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Competition works when regulators let it -- Comcast is doubling speeds; adding new superfast tiers
Submitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2008-10-22 18:06
The professional complainers who assert there is little broadband competition, or that the U.S. is falling behind on broadband, will no doubt ignore the indisputable facts -- that Comcast just announced major speed upgrades for most of its users and a new set of superfast or wideband tiers for high-end users.
The Comcast DCOSIS 3.0 upgrade will "enable Comcast to double speeds for the majority of existing high-speed customers at no additional cost."
Comcast will now offer an Extreme tier, of up to 50 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream for $139.95/month and an Ultra tier, of up to 22 Mbps downstream and 5 Mps upstream for $62.95/month. Bottom line: Competition not regulation best meets the diverse and changing needs and wants of today's customers. Customers who want even more than doubled speed at no extra cost, can get even more by paying a little more.
The reason that net neutrality supporters are so threatened by competition policy and the real world success of competition meeting the needs of consumers -- is that competition better serves consumers than their one-tier regulated vision of the Internet ever could. Oh how net neutrality supporters hate the facts and benefits of competitive markets! They know they can't compete! |