According to a story in Wired News, Verizon is expanding its investment in Fiber Optic lines to the door. They are bringing 50mbps to the consumer and are already experimenting with 100mbps. Prices range from US$89.95 in New York, to US$139.95 a month in California.
Meanwhile, the powers that be in Canada are throttling our service. Wait, a correction is in order, they are throttling the service of the 10% of the users who are abusing their agreements, so the rest of us can continue taking advantage of the 5 to 16mbps they are providing. Bell Canada is promoting their new fiber optic service with speeds “up to 16mbps” at a price of CDN$84.95.
Which makes more business sense? Throttling back your clients? Or increasing the bandwidth?
I suppose from a strictly dollars and cents issue, throttling may be less expensive. The work is done at the server level with new technologies purchased for this purpose. ComCast in the U.S. has set the precedent.
Installing Fiber, on the other hand, requires planning and foresight. The logistics for the installation are daunting. Verizon has set that standard. While the rest of the Telco’s sit and watch, Verizon is providing its customers an incredible experience, and is setting the stage for new and enhanced features.
The future, if one is to believe the pundits, is that the Internet will become the be-all and end-all of everything. Our TV will come from there, our files, pictures, music, will all be stored online, available from anywhere, anytime. The Cloud, as it is referred to, will conquer all. In which case, we will need much faster access and more bandwidth.
The choice is to follow the lead set by ComCast or that of Verizon.
