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Re: Comcast bumps up speed for home-Internet users [telecom]

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> Jon Swartz, writing in USA TODAY [April 14, 2011] wrote:
>
> The service delivers data at 105 megabits per second - more than 60
> times faster than a T-1 line, which most businesses rely on, Comcast says.
>

Comcast has been comparing their basic business package to T1 service in 
their radio ads for a while now.  I have always found it to be an 
"apples to oranges" comparison, because most businesses that I know who 
have a T1 use it for phone service - as it was intended.

Some companies have a dynamic data service T1 or similar connection type 
that is also used for internet access, but that is usually part of a 
hosted VoIP package intended to replace centrex.

And just to be a total semantic PITA [something I do often], bitrate is 
not the same thing as speed: Speed is a measure of how long it takes to 
get from point A to point B, which is quantified as latency.  Latency in 
packet networks is measured in milliseconds, whereas on a T1 or other 
SDH pipe it is measured in microseconds.

That said, it is true that virtually everyone uses the term "fast" to 
mean "high bitrate," so Comcast is only speaking the language of the 
land, and one can't fault them for that.  However, it would make more 
sense to compare their new offering to similar offerings in urban and 
suburban areas from other providers, such as metro ethernet service at 
100 Mbps.  In some urban areas, the big telecom players are rolling out 
metro ethernet offerings at even higher bitrates than that.

Jim
**************************************************
Speaking from a secure undisclosed location.

***** Moderator's Note *****

At least in this state, many companies go to a Competive Local
Exchange Carrier (CLEC), and order a "T1" line for both their phone
circuits and for data. It seems there is a "tariff niche" which
specifies a discounted rate for T1 lines whenever they are used for
voice traffic, so those companies get data connections at a fraction
of the rate that would be charged for T1 circuits if they were used
only for data.

Bill Horne
Moderator

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Thread

Comcast bumps up speed for home-Internet users [telecom] Neal McLain <nmclain@annsgarden.com> - 2011-04-14 10:51 -0500
  Re: Comcast bumps up speed for home-Internet users [telecom] Jim Bennett <ajbcommconsulting@frontier.com> - 2011-04-15 00:15 -0400
    Re: Comcast bumps up speed for home-Internet users [telecom] Koos van den Hout <koos+newsposting@kzdoos.xs4all.nl> - 2011-04-15 13:35 +0000
      Re: Comcast bumps up speed for home-Internet users [telecom] Doug McIntyre <merlyn@geeks.org> - 2011-04-15 15:22 +0000
  Re: Comcast bumps up speed for home-Internet users [telecom] kludge@panix.com (Scott Dorsey) - 2011-04-15 12:02 -0400

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