Originally posted by Eagler
It's going to be the cable companies or the telephone.
Which is the lesser of the two evils? 
Uh,..it is a toss up. But if I were a betting man, the cable companies are going to lose. All of them are bleeding red ink in thier ISP operations. Unlike @home though, they will not sit still for it.
I know Charter is talking about raising thier price again.
Here's a question for you Eagler, when was the last time your cable price dropped?
Or one doing both.
If it goes that way, the phone companies would be the winners for sure. Cable companies cannot and will not be able to offer phone calls over thier system, as they cannot pass the current FCC regulations for QOS.
To do so would require billions to be invested and basically duplicate the current phone companies infrastructure.
Who has fiber optic closer to the home now?
Actually, the phone companies have more fiber in the ground they are not using than the cable companies have in total use. My neighborhood has no fiber from the cable company, and many still do not.
Me thinks as soon as an affordable fiber to home connection is available, whoever has the fiber to the home will win out.
It is not about the medium though. It is about the service. Current cable operations cannot meet QOS. To do so, would require more money than they have.
Uhmmm,..I have assumed people know what QOS is. Let me explain. In its simplest form, if one house loses its phone service in a neighborhood, other homes would continue to operate.
Cable companies place one cable for many homes and thus if this cable is damaged, or needs to be replaced, a whole block of homes are without service.
This situation is not allowed by law for phone service.
Also, repair times are very regulated for phone service. Cable repair times are not regulated. The cable companies would go bankrupt trying to hire and train enough staff to deal with repair times measured in hours.
Whoever tries charging for broadband by the bandwidth would quickly see the demise of its convience. They need to push for the growth of its availability now and for a while until the numbers btwn dialup and broadband have reversed themselves.
Eagler, you are not seeing the big picture here. Anyone and everyone would be paying for usage over boradband if this is passed by the FCC. The phone companies could care less if you drop off the service. This is a way to kill the cable ISP's and the independent ISP's, which allows the phone company to control the Internet.
The fastest way for the phone companies to grow thier subscriber base is to find a way to shut down all competing services. That is the goal, and you need to realize it. I am not being paranoid here. Look at the amount of money being tossed at bills that give the phone companies absolute control over the phone network. At last count it was over $90M U.S.
They do not throw that kind of money at politicians just to save other companies.
I see it getting cheaper with advertising of various means making up the difference.
They, marketing, want to know your interests and market you accordingly.
Advertisers are pulling out in whoesale quantities from advertising on the Internet. They have finally become aware there is no return on the investment. Sure some still do it, but not many, and the return is getting less and less for those that do it.
No one today will build a business plan based on advertising dollars being a significant portion of thier revenue. Many companies have already proven it is a bad way to generate revenue.
Eagler, understand, I am not attacking you personally, but I am concerned that many people have the same attitude and thought process. This only serves to strengthen the telephone companies strategy to control the Internet. Apathy is very dangerous and the phone companies know most people are apathetic.
