Kansas city is one of three areas that are served by Google Fiber, one of very few Fiber-To-The-Home (FTTH) initiatives in US. Subscribers on average get double bandwidth for the same price. One would think this would be appreciated as a good thing, but the state legislators seems to see things differently. Or rather, their puppeteers do.
I recently spent 7 years in China, and thought I had experienced my share of corrupt government. But the Chinese at least tried to maintain a façade of who were actually calling the shots.
Why does this matter? US is already far behind Europe and Asia in residential broadband, and the gap is widening. Anecdotally, I get better broadband at lower cost in my remote French Alpe village than I do in the heart of Silicon Valley.
In Europe, EU is putting FTTH front and center of their Europe 2020 strategy. In US, residential fiber connections seems not to be on the agenda at all. The industry experts I meet have all but given up hope, saying this is business as usual. The Cable Lobby will routinely stop initiatives through local legislation when necessary.
It is really quite sad to see them wasting their resources on buying politicians instead of investing in better services. Makes me question if the ISP channel strategy we are establishing in Europe really can be replicated in US, or if we need to change approach...
I recently spent 7 years in China, and thought I had experienced my share of corrupt government. But the Chinese at least tried to maintain a façade of who were actually calling the shots.
Why does this matter? US is already far behind Europe and Asia in residential broadband, and the gap is widening. Anecdotally, I get better broadband at lower cost in my remote French Alpe village than I do in the heart of Silicon Valley.
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| Netflix Country Average Bandwidth |
In Europe, EU is putting FTTH front and center of their Europe 2020 strategy. In US, residential fiber connections seems not to be on the agenda at all. The industry experts I meet have all but given up hope, saying this is business as usual. The Cable Lobby will routinely stop initiatives through local legislation when necessary.
It is really quite sad to see them wasting their resources on buying politicians instead of investing in better services. Makes me question if the ISP channel strategy we are establishing in Europe really can be replicated in US, or if we need to change approach...
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