Comments on: US will have 62 percent broadband penetration by 2010

By: Jesse Kopelman

Jesse Kopelman — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 22:43:18 +0000

Estragon is correct. Om, in the rural US a T1 still costs $1,500 a month and your only alternative is some mom and pop fixed wireless concern that is a bargain at $90/month. The whole “last mile” thing has become something of a misnomer. There is about 25% of the population that live more than a mile away from the edge of current network. It also just so happens that these people, who it will cost a lot of money to build the network out to reach, tend not to match the profile corporate accountants have developed for ideal broadband customers.

By: Estragon

Estragon — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 17:51:30 +0000

But the rural broadband problem isn’t price as much as availability. It’s going to take an enormous price decline to make a T1 line affordable to the residential user.

By: Om Malik

Om Malik — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 04:57:19 +0000

given the price declines in recent months and continuing trend towards that, it is pretty clear that dial-up is going the way of my beloved yankees… down down down

By: Estragon

Estragon — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 04:46:00 +0000

That’s great if you are in one of the 71 million households. How many will still be using dialup because it is the only affordable option?