[171866] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: Observations of an Internet Middleman (Level3) (was: RIP Network
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Owen DeLong)
Thu May 15 14:59:20 2014
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: Owen DeLong <owen@delong.com>
In-Reply-To: <5374F6D3.9040408@vaxination.ca>
Date: Thu, 15 May 2014 11:27:31 -0700
To: Jean-Francois Mezei <jfmezei_nanog@vaxination.ca>
Cc: nanog@nanog.org
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
On May 15, 2014, at 10:18 AM, Jean-Francois Mezei =
<jfmezei_nanog@vaxination.ca> wrote:
> On 14-05-15 10:26, Owen DeLong wrote:
>> Choosing between Comcast and a legacy Telco is like choosing between =
legionnaire=92s disease and SARS.
>=20
> Twisted pair is certantly "legacy".
>=20
> Is there a feeling that coax cable/DOSCIS is also "legacy" in terms of
> current capacity/speeds ? Or is that technology still considered =
viable
> against FTTH ?
>=20
> I realise that business practices make north american incumbents
> undesirable compared to the rest of the world, especially Comcast's
> dirty tricks with Netflix as an example.
>=20
> But in terms of the last mile technology and wiring (for instance, =
homes
> per HFC node) sre north american cavlecos up to par with the rest of =
the
> world ?
I am not speaking specifically about any one company here.
In North America, very few places have any level of FTTH. If you are in =
a rural area with USF subsidies, you are more likely to have FTTH than =
many urban areas. Co-ax, or if you=92re somewhat lucky, HFC is about the =
best last mile technology available to most US subscribers.
In states where some city invested in municipal FTTH on an open-access =
basis, the incumbent $CABLECOS and $TELCOS have fought hard to push =
legislation making it illegal for other cities in the state to do the =
same.
The state of broadband networks in the US in general can best be =
described as pathetic and/or apathetic when it comes to the consumer=92s =
interest. Lilly Tomlin summed this up very well in a number of her early =
comedy sketches where she pretended to be a telephone company operator. =
Her catch phrase was =93We don=92t care. We don=92t have to. We=92re the =
phone company!=94
Further, it appears that several of the $CABLECOS and $TELCOS will =
actually attempt to quash their more vocal opponents by discussing =
public comments they make on a personal basis with said opponents =
employer and using them as a =93negotiating tactic=94. Personally, I =
think this is one of the most underhanded and lowest forms of an act of =
desperation to try and squash public debate. To be very clear=85 This =
statement is absolutely not targeted at any one company. There were =
several.
Owen
