Comments on: Internet speed: more proof we get ripped off

By: Jeremiah

Jeremiah — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 06:27:45 +0000

Didn’t we (read: taxpayers) give BILLION$ to these telecoms to give us fast connections? I seem to recall Global Crossing (now defunct), Verizon, AT$T, et al promising the world if we’d just ease the burden of investment (remember kids, publicize the risk, PRIVATIZE the profits!).

I gave AT$T a zillion dollars, and I didn’t even get a copy of my internet traffic……

By: adam

adam — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:46:22 +0000

We need to take a deep breath and step back. As soon as the vicious attacks on Alaska stop and Ted Stephens can focus on the pipes and tubes we’ll catch back up. Nothing is wrong, do not attempt to adjust the image on your monitor.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:19:25 +0000

If you haven’t been to speedtest.net, it’s an awesome little tool. You can compare your own connection to one in Japan, too, if you like.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:53:40 +0000

Robert X. Cringely has a bunch on this recently:

pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070803_002641.html
Game Over: The U.S. is unlikely to ever regain its broadband leadership.

pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html
The $200 Billion Rip-Off: Our broadband future was stolen.

pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2006/pulpit_20060629_000351.html
If we build it they will come: It’s time to own our own last mile

By: mgauss

mgauss — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:50:54 +0000

You should check out this article:

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html

By: Curtis

Curtis — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 18:09:05 +0000

Isn’t is just the curse of the early adopter? As first to go, we thought it would be a good idea to put our internet on the copper wire that already exists on our networks. (by we, I mean the powerful telecom industry). Those nations that came after us had the luxury of building the entire thing from the ground up.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:31:28 +0000

The reason our connections are so expensive is what
happened with takeovers in the late 90s and 2000s.
Those deals were all made with heavy borrowing with
enormous interest payments. To make a profit the
phone companies have to charge much more than it
costs to actually deliver the service, just to pay the loans.

This exact thing is why broadcasters are now having to
run so many commercials. The very large amounts
company’s paid for broadcast licenses after dereg
in the late 90s, caused enormous debt. Now we have
20 minutes of commercials on TV and close to that
on radio. You certainly don’t need to run that much
inventory to cover the cost of your operations and make a decent profit. Most of it is to pay the interest
on all those loans made for the leveraged buyouts.

Dan

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:31:07 +0000

The philosophy of the US internet providers are “gee bud, at least you have a connection..”