fora.tv— Google policy analyst Derek Slater discusses the possibility of privately owned fiber optics to access the Internet and not having to rely on Comcast or AT&T.
Apr 29, 2009View in Crawl 4
Yeah, Nevarius, you're spot on.skullkid700, sure you have to sign a contract - well, apart from the new 'pay as you go/one month' mobile packages that are starting to come out - but like you say, you can just switch to a cheaper package when the contract is up.Plus, what tends to happen here is your provider will increase your download speed for free every now and then in order to keep up with their competitors and keep you as a customer.My mothers connection is being upgraded from 2Mb/s to 6Mb/s next month for free, she's on the slowest tarif and pays 15 pounds (22 dollars) a month, which includes the internet connection, phone line and cable TV. If there was no competition, that figure would be much higher.
I'd like to see a model sort of like the current electric model. In this model the local service company owns the distribution network, i.e. the local power grid. As a customer you can pick any company to make power for you and you only pay a distribution fee the local provider. This allows for the best allocation of resources as far as distribution of service goes. The distribution network company is able to invest with the knowledge that they can get a return on their investment since they have a monopoly in that area. With all the service providers using the same shared "pipes" the customer gets to choose the provider based on what is important to them, be it cost, services, maybe a more green provider, whatever. But the bottom line is that you have a choice. This model has worked with with energy as well as telco, I think it is time it came to broadband and wireless.
Responsibility - wouldn't want that, would you?And actually, you already ARE held responsible for what happens on your computer and network. Whether it's movies, illegal porn, or nothing but legit, legal downloads and services.
richgustavsonApr 30, 2009
Yeah but what happens when ten movies are streaming across that Internet? What happens to my own personal Internet?
pault107Apr 30, 2009
Yeah, Nevarius, you're spot on.skullkid700, sure you have to sign a contract - well, apart from the new 'pay as you go/one month' mobile packages that are starting to come out - but like you say, you can just switch to a cheaper package when the contract is up.Plus, what tends to happen here is your provider will increase your download speed for free every now and then in order to keep up with their competitors and keep you as a customer.My mothers connection is being upgraded from 2Mb/s to 6Mb/s next month for free, she's on the slowest tarif and pays 15 pounds (22 dollars) a month, which includes the internet connection, phone line and cable TV. If there was no competition, that figure would be much higher.
tsirkoMay 1, 2009
really? that sucks man :S
a7r3idesMay 1, 2009
that's basically already happening with this content filtering/blacklisting in australia/germany. hopefully they don't get approved.
up4nogoodMay 15, 2009
I'd like to see a model sort of like the current electric model. In this model the local service company owns the distribution network, i.e. the local power grid. As a customer you can pick any company to make power for you and you only pay a distribution fee the local provider. This allows for the best allocation of resources as far as distribution of service goes. The distribution network company is able to invest with the knowledge that they can get a return on their investment since they have a monopoly in that area. With all the service providers using the same shared "pipes" the customer gets to choose the provider based on what is important to them, be it cost, services, maybe a more green provider, whatever. But the bottom line is that you have a choice. This model has worked with with energy as well as telco, I think it is time it came to broadband and wireless.
linuxpenguinMay 16, 2009
Responsibility - wouldn't want that, would you?And actually, you already ARE held responsible for what happens on your computer and network. Whether it's movies, illegal porn, or nothing but legit, legal downloads and services.
Closed AccountMay 16, 2009
I really feel smart watching these videos. Who HASN'T thought about this ......
lambdaNov 18, 2009
Not _the_ tubes, per se, but your own personal tube or tubes.
lambdaNov 18, 2009
Yep cuz that's the only way anything works