AT&T Front Group Claims Internet End Is Nigh

I was under the impression AT&T were a tier 1 transit provider and pay next to nothing (relatively) for access to the wider internet.

Why on earth would they be whinging about the cost of upgrading their own backbone while tier 2 ISPs are upgrading their own, at dramatically less per Mbps than previously, and upgrading their transit, again at dramatically less per Mbps than previously?

Supply and demand, as the demand increases so does the supply and the price likewise diminishes due to economies of scale, which are every bit as valid on internet bandwidth as they are anything else. The cost difference between 40Gbps over dark fibre and 10Gbps over dark fibre isn't that great and is far less per Mbps.

AT&T are just being greedy and are reiterating the same arguments over and over again. Sadly for them they base these claims on the same flawed logic, that the technology powering the transmission networks their network runs along haven't changed and that 40Gbps is 4 times the price 10Gbps is - this isn't the case.

Frankly AT&T need to shut up, pay up, and get on with providing a service to their customers. That their customers are using more kbps a piece than they would like is no-one's problem besides their own and should be an issue on the access network only. I'm struggling to find other providers who are complaining about their core networks but rather their access networks which are where all the congestion occurs.

Backbone and transit bandwidth is incredibly cheap compared with access network bandwidth, it's just laughable and pathetic that a tier 1 ISP is complaining in this matter and they need to be told to stop feeding this FUD via PR agencies and astroturfers to the general public.

The sooner this kind of nonsense is regulated the better. Screw the other details, just regulate the flow of bullshit from a greedy incumbent telco then work on the rest to be honest. They really are kidding themselves and anyone who has a clue what they are talking about. The cost of transit and peering is negligible next to the cost of access network bandwidth and always will be.

In any case, retail internet is a contended medium usually, a little contention never hurt anyone, but less of crying about how the internet is doomed, access network is a totally different thing from the internet, AT&T are not the internet, and as soon as they grasp this and stop with this BS the less of these nonsense stories we'll be reading on BBR.

the global recession ...blah blah blah ... will cause ISPs to not be able to upgrade ...blah blah. If anything one of the first things the avg consumer will do without is hi-speed internet. food vs internet? So this argument is that 50% growth in usage will continue and consumers will not pay for it [or ISPs will use the funds for other purposes] and we will have a bottleneck.

Given that large hi-speed core routers are expensive. And replacing large amounts of core routers is time consuming [add labor for CCNEs] yes this is an expense! But its these core routers that drive innovation!

Ole.