On 9/14/2010 4:02 PM, Nathan Eisenberg wrote:
The consumers are saying "I want faster, as long as I don't have to pay more." Content providers are saying, "If consumers had faster, I'd be able to invent 'Killer App'. I sure wish the ISPs would upgrade their networks." ISPs are saying, "Why should we upgrade our networks, nobody is willing to pay us to do so."
Find me an ISP that is asking why they should upgrade their network if no one is going to pay them to do so. From a business perspective, this is a ludicrous claim. The answer is simple: because your competitors are upgrading their networks RIGHT NOW, and your customers will use them instead if you make them wait too long.
There's no deadlock. Content providers that truly have a next generation product that modern broadband isn't good enough for are stuck, like anyone else who invents something that existing infrastructure can't support. Inventing a bizarre service prioritization model doesn't solve the infrastructure problem.
I don't see much competition from here. What I am seeing is a bunch of ISPs sitting on their hands waiting for the Feds to unlock the USF for broadband, or some other form of mana from heaven. -- Dave