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Japan and EU Commit 18m Euro To Develop 100Gbps Internet Access
Mark.JUK writes "The European Union and Japan have unveiled a joint investment of 18 million Euros that aims to build more efficient fibre optic broadband networks that are '5000 times faster than today's average European broadband ISP speed (100Gbps compared to 19.7Mbps).'
The funding will go towards supporting six research projects, which range from an effort to enable fibre optic networks at more than 100Gbps (aka – STRAUSS), to investigating new ways of ensuring efficient use of energy in information networks (aka — GreenICN).
Faster than 100Gbps fibre optic links already exist but the new research could potentially help to bring these closer to homes. Some ISPs already offer 1Gbps+ connections to home users; not so long ago everybody was still stuck on a 50Kbps dialup link or slower."
More bandwidth to suck my pc dry of all information!
I'm still on 28.8kbps dial-up you insensitive clod!
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In the U.S., this will be rolled out as 100gbps, 250GB/mo capped.
That's.. what.. like a day's worth of toilet paper for Bill Gates?
If that's all it takes why am I still paying $60/mo for 1 mb down...?
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Put 18m Euro more, to develop Petabyte hard drives.
Obligatory... SMBC? http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2314
The bandwidth providers and telecoms are a Cartel, no different than OPEC. They collude together to get prices fixed at exactly the price they want to optimize profits for their companies. Forget about them caring about how fast your internet is - these guys only care about squeezing every last ounce of profit out of your $60.00 a month for themselves. The subsidies they get from government through your tax dollars that are supposed to fund things like expanding their infrastructure to 100gbps go right in their pockets and no one seems to care or says a word about it. They want profit for themselves and shareholders - private and public. It's all about them, and their selfishness.
What's really happening though is now funny. Due to their greed and never giving a fuck about the consumer - Instead of properly investing all of this crazy cash they had into 100gpbs networks over the last 15 or so years, is that consumer demand is going to outstrip available bandwidth by 2018 (According TFA). Yes - their greed could quite kill their business or run it into the ground with bandwidth demand over-saturating their networks. If they don't invest this pitiful 36 Million their business model could die so they are forced to do it finally. That's not to say once they have 100gpbs available you will get any of that to use. You will most likely still be throttled at 60.00 a month at 1mb down even though there's a thousand fold that easily available.
Great times. I'm proud to be a human being.
I used to get a warm and fuzzy feeling deep in my heart when I heard news about bandwidth increases. The network can never be fast enough.
But now streaming media has taken over. Now 'cloud' services are taking over. Now everything has to happen 'in the net' and not on my PC anymore. And the network can never be fast enough for any of this, but it seems like I'm paying more and more, yet owning less and less.
When I hear news like this now, all I get is a not so fuzzy feeling in my gut telling me this is the beginning of the end of my rights to own anything. 100Gbps and it will be used trick us into the believing that streaming is the answer for everything. And not in a streaming fast download sort of way, but in a locked down "you'll never download anything again" sort of way.
Japan and EU Commit 18 million Euro...
A whole eighteen mil, huh. I guess all that's lacking is Dr. Evil's voice... :p
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Until now they've been by default a good thing but now I'm not so sure. Faster internet speeds generally mean more services are hosted on the internet, and, given the as yet unsolved problem of all-encompassing rampant nightmarish state spying on the internet, one wonders if that's a good thing.
It feels like it's time to take a step back and come to some sort of conclusion about what we want the internet to be before we develop it or build it out any further.
And I'm sure the NSA is committing $18 billion to eavesdrop on it efficiently.
an ill wind that blows no good
color me unimpressed is that a typo? is that billion? it sure feels like it should be billion
The American incumbent telcos have "pledged" a similar amount of money to suppress any regulation that would threaten their oligopolistic practice of wringing out their customers while providing world class shitty service.
I'll be impressed if they do this at 1/2000th of the cost of the Australian NBN. Either someone didn't know the difference between million and billion (could be if the article was originally in another language given that milliarde 10^9 follows million 10^6 and the billion is long billion 10^12 in many languages), or this is a token donation which will ultimately be a waste of money and won't net anyone any speed increase.
5000 times more capacity / bandwidth would be more correct. Unless they intend an FTL technology.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
of positive stuff from the EU, I always know it's one of the smaller less corrupt nations that holds the rotating presidency. Now, Lithuania hold it:
"According to the Speedtest.net website, as of 30 October 2011 Lithuania ranks first in the world by the internet upload speed and download speed, schools and corporations ignored.[53][54] The high speeds are largely due to the fact that Lithuania has the EU's and Europe's most available FTTH network."
From wikipedia.
...to everywhere apart from the UK!
We don't need very much bandwidth to click "checkout" ten times a day (doing our part to prop up the world economy). Why do the rest of you think we need so much bandwidth, is there really that big of a demand for high defininition streaming video. I can't believe all of you are watching porn at the same time.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
"Some ISPs already offer 1Gbps+ connections to home users; not so long ago everybody was still stuck on a 50Kbps dialup link or slower."
well, in my town in italy, I'm still stuck with isdn. yeah italy sucks when it comes to internet speed.
In related news...
US, Australia, China and Iran commit to resisting higher speed internet access citing concerns that they might not be able to collect all of the information that their people might generate at that speed. "I looked into his eyes and I could see a kindred soul" President Obamma says of Ahmadinejad after returning from the conference where they all quickly agreed to enact an internet speed limit.
I'm perfectly happy with my 1.5mbit "high speed internet" connection that the US government considers sufficient.
Besides, if 1.5mbit costs me $60/mo already, by linear extrapolation there is no way I could afford 100gbit at the rates the US Corporate Masters would charge for it.
In the US, 18M Euro (23M US) is a governmental rounding error.
I mean, heck, that's not even a third of what it costs to send our president to Africa for the week.
And yet, OTOH, I can't even imagine what 100GBS would feel like. The best I can get in my neck of these American woods is 4MBS, and keeping it costs a little over $120/month, with taxes.