Before I present the link to this article, I want to point out that this is NOT about AT&T or any specific incumbent broadband provider. Rather, this is an all-too common occurrence in rural America. Companies tell potential customers about available speeds, but once they look into the matter, it’s determined that the speeds aren’t available. Frankly, many companies don’t truly know what they can actually deliver until someone requests the service. Only then do they physically look into the infrastructure and determine what is available.
When AT&T promises broadband—but delivers only 300kbps
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/04/google-fiber-plans-expansion-then-twc-makes-speeds-six-times-faster/
“With Google Fiber preparing an expansion into Charlotte, North Carolina, incumbent cable operator Time Warner Cable is trying to hold onto customers by dramatically increasing Internet speeds at no extra charge.”
“..I intend to protect a free and open Internet, extend its reach to every classroom, and every community, and help folks build the fastest networks so that the next generation of digital innovators and entrepreneurs have the platform to keep reshaping our world.”
-President Obama, State of the Union, 2015
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/03/23/fact-sheet-next-steps-delivering-fast-affordable-broadband
http://www.fiercetelecom.com/special-reports/att-shentel-which-americas-cheapest-and-most-expensive-broadband-internet-p?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal#2
A driver of the transition the US broadband market is seeing is price. In this article Fierce Telecom examines pricing across the country. So, would you like to know which company is America’s cheapest (and most expensive) broadband service provider?
FCC Releases Order to Remove State Law Barriers in North Carolina and Tennessee in Response to Petitions from Wilson, NC and Chattanooga, TN.
As stated on the Baller and Herbst website, “In the attached Order, the Commission concluded that: ‘Tennessee and North Carolina laws are barriers to broadband infrastructure investment and that preemption will promote competition in the telecommunications market by removing statutory barriers to such competition. In other words, we find that removal of such barriers would likely result in more overall broadband investment and competition. … To put it plainly, the Commission has concluded that preemption of these restrictions will expand broadband investment and deployment, increase competition, and serve the public interest, as Section 706 intended.’ “