daniel
Reply
Login to the community
No account yet? Create an account
Enter your username or e-mail address. We'll send you an e-mail with instructions to reset your password.