WhatNowPremium
join:2009-05-06
Charlotte, NC | Tidbits The report includes various other interesting tidbits, including the claim that real world ISP broadband speeds are often 50 percent to 80 percent slower than advertised speeds. The agency also notes that 1% of all users drive 20% of traffic and 20% of all users drive 80% of traffic.
Above quoted from article.
It would be nice to see what percentage these groups pay for the total broadband cost. I have no data but just a wild guess that this group pays less then 20% of the total revenues from broadband traffic. If 20% of users drive 80% traffic I can see caps and metered billing if net neutrality and other rulings force ISPs to become dumb pipes.
I have no problem with upgrading broadband in the semi rural but I would draw the line on access at the same point the power companies do. If you are not on the power grid then you should not be counted. Should broadband funds from government or private sources be counted if the potential customer out in the boondocks does not have the income to pay for service. I wonder what percentage of the 33% that have some kind of access but have not signed up can not afford any level of service. There needs to be a density formula where the money is spent to bring the most people up to at least the 1 or 1.5Mbps level. This formula would need to be different for the coast states and the farm states in the middle of the country. I would hate to see the money spent on just one or two customers that live miles from anyone when an equal amount of money might upgrade everyone in a rural county where the density and income is greater. To be realistic the only way to reach most of the people that would pay for service is FTTP. Copper will not work when you drop below a certain density. Wireless or Wimax can be a stop gap measure because it is cheaper to feed one point with fiber then every home. I use a laptop in the field in rural areas all the time and I would not try to stream a video most web sites that are not really busy work fine. It is better then nothing. |
