[Cialug] Iowa Telecom and Qwest

[Matthew Nuzum]

On Wed, 2007-04-04 at 13:08 -0500, Adk wrote:
> A little off subject but when will we ever catch up with the rest of the
> world? I was chatting with a friend in Ukraine yesterday. He now has 54MB
> (not a typo) up/down for $30/month with 30GB cap. Why are we being screwed
> in the US?
> 
> Allen

I don't think we're being screwed, I think that its just because here in
the US, and especially in the midwest, we have a lower population
density. This means the cost of infrastructure (wires/fiber) per
potential customer is higher. In markets where you have very high
population density, you have a lot more competitors, and that means the
competitors have to differentiate their service.

Now, ask yourself, what else can you get in the Ukraine for $30 per
month? A friend that I have living there rents a three bedroom apartment
for less than $200/mo. So, if the same flat here goes for $1000, that
means your friend is paying $150/mo for their 54Mb link. Still good, but
I've got better things to spend the $150/mo on. In SanFran, that apt
would be $2,000/mo, meaning the link costs $300/mo in SF$$.
-- 
Matthew Nuzum
newz2000 on freenode