U.S. Internet Users Pay More for Slower Service

[KoKo]

U.S. Internet Users Pay More for Slower Service
By Susan Crawford Dec 27, 2012 6:30 PM ET


In 2004, the Lafayette utilities system decided to provide a fiber-to-the-home service. The new network, called LUS Fiber, would give everyone in Lafayette a very fast Internet connection, enabling them to lower their electricity costs by monitoring and adjusting their usage.

Push-back from the local telephone company, BellSouth Corp., and the local cable company, Cox Communications Inc., was immediate. They tried to get laws passed to stop the network, sued the city, even forced the town to hold a referendum on the project -- in which the people voted 62 percent in favor. Finally, in February 2007, after five civil lawsuits, the Louisiana Supreme Court voted, 7-0, to allow the network.

From 2007 to mid-2011, people living in Lafayette saved $5.7 million on telecommunications services.

Since Lafayette went down this path, other communities have followed. According to the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a group that advocates for municipal fiber networks, these community-owned networks are generally faster, more reliable and cheaper than those of the private carriers, and provide better customer service.
City Fiber

It’s not free. Fiber connection costs $1,200 to $2,000 a house. It can take two to three years for revenue from any given customer to offset the upfront investment. But then the fiber lasts for decades. Municipal networks are seeing more than half of households adopt the service. And scores of communities are discovering that the networks bring new jobs.

MORE AND an EXCELLENT READ HERE AT THIS SITE:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-27/u-s-internet-users-pay-more-for-slower-service.html

[freethought]

1. Hope this is a trend.

Broadband in this country is pretty much an oligopoly. Why shouldn't a town or municipality be able to set up it's own network?

I live in North Carolina. Here, a municipal broadband network is practically illegal. It's not literally illegal but there are so many roadblocks set up by the repug state assembly and their friends at ALEC. Our former Governor, Mrs Purdue didn't help the situation either.

Just proves that big corps don't like competition and game the system to keep it that way.

[KoKo]

2. Thanks for this post...Why shouldn't Local Municipalities ban together to provide

Internet Service to Customers...just like in the Southern USA under Roosevelt the "Rural Electrification Project" provided lights to impoverished South who couldn't afford to do it on their own?

Why not "Internet Cooperative Projects" across Rural America?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. I have a picture from my 2011 trip to Scandinavia

It's an ad on the side of a bus in Copenhagen advertising broadband Internet for the equivalent of $20 a month.

[Diclotican]

11. Lydia Leftcoast

Lydia Leftcoast

I got my broadband service in 2003, by accident by the way... And the line is seldom jammed or off... Even though the dam modem can be a hassle sometimes as it have the habit on restart on times... But other than that, I have a great line and it is stable as the rock the lines is burried in I guess.

Diclotican

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. ALEC is fighting Municipal Internet

Managed to get it banned in South Carolina

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/south-carolina-passes-bill-against-municipal-broadband/
http://www.knoxviews.com/node/18608
http://www.alternet.org/story/155041/alec_wants_you_to_pay_750_percent_more_for_high-speed_internet

[littlemissmartypants]

5. What happened to the

$700 Billion that was supposed to bring Betty Broadband?

[littlemissmartypants]

6. Implementing the National Broadband Plan

On March 16, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission delivered "Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan" to Congress. The plan includes over 200 goals and recommendations to the Federal Communications Commission, Congress and the Administration. (sort through the implementing agencies)

The Benton Foundation is tracking the implementation of the plan. Find links to each individual recommendation as well as a timeline of progress made so far and FCC-identified milestones.

Recommendations made to the FCC will be implemented through rulemaking proceedings. Track these proceedings on the Dockets tab.

We're constantly adding content and refining our coverage of the plan. Please check back often or subscribe to the RSS Feed for updates.

http://benton.org/initiatives/national_broadband_plan

[littlemissmartypants]

7. Business Broadband Markets

http://benton.org/node/49985

On September 15, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission released a Public Notice seking comment from business broadband providers, business broadband customers, and any other interested parties regarding the current state of, and trends and issues in, business broadband markets.

[jsr]

8. Eh, USA! USA! USA!

[kenny blankenship]

10. We're number one at sucking. At so many things. Healthcare. Broadband. Healthcare "reform"

Campaign finance reform, financial services "modernization" and on and on...

As an AT&T dsl subscriber, I am currently experiencing the "excellence" of oligopoly capitalism, yet again. Call them up on a cellphone (their network) because my landline is out, no DT weak DSL sync. The cellphone sounds like an old AM radio trying to tune in a station 500 miles away there's so much hash on the signal. I call their phone repair line - and it goes to sales, naturally! I call their dsl service line, they have to transfer my call. They're sorry but they have a lot of pending repair tickets in my area. But it's certain to be fixed by somethingsomething PM, SATURDAY.

This happens now every few MONTHS. They "fix" it and 90 days later it's fucked again.

[KoKo]

9. Some personal experience with "Bundling of Service" ATT/UVERSE ,COMCAST, Time-Warner

..some personal experience with "Bundling of Service" ATT/UVERSE ,COMCAST, Time-Warner

View profile

Last edited Tue Jan 8, 2013, 10:26 AM USA/ET - Edit history (1)
Thanks for your article...it goes along with experience over holidays.

We have friends in FLA who switched to ATT/UVERSE for phone, TV/Internet. Over Thanksgiving all of it went down and it took days to get their service back.

We were visiting relatives over Christmas and they have Time-Warner bundled. Christmas Eve all the service went down and and Time-Warner said it was their Modem which would have to be replaced but they couldn't get anyone to come out for four days or more because of the holiday. Fortunately the DVD player worked so we had some entertainment and there was always music to listen to.

New Years we had relatives visit us and they had just spent almost two weeks in FLA trying to get COMCAST to fix their bundled service. One of them lost important information on their Cell Phone with the outage, the other has an I-Phone which was backed up into the cloud...but they were without TV/Internet and were only able to use outside wireless connections available for phone, since they had given up their Land Line. Comcast told them there is a faulty switch or something underground and they just don't have the manpower to dig it up at the present time. This is in Boca Raton, FLA...not some rural area!

This is personal experience just in the last three months with friends and relatives.

We still have our ATT Land Line (costs us a fortune) and Time-Warner Basic, a ROKU BOX and Earthlink for Internet. We are thinking we are lucky....for now, at least. And, yes, I know that ATT is Earthlink's provider for our DSL. Just not ready to "combine" it all under one powerful crap company.