NYCPHP Meetup

[David Krings]

Mitch Pirtle wrote:
> Was getting a ride from a guy who owned a communications services
> company, and we discussed megabit services in Brooklyn. He mentioned
> that Brooklyn was notorious for having totally substandard wiring
> running down poles between all the houses and buildings, and that it
> was a logistics nightmare for Verizon to manage making upgrades nearly
> impossible - and the result is that pretty much nobody in the city can
> get more than typical 1.5MBps DSL. Better chances for faster service
> in Cambodia.

That is the part that I still don't get as a foreigner. Why is most of the 
infrastructure here in the US in such a bad state? I can see nailing wires to 
poles like Edison did it in the remote, rural areas, but in Brooklyn?? Why 
isn't all wiring underground where it won't come down during the slightest 
storm? And why do all the streets have more potholes than markings when the 
entire US economy is built around individual traffic and trucking everything 
across the country, although using rail is so much more efficient....but the 
rail lines are in horrible shape as well. Last week I heard that one third of 
the NYC sewer system is from the 1850s, while the rest is mainly from the 
1930s, and all parts are crumbling. And why do US schools spend more than 
twice per student compared to schools in Europe, but get results that are 
noticably worse? I don't say there is no (good) reason for all that, I just 
can't figure out which one that could be.
UTP doesn't have the bandwith like coax does, but in the biggest economy in 
the world (maybe second by now behind China) the question should be from which 
of the five competitors do I buy fiber service. I agree that chances for 
faster service may be better in Cambodia, but it shows that deregulating the 
markets for the benefit of the consumers just turned out to be a whole bunch 
of blahblah.

That said, I like what TWC has to offer...if it works. I do need to point out 
that their support just plain sucks, yet it is still better than Verizon's.

Enough of the mid day rant.... ;)

David