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Paul Bunyan Brings $100, 1 Gbps Service to Minnesota
Paul Bunyan Communications in Minnesota is the latest ISP to jump into the 1 Gbps public relations race. According to the company's announcement, their "GigaZone" initiative will be one of the largest gigabit networks in the country, promising to offer gigabit services over the ISP's 5,000 square mile footprint over the next five years. Right now, it appears however that these new speeds are only available in just one location: Bemidji, Minnesota. The ISP is now offering users within range of the service the option of symmetrical 50 Mbps for $60 a month, symmetrical 500 Mbps for $80 a month or symmetrical 1 Gbps for $100 a month.
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bigballer
@205.214.216.x

bigballer

Anon

while comcrap....

offers 105 mbps for $115.

Amazing....

SpaethCo
Digital Plumber
MVM
join:2001-04-21
Minneapolis, MN

SpaethCo

MVM

Re: while comcrap....

said by bigballer :

offers 105 mbps for $115.

... to about 20 million customers across the US.

Bemidji's population is about 14,000 people total.

The deployment scale (and hence cost of infrastructure) is just slightly different there.
NOVA_UAV_Guy
Premium Member
join:2012-12-14
Purcellville, VA

NOVA_UAV_Guy

Premium Member

Re: while comcrap....

said by SpaethCo:

The deployment scale (and hence cost of infrastructure) is just slightly different there.

So are Comcast's revenues. While I get your point that Comcast can't just wave a magic wand and have it all appear and work, I'd also suggest that Comcast has the resources to build gigabit out in many areas if they wanted to. And the profit margins for their service should allow them to do this without having to raise prices for existing customers.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT
·Frontier FiberOp..
Asus RT-AC68

BiggA

Premium Member

Re: while comcrap....

Comcast has some bigger fish to fry. Their internet is pretty good in most places, and most users can't use much more than about 50mbps at this point. They need to work on upgrading systems and the MPEG-4 conversion, and eventually D3.1 will allow them to do gig over coax.

TAZ
join:2014-01-03
Tucson, AZ

TAZ to SpaethCo

Member

to SpaethCo
said by SpaethCo:

The deployment scale (and hence cost of infrastructure) is just slightly different there.

Right, which makes Comcast's position even more pathetic, because their economies of scale should allow them to get that cost per subscriber down even more than this small-time operation.

It would require a higher upfront capital outlay, but why is this a problem now when interest rates are so low?
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Re: while comcrap....

I think Comcast's position is more about waiting to see what becomes of DOCSIS 3.1 which seems like a fairly valid decision.

bigballer
@205.214.216.x

bigballer

Anon

Re: while comcrap....

docsis 3.1 is the upper-edge of what coax can provide.

1 gbps fiber is still at its infancy
silbaco
Premium Member
join:2009-08-03
USA

silbaco

Premium Member

Gigabit

This looks like one of the first real deployments. It appears they have a pretty substantial fiber network built. And cooperatives typically don't care about press attention.
dylking
join:2001-07-31
Saint Paul, MN

dylking

Member

Bemidji

Still not a good enough reason to move up there. Pretty country, but it'd be a heckuva commute to the twin cities

Candle
Like a candle in the wind
Premium Member
join:2007-08-13
Fosston, MN

Candle

Premium Member

Re: Bemidji

Not far for me .
existenz
join:2014-02-12

existenz to dylking

Member

to dylking
And the site of most interesting TV mini series - Fargo (the TV show).

Milhouse
@64.66.28.x

Milhouse

Anon

And how many consecutive seconds of downloading..

..does it take at 1gbps to blow through the usage cap on this service?

No offense to Paul Bunyan Comm, but is this fibre service actually unmetered or as usual, is there a catch? What's their backbone going to be like if they hook up a couple dozen torrent users?
tuminatr
join:2014-04-04

tuminatr

Member

Century Link is building out now

I got info with my last bill and they have been burring cables in my neighborhood in saint paul,MN. Century link is $79 for the 1gbps 59.99 for 100mbps $29.99 for 40mbps fiber service