Comcast Planning 2Gbps Service, Starting With Atlanta

joemite points out a PC Mag article which begins "There's been a lot of talk about Google's 1Gbps "gigabit" Internet service, but Comcast said today that it is planning a 2Gbps service, beginning in Atlanta," and writes: All of the ISPs seem to be "out-doing" each other in terms of offering faster and faster service, but why can't they compete on reasonable rates for "slower" speeds? My 5Mbit service from Comcast is currently costing me $50/month, about what it was 10 years ago. Seems that if they can push a 2 Gigs for a few hundred dollars, I could get at least get 50Mbit for what I'm paying now.

Comments

If you could run your own cable this would go away

[Karmashock]

It isn't insane. We should have thousands of mom and pop ISPs. Run the cable in the city conduit/poll and pay whatever the fee is for leasing some space there.

Yes, it would be messy if there were a LOT of cable running there, but then the fees would pay for a conduit and it would all go underground.

We don't need these ISP monopolies. Open it up for competition. Then if the ISPs behave like assholes, you just go to a competitor offering you a better deal to get your business.

In my area there are two ISPs like in most of America. One for DSL and one for Cable. No one is allowed to run cable but the phone company and the cable company.

And that is why the speeds suck. If you could have someone else also allowed to run cable it would force the ISPs to compete or die.

Title II?

[Cigamit]

Didn't Comcast get the memo that Title II regulations meant that they were suppose to stop all investments in broadband?

Re:Buh buh but ComCast is Evil.

[houstonbofh]

And internet access in the US is so slow compared with everywhere else....

It is slow. "planning 2 gig service" is very far from "Delivering 2 gig service."

It's all about competition

[duckintheface]

Of course Comcast could make a profit selling you 50Mbps for $50, if you lived in a high population density area. But they won't because they can maximize profits by charging you more. The problem is a lack of competition. There is a lack of competition because Comcast controls the physical cables which take advantage of public right of way (much of which was granted for a different purpose altogether.... power lines). That's why cable companies should be treated as the utilities they are. They should be forced to share right-of-way (even better it they have to share the actual cables) with competitors. Then you would see real competition based on efficiency, quality of service, and PRICE.

It's amazing that the big American corporations like to talk about the virtues of free enterprise and capitalism.... but they don't seem so fond of the most important ingredient in free enterprise, which is competition.

Re:Buh buh but ComCast is Evil.

[Archangel Michael]

The Non-Evil Choice is to have Last Mile go into a COLO facility, where you can order service from any one of a number of providers, based on your needs and desires.

The problem is, and always will be, Last Mile. Until you solve that, by taking it out of the equation, then you'll be stuck with monopoly (franchise agreement) service. My solution removes Last Mile from the equation, doesn't require stupid (and misleading) legislation (Net Neutrality that isn't), and opens it up to full free market enterprises.

Don't like crappy Comcast, get TimeWarner. Don't like that, get Charter. Don't like that, get Netflix only .....