• PeterPoopshit@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    53
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    How the fuck can they not compete with 5G? Is using the advantages of their wired infrastructure to just provide customers with the same service as always but without the bandwidth caps, effectively overcoming the 1 major disadvantage of mobile internet, really that hard?

    • Socsa@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      35
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      9 months ago

      Cable definitely does have a capacity and speed advantage over 5G in most cases. But 5G is plenty fast and reliable for most people these days, and it’s cheaper because there is no last mile maintenance. T-Mobile doesn’t need to repair a bunch of decades old coax line every time the wind blows.

      • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        46
        ·
        9 months ago

        Perhaps they should have invested in infrastructure with the government handouts they were given to do so?

        • Ech@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          24
          ·
          9 months ago

          They spent it all blocking access to the fiber lines that are already there and padding the wallets of their execs.

      • ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        9 months ago

        I’ve seen that last mile, you’re lucky if the cable is buried more than one shovel length down. It’s the tech equivalent of the porn trope of using spit for lube.

        • TimeSquirrel@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          9 months ago

          Depends on where you live. Here in the city I live, the last mile is in underground conduit next to power, water, and sewer lines. It transitions to pole-mounted at the suburbs.

      • Psythik@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        I get 1600Mbps down, 180 up on my 5G home internet (for $60/mo). The fastest cable can offer here is 600 down, 30 up (for $120/mo).

        So yeah, I’d say 5G is fast enough for most people. It maxes out my ethernet ports. I have to use wifi to hit my bandwidth cap. Eventually I will upgrade to 2.5G ethernet.

    • ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      9 months ago

      How the fuck can they not compete with 5G?

      According to the article, for the last few decades the cable and telecommunications companies have avoided upgrading infrastructure to increase profit margins, while wireless companies have been building and upgrading towers like mad. Wireless companies have also successfully lobbied to gobble up a bunch of frequency allocation to increase their bandwidth.

    • Default_Defect@midwest.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      9 months ago

      5g is by far the best option in my shitty small town in Iowa. The two wired options are more than twice as expensive for less than half of the speed.