11-08-2013, 09:30 AM
Hooo boy, here we go.
Let's talk internet providers (IPs). I say this because there seems to be such a huge difference between providers in various countries.
I'll explain the situation in France. In the beginning, there were a few providers (Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR) who had a tripartite monopoly, setting high prices and providing mediocre speed of service. Then came Free. Free offered what the others did, but at a fraction of the price. This forced the other companies to lower their prices and increase their speeds.
There is now decent internet for a very good price (We pay about €20 a month for up to 100mb.)
Then came fibre optic and the promise of ever greated speeds. The big corporations didn't change much as what they provided was still cheap and profitable.
This week, Free announced it would offer its customers up to 1gb download speeds. And how much will their customers' bills be increasing? They won't. We're suddenly getting up to 5 times quicker speeds with no increase in price. How awesome is that. 1gb for about €40 a month.
Last year in Canada, we were paying $120 (!!) for 5mb internet and a 120GB download cap...
I'm saying all of this because the US and Canada are still in the few companies monopoly phase, and seem to be on the verge (with Google) of doing what Free did in France. Once cheap fibre-optic internet becomes the norm and more choice is on offer, you folk are going to love it.
TL;DR - What's happening in the US with Google Fibre happened a few years ago in France. It changed the face of the internet, with Free now offering an upgrade to 1Gb internet at no extra cost.
So how would you rate your provider? Are you being left by the wayside by money-grabbing corporations, or is your provider living up to your wildest dreams?
I'll give my up-to speeds and prices in USD
France - $26/month for up to 100mb. No caps.
UK - $24/month for up to 50mb. No caps, some throttling in the evenings.
Canada (last year) - $120/month up to 20mb. 120GB cap, no throttling.
Let's talk internet providers (IPs). I say this because there seems to be such a huge difference between providers in various countries.
I'll explain the situation in France. In the beginning, there were a few providers (Orange, Bouygues Telecom, SFR) who had a tripartite monopoly, setting high prices and providing mediocre speed of service. Then came Free. Free offered what the others did, but at a fraction of the price. This forced the other companies to lower their prices and increase their speeds.
There is now decent internet for a very good price (We pay about €20 a month for up to 100mb.)
Then came fibre optic and the promise of ever greated speeds. The big corporations didn't change much as what they provided was still cheap and profitable.
This week, Free announced it would offer its customers up to 1gb download speeds. And how much will their customers' bills be increasing? They won't. We're suddenly getting up to 5 times quicker speeds with no increase in price. How awesome is that. 1gb for about €40 a month.
Last year in Canada, we were paying $120 (!!) for 5mb internet and a 120GB download cap...
I'm saying all of this because the US and Canada are still in the few companies monopoly phase, and seem to be on the verge (with Google) of doing what Free did in France. Once cheap fibre-optic internet becomes the norm and more choice is on offer, you folk are going to love it.
TL;DR - What's happening in the US with Google Fibre happened a few years ago in France. It changed the face of the internet, with Free now offering an upgrade to 1Gb internet at no extra cost.
So how would you rate your provider? Are you being left by the wayside by money-grabbing corporations, or is your provider living up to your wildest dreams?
I'll give my up-to speeds and prices in USD
France - $26/month for up to 100mb. No caps.
UK - $24/month for up to 50mb. No caps, some throttling in the evenings.
Canada (last year) - $120/month up to 20mb. 120GB cap, no throttling.