Google Fiber

Can Google Fiber be far behind?

Our local Time Warner (TW) wants a 10-year contract, but does not know or is unwilling to share what and how  TV, internet and phone may be served in coming years.

Massachusetts has invested over $80 millon to wire fiber to small non-connected towns in western Massachusetts. Town halls, schools and libraries are part of the mix, which leaves out industry, commercial entities and homeowners – at least for the moment, until the last mile contractor can be hired.

The large question: Who is going to bring fiber to the curb or the last mile?

So far, it is unclear who will hook up the last mile and at what cost.

The quickest and easiest solution is to hire Verizon and its crew. They own most of the poles, know the area and have the manpower ready.

This said, the link: http://www.technologyreview.com/news/510176/when-will-the-rest-of-us-get-google-fiber/ provides some additional information:

“If that’s true, then why isn’t it being made available everywhere?

“The answer is that there are no compelling business incentives for the established players, says Blair Levin, a former U.S. Federal Communications Commission chief of staff, who helped write the National Broadband Plan and is now executive director of Gig.U, a consortium of universities trying to deploy very fast networks in local neighborhoods.

“In parts of the country, slower-speed copper, fast-download cable and a few fiber networks are already built out. The cable distribution giants like Time Warner Cable and Comcast are already making a 97 percent margin on their ‘almost comically profitable internet services,’ according to Craig Moffet, an analyst at the Wall Street firm Bernstein Research.

“As Levin points out, ‘If you are making that kind of margin, it’s hard to improve it.’ And most Americans have no choice but to deal with their local cable company or satelight company. On the horizon is wireless data plans.

“While Verizon operates the fiber network serving the largest number of home subscribers in the nation, the company is backing off from installing additional U.S. fiber connectivity (FiOS).

“The company’s fiber service, called FiOS, offers basic service starting at 15 megabits per second (which can be upgraded in some areas to as much as 300 megabits per second).

“As of last year, FiOS had about 5 million subscribers (most of whom also take the optional bundled television service) — or roughly one-third of the possible market where the company has strung fiber. But CFO Fran Shammo said in a conference call last fall that there are no plans to expand FiOS beyond those areas.

“’At this point we have to capitalize on what we have invested,’ he said. The basic goal is to sign up more people in the existing service areas, which adds the most revenue without increasing capital costs.”

While fiber is one of the keys to maintain a connected network of communication. With change on the horizon, we still need to hold TW accountable for good service at a reasonable price and good programs many of which subsidize the cable company operation. (Don’t forget that the cable channels carry advertisements that help pay for TW’s programs.)

One of the keys of TW is their promotion of business networks at $85 a month for a one year for internet service – 7 Mbps down, 768 Kbps up, $83.95. Yet they offer other promotions to its customers.

For residential, the closest price to Verizon’s DSL is $29.99 for 3 mnps up and upload of 1 mnps. If you can get it within about three miles of a Verizon switch.

For more, see next week’s Part Two of Google Fiber.

Posted by George C. Jordan III on March 28, 2013. Filed under Opinion,View from the Tower. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry