High Speed Communications
Discuss changes, developments, and technology in the world of broadband, high speed communications, and dedicated lines. I am not limited to only internet providers and gadgets, but wireless, telephone, messaging, conferencing solutions, multimedia, and the associated toys! Feel free to express your likes and dislikes of something you have used or heard about.
The world of technology is moving fast...better grab your helmet!
Friday, September 03, 2010
Businesses Still Pay More For Speed and Likely Always Will
For DSL service, they still offer the lowest monthly rate but it works out to the highest per megabit price - 1mbps download at $20/month or $20 per meg of bandwidth speed.
The best DSL price was $40/mo for up to 7 mbps speed or about $5.70/meg
For Cable offerings, Comcasts best deal was 50mbps for about $115/mo (for the first 6 months): that works out to an amazing $2.30/meg!
Fiber technology still growing with the main supplier in the US being Verizon Fios whose top matching plan is 50mbps at about $140/month for and average $2.80/meg, a big drop from when it first rolled out.
Note: Being the speed freak I am, of course I am focusing on the top available speed plans of the three and please note these are also the residential options only.
The business internet plans are still pricier from the three main technology sources, but here is what is interesting and also what most business customers don't know: The higher prices businesses often pay for their service, is used to offset the carrier costs of the residential offerings!
Shocker, I know!
Actually this is common practice, and is a strategic business plan to be able to focus on the bulk of their customer base which are residential consumers.
What Point Topic's global Q2 report shows however, is that the cable suppliers have been able to bring the costs for their business clients down much closer to that of the residential broadband customers. That cost for businesses is roughly 1.5 times that of home owners, while business DSL is 3.9 higher and Fiber is 4.7 times higher than their comparable residential services.
Rest assured, those ratios will change. DSL, I do not expect will change much as providers just are not able to gain the numbers of residential clients needed to balance with the smaller amount of business clients. Fiber however is the broadband highway to the future. What is being laid out now in terms of fiber lines, has such longevity and capacity that providers costs will drop as the service becomes available to more and more clients. That 4.7 ratio is sure to drop as the service becomes available in more countries, and across more areas within existing fiber countries.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Samsung is doing it right, why don't the others?
credit Samsung |
credit: T-mobile |
The next releases in the Galaxy S line from Samsung, are the Epic 4G from Sprint tomorrow, and this fall from Verizon look for the Samsung Fascinate.
Samsung is doing it right, for the consumers, for their business model, for the carriers. I hope that the other phone manufacturers take note, a broad release over all the carriers is what we want now. Let the carriers battle it out for customers by modifying their contracts and offering perks, and not make it about who has the better stuff.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Opening The Windows Wider, Mobile Phone 7 Models Leaked
From LG two phones, the c900 and e900 ( the former having a full keyboard and the latter is completely touch screen ). From Samsung, the i917 tips it's elegant hat, and HTC's full touchscreen enabled Mozart.
While some photos are not great quality, as you can see, the shape of phones are taking on a cloned shape, with either full touch screen or sliding keyboard, it now becomes a battle between the applications and operating system software to lure customers to their latest toys.
Look for the winds to start blowing more and more models in the open windows this fall!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
NFC East, West, North, South, Up and Down!
[ On a side rant, if we are asked to pay $500 plus for a smartphone, can it at least go a year before we are told it is no longer good enough, by it's own manufacturer none the less! ]
Friday, August 13, 2010
Help for gzip_detect.php on Facebook August 13, 2010
Since the file download is apparently an issue that is arising when users of Internet Explorer log into Facebook is conflicting with the Facebook code itself. There is no official announcement yet as to the source of the file, only that common reaction is to cancel the download and try again.
If you want to ensure that you do not see gzip_detect.php announcing its arrival on your PC or laptop again or for the first time, follow these steps:
1. Ensure that you have your computer up to date with Microsoft Updates, especially the Internet Explorer files.
2. Clear your cookies. This one can hurt, because those same cookies surely make logging into all of our favorite sites so much smoother. For instructions on how to clear cookies, go here.
3. Reboot. A hard reboot of our computer is something we forget about and take for granted, but on a Microsoft based PC or laptop, it is a necessary action to do regularly!
4. My friends would, as a last resort (or perhaps a first?) , would advise me to get a Mac and avoid all these issues. I am not ready to take that step yet however.
If none of these actions seem to help, you can temporarily log into Facebook using another browser such as Google Chrome or Firefox until Facebook can work this out.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Fios? Sounds like something my doctor wants me to take.
Something that the cable companies should be worrying about, quite frankly, is the ability that Verizon will have to offer high quality phone and Television service, but broadband internet speeds that they will be unable to compete against. Here is a preliminary pricing packages from Verizon's webpage (speeds ate Download/Upload and Mbps=Megabytespersecond):
- The "low end package" at a cost of what I pay for my DSL of just $34.95/month will give you 5Mbps/2Mbps
- The "mid range package", coming in at what the cable companies charge for their broadband service, is $44.95/month and serves 15Mbps/2Mbps. (cable can only provide up to 6Mbps max!)
- Finally, the mother load and quite obviously for business, $179.95/month gives you a whopping 30Mbps/5Mbps!!!
(Pardon me while I catch my breath) Though the speed demon in me salivates at that last speed rating, the economist cannot argue that option #2 is by far the best deal of the three for the home consumer. 15 Mbps is fast enough to satisfy any gamer, any media user, any home business, any..etc..
I applaud Verizon for taking this chance to invest in the roll out (there are trucks on multiple streets in my county) and lay out the Corning fiber optic cabling to take back some of the market share that is being strangle held by the cable companies today. And who wins?
We do....we win on speed, on cost (even if you stay with cable...competition drives price wars which means lower prices), and on choices. I say..keep it up...who is next? Bring it on!!