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How Much Should Broadband Cost?
An anonymous reader writes "The difference in cost between broadband options seems to be the primary motivator for consumer spending, reports News.com. Frugal consumers are opting for the lower-priced DSL options, while those with more money to spend on services are opting for cable modems." From the article: "A year-and-a-half ago, pricing of DSL and cable modem service was roughly the same. But over the past year, the phone companies have launched an aggressive assault by dropping prices. At the end of 2005, the average price of DSL service was about $32 per month, roughly $9 less than cable, according to research firm IDC. AT&T has twice lowered the price of its DSL service and now offers its 1.5Mbps service for $12.99 for the first year."
I'm currently in Tokyo and I am paying about $12/month for a 40Mbps/5Mbps DSL line and the 50Mbps/10Mbps line is only about $15/month. Then there is 100Mbps fiber, but I don't know how much that is. Of course Asia is extremely wired, but come on how long has high speed internet been available in the US??? Long enough to have the price much lower for the bandwidth. Granted Tokyo is one of the largest cities in the world, but New York is up there too. Perhaps the US companies just don't want to upgrade their infrastructure... which is probably the problem.
I just moved into a new apartment a couple weeks ago.. I had DSL at my parents house with no problem, and it had speeds that made most typical broadban users salivate (about 600k/s, which is ususually fast around here). So I decided to get it here... Huge huge mistake... First off, they just changed their policies a couple months ago so that a phone line is _required_ (I was just gonna cell it, but this landline costs an extra $13/mo with who knows how many other misc. phone charges added on). Second of all, they didn't install it right so the phone line did not work. Third of all, they package did not get delivered to my place (said it was delivered here, but it never was). They at least let me go to their office about 10 minutes away and get one in its place. Fourth of all, DSL is not meant for old complexes. I'm getting under 100k/s here, about 1/3 what a friend of mine in another building here gets. Terrible wiring kills your connection quality. Sure, the package delivery wasn't their fault, but other then that, these are all things I wouldn't have had to deal with probably with cable (assuming the line is already running here). DSL is faster _if_ the conditions are right (good household phone system, close central office), but without it, yeah, it sucks...... A bit off topic.... But I had to vent........ Haven't gotten my bill yet, but it'll surely be more then $30, around $45 or $50 I'm assuming....
In undeveloped countries, the consumer controls the market. In capitalist America, the market controls you.
I just moved 2km down the road and went from paying $59.95 a month for cable (3 mbps down/512 kbps up) to $99.95 a month for ADSL (1500 down / 256 up). Both plans feature 10GB/month *cough* unlimited *cough* transfer.
That's right, I'm now paying nearly twice as much for half the speed from the same company in the same city (same suburb, even). WTF?
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.