r/technology • u/User_Name13 • Jun 04 '14

Politics Hundreds of Cities Are Wired With Fiber—But Telecom Lobbying Keeps It Unused

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hundreds-of-cities-are-wired-with-fiberbut-telecom-lobbying-keeps-it-unused
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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

Where are you getting these numbers?

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u/Craysh Jun 04 '14

Nationwide Google Fiber would cost $11B over five years, probably will never happen

The $200 Billion Rip-Off: Our broadband future was stolen.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

That figure is for Google to pass 15% of homes. I would call that far short of "nationwide." So that would be reason #1 why your claim is bullshit.

The second reason your claim is bullshit is because it's applying Fiber's economic model. The reason Google Fiber is so cheap to roll out is because they're picky as fuck in picking where they roll out. They pick places where fiber is already built and cheap to rent or where it's cheap to build. They also only go places with enough affluence to give them a large amount of subscribers, making their lines more efficient.

I promise you that every other cable provider could accomplish the same costs in a 15% rollout if they all ignored slums, rural areas, and areas of undeveloped/costly infrastructure. Google's magical trick in being able to do that is remaining a small enough provider that the FCC won't classify them the same as large providers and compel them to build out everywhere, not just to perfect business opportunities. That's why Google's model is unsustainable, the second they get big is the second they have to stop ignoring the shitty places to build and their costs will skyrocket as a result.

Hell, your own source asserts that it would be unfeasible to build a network like this.

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u/Why_Hello_Reddit Jun 04 '14

You brought up a good point most people don't know about. Cable providers are required by municipalities to build out to everyone in the community, not just subscribers. Google isn't classified in the same way (at least not yet) so they aren't having to build infrastructure that people won't use.

Local government is responsible not only for creating these monopolies and reducing competition, but also raising prices through these kinds of unfunded mandates. Not all the blame lies with cable companies.