1 edit | Come on now! Why don't these companys concentrate on increasing their userbase by expanding their networks rather than focusing on speeds that the majority of people currently can't fully utilize. I know people will start talking about ROI and how we should just move into the city to get service. Thankfully back when the telephone was just getting popular people didn't have that mentality or else I probably still wouldn't have one.
These companys are all fishing in the same ponds here. Sure they do a speed bump but then another company does one and they lose customers. They just shuffle them back and forth. Instead of fishing in the same pond why don't these companys move downstream and fish the smaller ponds? At least they get to keep the fish they catch. It wouldn't be as cost effective up front but at least they won't be trading customers back and forh then cry about how their losing their subscriber base. |
|
 tubbynetreminds me of the danse russePremium,MVM
join:2008-01-16
Chandler, AZ | said by BB_Hunter:Why don't these companys concentrate on increasing their userbase by expanding their networks rather than focusing on speeds because in terms of capex, its *much* cheaper to buy a few new d3 linecards for your cmts, throw in some new core sw/router linecards for 10gbps backhauls into the core, and rearrange the cable frequency spectrum than it is to run aerial fiber and trench some hard line to the ped.
q.
--
"...if I in my north room dance naked, grotesquely before my mirror waving my shirt round my head and singing softly to myself..." |
|
| reply to BB_Hunter
said by BB_Hunter:Why don't these companys concentrate on increasing their userbase by expanding their networks rather than focusing on speeds that the majority of people currently can't fully utilize. Because of marketing - speed sells. And they get the biggest bang for the buck by getting more customers to sign up for HSI where they already pay for Cable TV.
And ROI is part of the deal. Yoy can't get around that. They can upgrade electronics for faster speeds a lot faster and a lot cheaper than running fiber/cable to all new locations. |
|
 SLDPremium
join:2002-04-17
San Francisco, CA | reply to BB_Hunter
I believe that Comcast did a massive upgrade last year - iBone? |
|
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| reply to BB_Hunter
1. Comcast isn't losing its subscriber base.
2. It's a LOT easier to do upgrades on plant that already exists.
3. I feel your pain. The place I call home is $9000 away from cable, and DSL goes to 1.5 Mbps. However I understand why TWC (cableco in that area) isn't willing to roll out the cable: they aren't a co-op so they can't think in terms of ten-year amortization. |
|
iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 | reply to SLD
iBone has been around for two years or so now. Maybe three. It's not so much an upgrade as a cost-reducer; Comcast has tons of peering arrangements and such that bring traffic costs to a few bucks per Mbit at most. |
|
fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | reply to BB_Hunter
Hrmmmm.. Comcast had a huge gain in HSI subscribers recently.. they have no contracts like the phone companies (including the FiOS product) their prices are higher and yet they're not loosing customers.. what does that tell you?
.. it has to do with just more than speed.. there are many reasons consumers make choices.. and speed isn't always the main thing.. and neither is price, aparently.
Expanding their networks? To where... ? In this day and age where satellite has already saturated themselves pretty well, ... take a housing pocket of about 20 homes.. it costs a huge amount of money to extend plant. (It's more than just pushing out more wire, you know.. it's also about plant redesign in some cases as you can't just always tack on cable to the end of the closest run)... so you have satellite covering many of these areas.. and many of those customers are in contracts that will last a year or two.. if YOU were in the cable man's shoes, would YOU be jumping at the bit to extend plant at a high cost to do so and realize you're prolly not going to get a HUGE amount of new customers? Or are you going to work on keeping the ones you have? .... think about that. |
|
| Well I can certainly see some of your points. I realize that the invest is going to take longer to recoup but when they do finally wire a new area that's new subscribers for them. They most likely will never leave unless another provider decides to jump in which is probably unlikely in smaller areas.
Fiberguy you do have a point although I'm sure many would still at least subscribe to the internet. I'm actually involved with a Bona Fide Retail request with Verizon right now to get DSL out here. Almost every house I stopped at was all for getting HSI. Trouble is most of them are to lazy to fill out a 1 page form and that hasn't went to far. If they didn't need the account info I would have done it for them.
So I'm in a situation where I've got a 3G data card to use and about $500+ worth of equipment and pay $60 a month for about 1.2Mbps down & 600Kbps up. Much better than dial up or satellite and I can game for the most part. But it would still be nice to finally have a real connection. It just gets frustrating reading all these super fast tiers when I can't even get anything remotely close. I know the next time I move the HSI will be the first question I ask and will be targeting an area with some pretty fast service. |
|
fiberguyMy views are my own.Premium
join:2005-05-20
kudos:3 | said by BB_Hunter: I know the next time I move the HSI will be the first question I ask and will be targeting an area with some pretty fast service. Since back in 1999, HSI offering is the number one question I've had when deciding on a place to live. My friend just moved out of my house after living with me for a few years.. he moved to a place where HSI isn't available and he's borrowing my MyFi Sprint card as it's his only choice, next to satellite. And, that card kicks satellite's butt. So I know what you mean. He's waiting for the WiMax deployment that's supposed to take place sometime this year. He works from home and internet is important to him. Charter is about 1 mile away from his place and it's not exactly a remote area either. Thank god, for him at least, that my card is grandfathered into the non 5-gb cap as he's used about 12 gig a month so far. |
|
