This is what overt long term corruption brings

[GreyGeek]

https://www.wired.com/story/im-suing...ons-iron-grip/

Mirandakatz wrote:

New York City is lagging far behind when it comes to ensuring ubiquitous, reasonably priced fiber optic internet access for every resident. There's a jaw-dropping digital divide in the city, and more than a quarter of households are still using dial-up. The city could be doing more to fix that—but it's not. That's why Susan Crawford, a professor at Harvard Law School and fierce advocate for nationwide fiber, is suing the city. At Backchannel, Crawford writes that "the city’s intransigence should be embarrassing to it. Instead of a plan, instead of exercising power and acting coherently, all we’ve got is shuffling and nay-saying. Getting information regarding access is the key to transforming telecommunications policy in the US—as well as in New York City. We must do better."

[whatthefunk]

The state of the internet in the US really is shocking. I cant believe people still use dial-up. I wonder how much they are paying for it...

[GreyGeek]

The state of the internet in the US really is shocking. I cant believe people still use dial-up. I wonder how much they are paying for it...

It was a stunner to me as well. Even V.92 at 50Kbps is a drag except for usernet and email. Browsing today's graphic intensive webpages wouldn't be possible.

Did you notice that the author wrote that she was paying $10 for a 50Mbps fiber optic connection in Georgia? That's because there is competition there. Vinney is from that region and IIRC he pays $40 for 100Mpbs. I pay $65 for 60Mbps and that price is due entirely to lack of competition. Twenty to twenty five years ago there were over 50 ISP's in America. Now there are less that 10 and only 5 major ones. Allo is the FIRST major competition to TWC in Lincoln since the 1990s.

Here in Lincoln NO ISP supplies IPv6 capability

[flamboyant]

at the current exchange rate i pay about $3.25 for TV + 10 Mbps Internet per month here in an urban-type settlement in the Urals. a 75 Mbps Internet + TV are available for about $6.6 per month.

[GreyGeek]

at the current exchange rate i pay about $3.25 for TV + 10 Mbps Internet per month here in an urban-type settlement in the Urals. a 75 Mbps Internet + TV are available for about $6.6 per month.

What is the average income in the Urals?
Where I live it is about $47,000/year. I'm paying about $770/yr for just a 60Mbps connection. No TV. That's about 1.5% of the average income.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[SpecialEd]

at the current exchange rate i pay about $3.25 for TV + 10 Mbps Internet per month here in an urban-type settlement in the Urals. a 75 Mbps Internet + TV are available for about $6.6 per month.

Are you sure you aren't one decimal place off? How reliable is your service?

[flamboyant]

What is the average income in the Urals?

the average wage at the local factory where most people work here was about $550 per month last year.

That's about 1.5% of the average income.

3.25 / 550 *100% ≈ 0.6%

[flamboyant]

Are you sure you aren't one decimal place off?

well, you can see for yourself: https://translate.google.com/transla...-text=&act=url

How reliable is your service?

it's reliable enough for me. it works virtually always.

[GreyGeek]

well, you can see for yourself: https://translate.google.com/transla...-text=&act=url

it's reliable enough for me. it works virtually always.

75Mbit / s + 130 TV channels for $6.70 USD.

<sarcasm> Here in Lincoln, NE we get such great deals as 200 channels of TV + 25Mbps Internet + Phone for $29.99 each ($90/mo), "no contract", but you can't split them up. </sarcasm> Internet alone, at 60Mbps, is $65 USD/month + taxes and other charges. I don't subscribe to TV and I don't need their VOIP phone service (which I can create for free using Ekiga or other VOIP open source services) because I pay $90/mo for my iPhone 6 data plan.

All this is because there is no real competition in this area and those vendors who do supply services probably have colluded to fix prices, but who's going to prosecute them?

PS - My 60Mbps Spectrum Internet service as down 30% of the time last week. When I use http://speedof.me it frequently shows my bandwidth being 25-50Mbps, sometimes lower.

It remains to be seen if Allo, the vendor that is putting in fiber optic cable around here, will be any better, but at least I can get 100Mbps for the same money I pay Spectrum.

[flamboyant]

<sarcasm> Here in Lincoln, NE we get such great deals as 200 channels of TV + 25Mbps Internet + Phone for $29.99 each ($90/mo), "no contract", but you can't split them up. </sarcasm>

yeah, our nation-wide vendors also offer less beneficial plans even in big cities: https://translate.google.com/transla...-text=&act=url

Internet alone, at 60Mbps, is $65 USD/month + taxes and other charges.

price tags without taxes and other charges always make me feel uncomprehending.

I don't subscribe to TV ...

i don't need that **** either. it's just my mom.

... I pay $90/mo for my iPhone 6 data plan.

i don't have/use mobile phones.

All this is because there is no real competition in this area and those vendors who do supply services probably have colluded to fix prices, but who's going to prosecute them?

absolutely. i believe we enjoy cheap Internet here only because our oligarchs are too dumb for IT. they only can sell oil, gas, wood and other natural resources. however, i'm afraid that won't last long.

When I use http://speedof.me it frequently shows my bandwidth being 25-50Mbps, sometimes lower.

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/6413301886

It remains to be seen if Allo, the vendor that is putting in fiber optic cable around here, will be any better, but at least I can get 100Mbps for the same money I pay Spectrum.

yeah, at least somewhat better

[GreyGeek]

Wow, flamboyant, your UPLOAD speed is as fast as your download! That is rarely the case here because the ISPs do not want Joe and Sally Sixpack uploading lots of videos or pics without buying their "business class" connections. Translation: A lot more money, and they control your modem so you can't configure or modify its settings, you must use their email, etc...

Your English is excellent! Did you learn it in primary, secondary or college? Here in America most of the high school graduates are functional illiterates who can barely read or write and have very little comprehension of what they do read, which is why most prefer TV for the news and entertainment. But, this is another whine of mine and I've sidetracked this thread enough.

[flamboyant]

Wow, flamboyant, your UPLOAD speed is as fast as your download! That is rarely the case here because the ISPs do not want Joe and Sally Sixpack uploading lots of videos or pics without buying their "business class" connections. Translation: A lot more money, and they control your modem so you can't configure or modify its settings, you must use their email, etc...

well, that's another unfortunate consequence of lack of competition.

Your English is excellent! Did you learn it in primary, secondary or college? Here in America most of the high school graduates are functional illiterates who can barely read or write and have very little comprehension of what they do read, which is why most prefer TV for the news and entertainment. But, this is another whine of mine and I've sidetracked this thread enough.

oh, thank you very much! it's always such a pleasure to hear or read words like that about my second language from a native speaker. my interest in English appeared when i was a secondary-school student, but i only studied it in earnest in college. unfortunately, i have too few opportunities to speak the language, so my spoken English is getting worse with time.

sadly, i must admit our ministers of education do their best to make our graduates as illiterate as yours. and i can make such an assertion because i'm a private tutor in Math and English here trying to offset what schools do to our children. government and oligarchs don't want them to be clever and pose a threat to the powers that be and their silver spooners. they want them to be stupid and docile consumers or cannon fodder that can be thrown at the enemy the plutocrats point to. sorry for off-topic.

[GreyGeek]

....
sadly, i must admit our ministers of education do their best to make our graduates as illiterate as yours. and i can make such an assertion because i'm a private tutor in Math and English here trying to offset what schools do to our children. government and oligarchs don't want them to be clever and pose a threat to the powers that be and their silver spooners. they want them to be stupid and docile consumers or cannon fodder that can be thrown at the enemy the plutocrats point to. sorry for off-topic.

What you write is so similar to what I see that If I didn't know better I'd say you were living somewhere in America!

[flamboyant]

What you write is so similar to what I see that If I didn't know better I'd say you were living somewhere in America!

or in Europe, or in Asia, or pretty much anywhere else. "absolute power corrupts absolutely." and their power became absolute after the fall of the Soviet Union.

[GreyGeek]

or in Europe, or in Asia, or pretty much anywhere else. "absolute power corrupts absolutely." and their power became absolute after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Pretty much, and all the average person wants to do, regardless of where they live, is live their life in peace with adequate housing, clothing, food and something to engage the mind, i.e., enjoying the fruits of their labors.