The Telecom Scam: 5 Behemoths That Strangle Innovation and Ensure You Pay Too Much for Bad Service

[marmar]

from AlterNet:



America’s communications system is in crisis and the longterm consequences will be profound. Most distressing, this issue is not on the political agenda for the 2012 electoral campaign.

The nation’s historic strength is embodied in the ongoing development of its communications infrastruture: the telegraph helped launch 19th-century modernity; the telephone fashionend the 20th-century business and consumer society; and broadband communications is shaping the 21st-century global marketplace.

Unfortunately, where the U.S. was once a world leader in communications, it is now devolving into a secondrate telecom nation. In a December 2010 report, Europe’s Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranked the U.S. 15th in “broadband” subscribers.

Making matters worse, Akamai, a leading technology service-provider company, ranks the U.S. 15th globally in average connection data rate speed, averaging only 5.3 megabytes per second (Mbps) in Q-1 2011. In comparison, Korea’s average data rate was nearly three times faster (14.4 Mbps), Hong Kong's nearly twice as fast (9.2 Mbps) and even Romania had an average rate of 6.6 Mbps. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/153049/the_telecom_scam%3A_5_behemoths_that_strangle_innovation_and_ensure_you_pay_too_much_for_bad_service/

[xchrom]

1. recommend

[NYC_SKP]

2. I think ATT has been pinching my bandwidth, slowing things down, to make me upgrade...

Isn't that the business model?

Limit speed and capacity and only open it up if you pay more?

The Internet should follow the model of broadcast transmissions; it should be free (or almost free).

We, the government, created it.

But, of course, that wouldn't serve the one percent, now would it?

x(

[begin_within]

6. Our ATT DSL service seems to "fall asleep" when I'm not using it.

When I turn on the computer, it seems to take a couple of tries to get the DSL to "wake up" to the fact that I'm on and using it. Not the hardware, the network response. Once it gets going, it seems to be reliable enough for my purposes. I'm typing this now using it. But it's weird that after not using it for a few hours, it seems to take several tries to get it to respond.

[FarCenter]

3. Most of the problem is low density of subscribers

American, tied to the suburban car culture, live in much more distributed communities than, for example, South Koreans or residents of Hong Kong.

So the capital investment needed for last mile hookups to residences is much greater in the US.

LTE cellular may solve this problem to a considerable extent by making wire, fiber optic, and coaxial cable hookups to residences obsolete. But it won't necessarily boost data rates.

It's unclear whether speeds greater than about 5 to 10 Mb/s are actually needed, since that is about the rate needed for a single realtime hi-def video signal.

Why are higher speedes needed? The TCP/IP stack in consumer operating systems won't make use of them anyway.

[msongs]

4. most of the problem is excessive greed and desire for control by US corporations nt

[FarCenter]

5. South Korean and Hong Kong corporations are, if anything, more greedy and controlling

So your explanation is illogical.

[girl gone mad]

8. That's absolutely untrue.

To Korean corporations, especially, sovereignty and the national interest come first, ahead of making profits. The business sector works closely with the government to ensure that national interests are being served. This means that Korean companies often have to help achieve national goals like full employment, strong infrastructure and shared growth before they can pursue commercial concerns.

Many American investors have learned this lesson the hard way. Here's an example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea_Exchange_Bank

Korean regulators stepped in after investors from Texas bought the bank and wanted to run it the American way, putting profits first. The government said the bank would still be obligated to offer cheap loans to customers in financial hardship.

[marmar]

10. Based on what?

nt

[JackRiddler]

11. Why do you hate America?!

[girl gone mad]

12. Based on the poster's personal prejudices, apparently. n/t

[Gregorian]

7. And then there's rural America. 5.3 Mps!!! Try dividing that by 10.

That is the average rural American "broadband" experience.

Do I sound angry? Ask me why. Been there. Done that. Two hours from San Francisco, and I might as well be on the fucking moon.

[BiggJawn]

13. I wish I could GET 5.3 Mbps.

My WISP is fucking with me. They bought out a perfectly good provider that guaranteed 1 Mbps for $50 a month that was actually more often running around 3.5 Mbps.

Then the new sheriff comes to town and my service slows down to what they currently charge $36 for, about 500Kbps. The previous 1 Mbps should only cost me $40 a month, yet I'm paying $50 and not even getting that.

I've been on the blower to Tech Helpless twice and they still can't get it fixed.

[Gregorian]

16. I have a name for what the big companies do to us in the rural areas- Internet Party Line.

It sucks. I hate to admit it, but back around 2001 (I don't blame Bush for this) I actually threw my computer out the window. Man, you've got to be pissed off for a long tme to do that.

:)

The big companies oversold their bandwidth. Greed. We suffer.

[hunter]

9. It would be an easier job than building the interstate highway system,

an easier job than rural electrification and copper wire phone service.

But the U.S. can't do things like that anymore because our government works for the corporations, not the people.

Whenever an existing corporate profit stream needs to be rechanneled for the public good we become a "can't do" nation.

Our government will take the homes of thousands of lower income people to build baseball stadiums and business parks, but a big business executive squeals about the loss of a technically obsolete revenue stream and our government will jump right in to placate them.

[BiggJawn]

14. The same business model from when we were happy to pay AOL $20 for 28.8 Kbps

Remember the bad old dial-up days? $20 a month for 28 Kbps, even if your Modem could handle 56K?

They figure we're still willing to pay good money for shit service and slow speed, after all, we're Murrikans, right?

I get 49 Mbps at work.

[fasttense]

15. The anti-trust laws, laws against monopolies, are still on the books.

But ever since Raygun stole the presidential election, those laws have been ignored. They were never, ever repealed. Those laws are just sitting there gathering dust as more and more corporate monopolies take over our democracy.

What's keeping Holder and our justice department from enforcing those laws now? I guess it comes down to the fact that we are a nation of corporate whim and NOT a nation of laws. Just ask Clarance Thomas who he loves.

Were these the exact same corporate monopolies that got amnesty for violating our privacy during the bushes regime? You betcha.

[redqueen]

17. This.

Not sure about St. "Drooling Idiot" Ray Gun stealing an election... never heard that before... but indeed it is the culture ushered in during that time which has not left us and has instead gotten worse and worse, first with the triangulating DLC ********... and now the neo-cons, the tea party and the even more entrenched and more numerous 'kinder, gentler republicans' in the Dem party.