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Imagine being able to download and upload files over 100x faster than you currently are. Imagine crisp, clean HD television, without hang-ups or outages.
This entertainment utopia exists, believe it or not, in none other than Kansas City, Missouri. Recently, Google introduced its new "Google Fiber" TV and Internet packages with blazing download speeds of 1000 MBPS, no data caps, and bundled HD television for an affordable price.
Infographic: If Google Fiber Went Worldwide - Forbes
So what's stopping Google from offering this service in your city? Politics. Corporate greed. You know, the usual racket.
To understand what's going on, first you need to understand the minefield that are bids and city council permits.
Have you ever wondered why you don't really have a choice in cable providers, and maybe one or two internet providers? It's because your local city council gets paid by your cable company to essentially operate a monopoly in your area. First, the city council will put the "rights" to provide cable up for a bid in your municipality. Here is an example of one such bidding war currently ongoing in Cheasapeake VA.
Invitation for Bids (Fiber Optic Cable)
Purely speculation on my part, but I'm sure there are more than a few steak dinners and $100 handshakes between the city counsel members and the cable company lobbyists.
Anyhow, whoever wins the bid essentially buys the rights to provide cable to your area for a given time period. This is usually long (by technology standards).
What this serves to do is essentially block out any competition for that particular area, allowing the cable company to charge whatever they want, and allowing them to suck however bad they want (since you can't change providers).
So while the technology exists to provide you with internet that is 100x faster, with TV that doesn't hang up, all at a fraction of what you're paying per MB, the system is working against you.
And that's pretty messed up.
The United States currently has one of the slowest average download speeds of anywhere in the developed world. This is an infrastructural disadvantage built in by political inefficiency and corruption.
http://www.netindex.com/
Finally, here's a quote from the old guard that's sure to piss you off.
"We just don't see the need of delivering that to customers." - Irene Estevez, CFO at Time Warner Cable when asked about whether TWC would offer Gigabit speeds comparable to Google.
Time Warner Cable executive claims consumers don
Your thoughts?
This entertainment utopia exists, believe it or not, in none other than Kansas City, Missouri. Recently, Google introduced its new "Google Fiber" TV and Internet packages with blazing download speeds of 1000 MBPS, no data caps, and bundled HD television for an affordable price.
Infographic: If Google Fiber Went Worldwide - Forbes
So what's stopping Google from offering this service in your city? Politics. Corporate greed. You know, the usual racket.
To understand what's going on, first you need to understand the minefield that are bids and city council permits.
Have you ever wondered why you don't really have a choice in cable providers, and maybe one or two internet providers? It's because your local city council gets paid by your cable company to essentially operate a monopoly in your area. First, the city council will put the "rights" to provide cable up for a bid in your municipality. Here is an example of one such bidding war currently ongoing in Cheasapeake VA.
Invitation for Bids (Fiber Optic Cable)
Purely speculation on my part, but I'm sure there are more than a few steak dinners and $100 handshakes between the city counsel members and the cable company lobbyists.
Anyhow, whoever wins the bid essentially buys the rights to provide cable to your area for a given time period. This is usually long (by technology standards).
What this serves to do is essentially block out any competition for that particular area, allowing the cable company to charge whatever they want, and allowing them to suck however bad they want (since you can't change providers).
So while the technology exists to provide you with internet that is 100x faster, with TV that doesn't hang up, all at a fraction of what you're paying per MB, the system is working against you.
And that's pretty messed up.
The United States currently has one of the slowest average download speeds of anywhere in the developed world. This is an infrastructural disadvantage built in by political inefficiency and corruption.
http://www.netindex.com/
Finally, here's a quote from the old guard that's sure to piss you off.
"We just don't see the need of delivering that to customers." - Irene Estevez, CFO at Time Warner Cable when asked about whether TWC would offer Gigabit speeds comparable to Google.
Time Warner Cable executive claims consumers don
Your thoughts?