[Pdx-pm] FIOS (was Re: Instance hash ( keyed array ))

[Michael G Schwern]

Charles Radley wrote:
> FIOS recently became available on my street (on Bull Mountain).  But I have
> had comcast cable broadband for 4 years which is plenty for my needs.  If I
> switch to FIOS I would lose my comcast email address and free web space.
> And FIOS is slightly more expensive than cable.
> 
> I cannot think of any reason for me to switch right now.
> 
> I am not sure why anyone would need that much bandwidth, unless they were
> running a server farm.

Years and years ago I had arguments on BBS' about how 2400 baud was plenty for anyone and you didn't need a 9600 baud modem because it was faster than you could read. ;)

Give me bandwidth and I'll expand my usage to fill it.


> If FIOS begins to offer video on demand and cable channel content, then I
> could justify the switch, but right now I get all of that on cable.

They do.  They also do VOIP.  The only real downside is that since FIOS requires power if you lose power you lose your phone.  There's a 4-8 hour backup battery.


> It is puzzling why Verizon chose to put FIOS into a market which is already
> saturated with Comcast cable.  Perhaps they are targeting DSL users, but DSL
> was so slow coming to this area that Comcast cable got in ahead of it.

The investment is huge (I've seen numbers around $500-$1000 per house) but copper is reaching its limit.  Fiber is just getting started.  If they pull it off they'll have a huge head start on everyone else.  So its a long term infrastructure investment.  It also means they can offer Internet, TV and phone and compete with the cable companies which are offering the same thing.