Fwd: [IP] Verizon's Fios Service Moves U.S. Internet Beyond a Snail's Pace

In the US, petrol is cheap and internet access is expensive due to
firms charging very very high rates.

In France, internet access is cheap and petrol is expensive due to
government taxation.

Of course it isn't that simple because population density is higher
in europe, which means that rolling out internet over shorter
distances is easier than here, where the government mandates programs
for "rural access", and in a smaller country it may be a higher
priority policy goal to reduce fossil fuel pollution.

Nevertheless interesting.

Begin forwarded message:

> From: David Farber <dave@farber.net>
> Date: September 19, 2005 11:13:15 AM EDT
> To: Ip Ip <ip@v2.listbox.com>
> Subject: [IP] Verizon's Fios Service Moves U.S. Internet Beyond a
> Snail's Pace
> Reply-To: dave@farber.net
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Marc <marcaniballi@hotmail.com>
> Date: September 19, 2005 10:47:28 AM EDT
> To: dave@farber.net
> Subject: RE: [IP] Verizon's Fios Service Moves U.S. Internet Beyond
> a Snail's Pace
>
>
> Hi Dave;
>
> Just by way of comparison;
>
> Here in France only the national telco still offers DSL with
> different speed
> options - all the competitors offer only 1 speed, the fastest
> possible. As
> of this week, in most major population areas you get 25 MB/s DSL
> for $18.00
> per month (roughly converted from EUR). For the same price and
> depending on
> where you are, your connection speed will be somewhat less than
> that, with
> the slowest being in the 5 MB/s range. Also, many of these
> providers are now
> introducing free national calling and VOIP-level pricing for
> international
> calls over the same line. Now, if only they could do this with
> European gas
> prices!
>
> Marc
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: David Farber [mailto:dave@farber.net]
> Sent: Monday, September 19, 2005 7:11 AM
> To: Ip Ip
> Subject: [IP] Verizon's Fios Service Moves U.S. Internet Beyond a
> Snail's
> Pace
>
>
> Verizon's Fios Service Moves U.S. Internet Beyond a Snail's Pace
>
> By WALTER S. MOSSBERG
> September 15, 2005
>
> High-speed Internet connections have finally gone mainstream in the
> U.S. But there's a problem: What passes for high speed in this
> country is pathetically slow compared with Internet service in some
> other countries.
>
> For instance, Verizon's entry-level DSL service, at 768 kilobits per
> second for downloads and 128 kilobits per second for uploads, is
> considered high-speed here. But in Japan and Korea, families can buy
> moderately priced Internet service measured in the tens of megabits
> per second. They get a race car, while Americans are stuck with a
> bicycle.
>
> A megabit per second (mbps) connection moves about 1,000 times as
> much data every second as a kilobit per second (kbps) connection. A
> service running at 10 megabits per second is more than 13 times as
> fast as Verizon's base DSL service. All such services have two modes:
> downstream, for downloading Web pages, email and files; and upstream,
> for uploading email or files. Generally, Internet providers offer
> much faster downstream speeds than upstream speeds.
>
> Even the faster common U.S. broadband offerings, like Comcast's
> $42.95 a month basic cable-modem service, which delivers 6 mbps
> downstream and 384 kbps upstream, are ridiculously slow compared with
> the Asian offerings.
>
> But now, Verizon is offering Americans in certain parts of the
> country a new, much faster Internet service for only a little more
> than Comcast charges for its basic service. This new product, called
> Fios, offers 15 mbps downstream and 2 mbps upstream for $50 a month,
> or $45 a month if you use Verizon for your telephone service.
>
> There are also two other Fios plans: 5 mbps downstream and 2 mbps
> upstream for $40 a month; and 30 mbps downstream and 5 mbps upstream
> for $200 a month. Both also are discounted if you also use Verizon
> phone service.
>
> I had Fios installed in my house in July, and I've been comparing it
> with Comcast's basic cable-modem service. I have been pleased with
> Fios's speed and reliability, which are true to Verizon's claims. On
> some tasks, it is markedly faster than Comcast. And on my laptops
> connected via a Wi-Fi wireless network, which tends to degrade
> Internet speeds, the speed increase has been especially noticeable.
>
> ..
>
> http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/ptech-20050915.html
>
>
>
>
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