My internet and cable situation is about to improve!!!

[coopasonic]

[The Meal]

Third fastest in the US

[The Meal]

And now with Cat-6 cables from the optical network terminal to my PC (through one router and one switch):

Just had a tech out here to clean some connections (I was down to dialup speed on Sunday -- which was bad timing as I was in the middle of an online poker tournament at the time...)

[Smoove_B]

Hello Chattanooga!

It took seven years, but magically once Comcast had competition suddenly it made financial sense for them to offer fiber optic cable services. Funny that.

Comcast has charged a whopping $399.95 a month for its existing 505Mbps service but says it will charge less for the 2Gbps plan, which it intends to roll out to 18 million homes nationwide by the end of this year.

Comcast had little interest in upgrading its Chattanooga network when it faced no real competition. "I think we would have welcomed the incumbents to come into town and to have done some of this work, but frankly no one was interested in doing it," EPB communications VP Danna Bailey told Ars long before Comcast announced its fiber intentions.

And the EPB thing mentioned at the start of this thread:

EPB still faced another complication after fending off Comcast's lawsuit, in the form of a Tennessee state law that prevents it from expanding outside its electric service area, even though surrounding communities have requested Internet service. The law protects Internet providers from competition, but EPB petitioned the Federal Communications Commission to preempt that state law and won its case in February.

[RunningMn9]

An update on the Tennessee case:

Tennessee Defends States' Rights to Limit Municipal Broadband

I wonder if the powers that be in TN realize how terrible it sounds that they are complaining that the FCC shouldn't be allowed to stop them from limiting the rights of their citizens to have acceptable broadband internet.

[Daehawk]

They're a bunch of idiots is what they are. And those 'laws' they like to uphold were actually written or co written by big cable themselves. Idiots they are. They do nothing but hurt us. We are still trying . Im fairly sure these things they call 'laws' will be done with in the future..but how soon is anyones guess. They've gone so far as to sue the FCC I think. Sigh.

[LordMortis]

An update on the Tennessee case:

Tennessee Defends States' Rights to Limit Municipal Broadband

I wonder if the powers that be in TN realize how terrible it sounds that they are complaining that the FCC shouldn't be allowed to stop them from limiting the rights of their citizens to have acceptable broadband internet.

From the comments section

Why is it that whenever states proclaim "States' Rights", it's so that it can restrict the rights of others in said state?

Sure seems like the truth, dudn't it?

[Daehawk]

I like what this one citizen wrote,....

The United States *invented* the internet back in the 60's. Today, thanks to idiotic laws like Tennessee has, our state is rated 36th out of 50 for speed, and due to similar bad laws in other states and at the federal level our country is rated 27th in the world for speed, behind several of the former Soviet Bloc countries.

In the 21st Century, good-paying jobs will go where the Internet is, just like good-paying jobs in the 20th century went where electricity was. If commercial ISP's like Comcast, Charter, and AT&T refuse to provide decent service, why do we prevent municipalities and electric co-ops from doing it for their constitutents?

(And if we require hairdressers to pass tests so their ignorance won't harm their customers, why can't we require elected politicians to pass freshman economics with a B or higher for the same reason?)

[Daehawk]

Well now EPB is rolling out 10 gig residential serve for $299 a month.

http://www.newschannel9.com/news/top-st ... 1249.shtml

Nutz I tellz ya.

[dbt1949]

I was having problems with my internet being slow and intermittent. So my internet provider dropped my speed down a tier and now it's three times as fast.
Seem the broadcast for the upper tier was too far away making it fucked up.
At least now I'll being paying less too.

[Daehawk]

Wow nice.

[stessier]

Seems as good a place as any for this:

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday approved a new rule that would allow consumers to swap cable set-top boxes for less expensive devices in a blow to major cable operators.

**********

Under the rule, makers of alternate devices like Apple TV and TiVo platforms will gain access to cable and satellite programs. Most consumers currently pay large cable companies for their boxes at an average lease cost of more than $200 per year, according to Reuters.

I don't know how cable companies argue this is going to hurt consumers.

[Isgrimnur]

Because they're going to do it. One look no further than the CableCard debacle.

[Daehawk]

If only......................................

[Daehawk]

FUCK. By a 5-3 vote the bill died before even reaching the rest of the sons of bitches in office...or I should say in the pocket of AT&T and Comcast if not Charter too. Bastards. I 'almost' wish they'd all fall dead so new people could get in office across state and country. I suppose it would be better and more cruel if they went to prison. We had big gains in support and online and such but even if everyone in the state wanted the lawful expansion of municipal broadband we'd lose because it wouldn't out shine the cash going into shitheads pockets. Bastards one and all.

Yet ANOTHER full year before they can shit on us again. "Lets see...our citizens can get faster broadband and get it cheaper? Fuck them Im getting money from the big guys"

[Smoove_B]

....meanwhile I'm struggling with 5 Mb/s for $80+ a month.

[Daehawk]

Probably can thank your state gov.

[Smoove_B]

State and local, but yes. F them all and their nonsense.

[gbasden]

State and local, but yes. F them all and their nonsense.

I will say that other than a good school district, quality internet was the #1 criteria for where we bought our house. We chose this particular development because they were putting in fiber, and that has paid huge dividends. Of course, I live in a state that still invests in infrastructure and where ISPs other than cable and telecom giants still exist.

[Isgrimnur]

Consumerist

When cable and telecom companies go through the effort of writing anti-consumer legislation for states, they can later be counted on to lobby to keep those laws in place when challenged. Case in point: Lobbyists for Comcast and AT&T recently helped kill a small piece of legislation in Tennessee that would have allowed a city-run utility to expand the reach of its broadband service.
...
State representative Kevin Brooks recently introduced legislation [PDF] originally intended to revise these state regulations to allow utilities to allow muni broadband providers to expand beyond their existing utility area into communities that want the service.

But, reports the Times Free Press, the pushback from lobbyists for Comcast and AT&T — both of whom have recently launched gigabit broadband efforts in the state — was so harsh that even when Brooks tried to introduce an amendment that would only allow a single test demonstration program, it still couldn’t get the approval of the state house’s Business and Utilities Subcommittee.
...
Additionally, one of the five committee members — Patsy Hazlewood — who voted against Brooks’ amendment is a retired AT&T executive. No potential conflict of interest there.
...
Last year, Chattanooga’s city-run EPB utility — which can provide data speeds of up to ten times that of Google Fiber to some customers — successfully petitioned the FCC to overturn Tennessee’s restrictive laws, but the state has petitioned the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down the FCC order, claiming the agency overstepped its authority. Oral arguments in that matter are slated for tomorrow.

Technically speaking, the FCC order is still in effect, meaning EPB and other muni broadband providers could expand to communities outside their electric service footprint. But it makes more sense for the utilities to await the outcome of the state’s appeal before they begin sinking time and resources into building out their networks.

[Daehawk]

God forbid US citizens have any free will or rights when lawmakers make money. Better to give them what they dont want or need than the opposite.