Starlink

[lman]

I install fiber to the home 5 days a week 10 hours a day. It's not coming to Rural America anytime soon if ever. Not profitable in any way shape or form. From my perspective. Everyone wants it until you put a price tag on it and then they run and hide. A single installation can easily run $1000 that's in a Subdivision when the homes are stacked one on top of the other. So right off the bat your ROI is going to take 15 months to break even at $65 a month for gig service. If you don't think it costs that much think again

Fiber drop is between $200 and $500 depending on length
Cost to bury it will be $100 to $500 depending on length
Outside termination housing and ONT another $300
Router another $150
And you still haven't paid to roll the truck and pay my wages yet. Typical single family home is a 2 hour job easily. I'm sure the cost per hour for the tech and truck exceeds $100 an hour

It's not cheap

Our local electric co-op is installing fiber optic in rural areas here. They ran it in front of my place a couple of months ago and it should be available to run to my house by the end of the year. They also got federal assistance. The only other option was slow Centurylink dsl. Ironically, Centurylink also got federal assistance and made some minor updates that did not increase the speed. I guess that federal money went in somebody's pocket with no improvements.

 

[kcflhrc]

I would say unless you know the facts or have first hand knowledge of how the CAF Project is funded I would reserve comment on where and how the money is spent. Here is a good ready. Notice that the CAF project covers voice service also not just broadband.

Connect America Fund Phase II FAQS | Federal Communications Commission

 

[lman]

I talked to a Centurylink contractor when they were working on installing a node down the road and he told me that it was part of the CAF project and that my speed would increase. When the project was complete my available speed did not increase and my ping actually increased. In my personal experience there was no improvement after Centurylink received tax dollars so it seems kind of like fraud. I will not reserve comment on these facts. Thankfully our local co-op is filling in the deficiencies of Centurylink by installing fiber.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Ok it's expensive _now_ . But the TVA that brought power to parts of Appalachia was also.
What would be the cost/household in a city like NY, Chicago, Denver, Portland? More?, Less? And couldn't it be a national infrastructure initiative? Put out-of-work citizenery to work earning weekly pay.

TVA helped reverse the Great Depression in West KY and the region by building the KY Lake Dam. While our KW cost in my lifetime has risen from less that one cent to just over ten cents yet my cost per mile of travel is still less than 3 cents in the Leaf.

 

[rekees4300]

Musk'''s satellite project testing encrypted internet with military planes | Reutersr

Perhaps some do not realize Starlink is foremost a fast and encrypted military project. The testing for the Air Force started at least one year ago.

That article was written 10/22/19. "SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell said on Tuesday. "Right now we're just testing the capability and figuring out how to make it work.""

The Starlink project has progressed dramatically in the past year. It is not a military project. Its mission is to bring Internet access to 4 billion people on Earth who currently have no access.

 

[lman]

I would say unless you know the facts or have first hand knowledge of how the CAF Project is funded I would reserve comment on where and how the money is spent. Here is a good ready. Notice that the CAF project covers voice service also not just broadband.

Connect America Fund Phase II FAQS | Federal Communications Commission

You might want to check this out.
A Huge FCC Giveaway | POTs and PANs

 

[arizona98tj]

4 billion people on Earth don't have any Internet access. Starlink's mission is to remedy that problem. If successful the consequences will be dramatic.

If you thought it was bad now, wait until those 4 billion get internet access.....

"Hello, my name is Bob. I'm calling from Microsoft tech support. We've found a virus on your computer. We need to remove it or else all those baby and pet photos will disappear. Please provide me with your credit card information so I can help you."

 

[arizona98tj]

Our local electric co-op is installing fiber optic in rural areas here. They ran it in front of my place a couple of months ago and it should be available to run to my house by the end of the year. They also got federal assistance. The only other option was slow Centurylink dsl. Ironically, Centurylink also got federal assistance and made some minor updates that did not increase the speed. I guess that federal money went in somebody's pocket with no improvements.

I retired and built a new house 5 years ago. At that time, my communications co-op was rolling out fiber service. They were offering 256Mb, 500Mb, and 1Gb service. I opted for the 256Mb which is still $60 a month.

I just did a speed check on it. With one video stream running as I checked the speed, this is what I got. Not bad for living out in the rural boonies in northern Minnesota. Our co-op has always been pretty good with getting technology pushed out to its members.

 

[lman]

I'm looking forward to similar service soon.

 

[rekees4300]

If you thought it was bad now, wait until those 4 billion get internet access.....

"Hello, my name is Bob. I'm calling from Microsoft tech support. We've found a virus on your computer. We need to remove it or else all those baby and pet photos will disappear. Please provide me with your credit card information so I can help you."

Yeah... "Bob" will actually be in Nigeria!