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Despite Data Caps and Throttling, Industry Says Mobile Can Replace Home Internet (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: AT&T and Verizon are trying to convince the Federal Communications Commission that mobile broadband is good enough for Internet users who don't have access to fiber or cable services. The carriers made this claim despite the data usage and speed limitations of mobile services. In the mobile market, even "unlimited" plans can be throttled to unusable speeds after a customer uses just 25GB or so a month. Mobile carriers impose even stricter limits on phone hotspots, making it difficult to use mobile services across multiple devices in the home. The carriers ignored those limits in filings they submitted for the FCC's annual review of broadband deployment.

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  1. Why are they trying to argue... by bjdevil66 · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...this untenable position? Money, of course.

    A: From the article:

    If the FCC decides that broadband is being deployed to all Americans in a reasonable and timely fashion, the agency isn't required to do as much to accelerate deployment or promote competition.

    In other words, it's about cutting capital investment costs to increase profit margins.

    The kicker is that they were just crying about how net neutrality was a terrible thing because they couldn't manage traffic better to keep mobile service running. They were also just crying about how mobile data caps are absolutely necessary to keep from "clogging the tubes" (an outright lie).

    But they're trying to claim they want to claim that mobile is an adequate substitute for home/wired internet??

    (This exact same argument failed in 2017 after Ajit Pai initially supported the idea but backtracked after taking a shit-ton of heat from the public and consumer advocates.)

    Corporate executives don't deal in facts. They deal in their own malleable truth sundaes, sprinkled on top with factoids that they can sell in a different package at any time...

  2. Re:Bend over and grab your ankles.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

    Obama appointed Pai; he became commissioner under Trump.