Disqus
Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to test out DNA Finland’s 4G LTE network before it was launched to the public. In short, I absolutely fell in love with the kind of speeds I was seeing. With just a bar or two of signal in my home office (read: the kitchen table) I was pulling 40 megabits down consistently. That got me thinking, why do companies bother digging up roads to install fiber or fresh copper wires when they could just give people a little USB modem or better yet a dedicated router that has 4G LTE connectivity built-in? Apparently 6.05 million American households think the same thing according to Strategy Analytics. Ben Piper, Director of the Service Provider Strategies Program at the analyst firm says:
We see two parallel markets for ‘Mobile Only’ in the US: users in remote or underserved areas where dependable fixed broadband is unavailable, and cost-conscious casual users, who are unlikely to exceed imposed data caps, and for whom mobile data rates are “good enough.”
If 6.05 million Americans, which is more than the population of Finland or the population of the state of Missouri, think that what’s being offered today is “good enough”, then why don’t operators invest more into their networks and push people to become cord cutters? If Verizon can offer at least 15 megabits per second down over LTE, that’s more than enough for TV and web browsing at home. People who have 50 megabit per second cable or fiber are probably screaming right now, but let’s be honest, you love your fat pipe because you love pirating stuff off the internet.
What do you think, should landline operators bother laying down new cables or should they partner with operators somehow and push them to invest in state of the art wireless equipment?
[Via: Textually]
About The Author
Stefan Constantinescu
Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.
