The Case Against Time Warner-Comcast Just Got Stronger

[csbeer]

$35 for 4mbps from ATT, $49 for 6mbps from Comcast. Utterly disgusting the "choices" presented to consumers here (and this is in the heart of Silicon Valley). Google fiber can't get here fast enough.

 

[Todd Ebert]

I totally agree with your article about ISP's throttling their service. Case in point. I have four smart phones, two laptops, one desktop, two PS3 devices, and one tablet. All share the internet at the same time. All of the devices could be on the internet at one time and no one lagged one bit. Regardless of content being downloaded, there was no lag at all. Very recently, I noticed at different times of the day or evening, different devices would start to lag. So, I would reset my modem and router thinking that one or the other is dropping the ISP. It has gotten down to the point now that if I were to choose to play online on the PS3, no one else may use their device to go online for anything. A few months ago when all of this started, I called TWC to complain that the internet was very slow. Their response was that they would send out a tech. He could not find anything wrong. For a week, it was back to normal. Then it was back to being very slow, again I called and this time I had a different response. "Sir, you have a basic internet package and only authorized to have 3MB speed downloads. To increase your internet speeds so you can use more devices faster, you can purchase more speed for an extra $20.00 a month". I have yet to purchase the extra amount due believing what they are doing is totally wrong and I refuse to bow down to their pressure. While I am starting to look elsewhere for internet, I limit the household usage fairly for everyone to ensure they have their time to do whatever they want with out interruption.

Not only are the top five trying to squeeze out the content provider, they are trying to squeeze out their customers for the same thing. Just like a "double jeopardy case". We shouldn't have to be both charged for the very exact thing.

I am a consumer that is not looking forward to the merger of TWC or COM. I truly believe that this will only raise rates for all services that they will provide and hamper smaller companies from making a profit. Soon, I will probably switch over to Verizon just to get back to the speeds I have always known broadband to have.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

simply impose net neutrality upon last-mile broadband providers by reclassifying broadband as a "common carrier," as regular telephone service and DSL Internet service already are.

Isn't AT&T U-Verse VDSL?

 

[jasonpwns]

I'm stuck with Cox for internet. I am paying about $67.00/mnth and receiving ~70Mbps Down and ~12Mbps Up.

Hot damn I'm moving to where you live. Here in Iowa through Mediacom, I'm paying $80/month for 30/3. And by no means do I live out in the "middle of nowhere".

80 for 30/3? Woah. I have mediacom and I'm paying 50 dollars for 50/5.

 

[ElegantFowl]

Packet latency between Level3 and Verizon through their NYC hub improved a lot on Monday and Tuesday. Last week I consistently saw an extra 20-25ms on the hop entering/exitting Verizon, every day from noon to midnight. This week that hop is 3X faster. Perhaps public scrutiny helps?

 

[InvalidError]

Here is the killer question: if L3 has a settlement-free peering agreement with Comcast, what is the maximum allowable asymmetry in said agreement and what sort of asymmetry was L3 pushing before Netflix moved to direct peering?

If their original agreement allowed 2:1 and L3 was pushing 3:1, L3 was effectively begging for trouble.

 

[tstebbens]

I'm stuck with Cox for internet. I am paying about $67.00/mnth and receiving ~70Mbps Down and ~12Mbps Up.

Hot damn I'm moving to where you live. Here in Iowa through Mediacom, I'm paying $80/month for 30/3. And by no means do I live out in the "middle of nowhere".

Wow! I new connectivity is expensive in the US but didn't realize how much! I'm paying £30/month (about $50) for 72Mbps down and 17Mbps up. In fact I only pay about $90/month total for fiber, telephone, and TV package.

 

[skit75]

I wasn't boasting about my connection. What I have is the exception to the rule. I am lucky I suppose if only because I can give an arm and a leg for a decent connection. Others can't even offer their arms or legs because the connectivity doesn't exist. The last mile connection has always been the issue.
If the last mile connection was treated as utility infrastructure, the providers would have to compete for our business in a more transparent way. Instead any region's last mile is a spiderweb of confusion where one person can be connected to the future and a neighbor across the street is stuck in the stone age of internet. It is a crap sandwich no matter how you slice it.

 

[bobsoper]

"The FCC, which is gingerly accepting some erosion of net neutrality, could simply impose net neutrality upon last-mile broadband providers by reclassifying broadband as a "common carrier," as regular telephone service and DSL Internet service already are. Yet the FCC and President Barack Obama, who has pledged support for net neutrality, may lack the political capital to push such a regulatory change through Congress."

The FCC already has regulatory authority to reclassify broadband properly as a telecommunications service under Title II of the 1934 Communications Act. The courts have explicitly told them this as recently as January of this year.
They refuse to do so only because of regulatory capture by the industry.

 

[tomuw]

I once rented a condo in an area of about 100 condos serviced by an ISP under discussion.
They did not have enough cable signal strength to service all of the condos reliably, so gave some customers IP service that was unreliable. I then witnessed them switching any complaining customer's line with a working line continuously for 6 months. Of course, most customers just thought their service had broken. They would rather take money from customers they were not providing service to, and pay for a cable swapper regularly on-site rather than upgrade their last mile.