The Future is Fiber (until that too becomes the outmoded)

I recently upgraded to 15 MBPS from 4 MBPS (download speed). The difference is nontrivial and I have come to expect this quality of service. Unfortunately my upload speed is still a lethargic 0.75 MBPS. Ever tried uploading 1Gb to youtube at 0.75? zzzZZZzzz. (You can take a nap or have a coffee in the interim…).

The provider is encumbered by aged coax lines in the city but is unmotivated to install fiber to my door. I don't mean last mile fiber, I mean a fiber backbone.

At this rate by the time my ISP installs such a network it will be outmoded and I'll want something better. In the meantime I want SYMMETRIC throughput. I want the reform bill to require my ISP to disclose their traffic management policies and I want Deep Packet Inspection to be regulated.

Comments

saneconsulting — 2010–05–18 20:33:36 EDT wrote

I completely agree with Greg that the UPLOAD capacity is a MAJOR obstacle to efficiency and productivity.

I also completely agree that FIBRE is the future. And our major providers are encumbered with coax (Shaw/Rogers) and copper (Telus/Bell).

Where I disagree is that in most areas we do not require more fibre backbone. Most if not all the major providers already have fibre backbones into and around our communities. For example, a typical DOCSIS v2 network uses fibre feeders into our neighborhood and in turn deliver data services over COAX for the last mile to the customers premise typically the Cable Providers (Shaw/Rogers etc.) have as many as 2000 customers per fibre node. The newer generation of gear (DOCSIS v3) reduces this number to 500 customers per fibre node which allows the provider to deliver better speeds.

Indeed a significant part of the problem is the last mile is NOT yet fibre… and the existing providers have such a large investment in coax and copper that they really have no incentive to make their sunk investments obsolete by installing fibre to the premise.

The other part of the problem that Greg alluded to is the traffic management policies of the incumbent providers. Frequently these policies are NOT made public and the ASYMMETRIC nature of the traffic management policies of the incumbent communication providers are structured such that they prevent Canadians from being providers of content!

Fortunately we have the CRTC to provide a regulatory regime that is supposed to prevent abuses of market power by the incumbent providers…. as many of you are probably already aware, the incumbents don't always follow the rules and as a result the CRTC is largely ineffective and in fact is often an obstacle to the creation of new providers that could help provide competition that can keep market forces in check.

SimonRuggier — 2010–07–03 02:36:24 EDT wrote

I'd guess that fibre will have a lot of staying power when installed in last mile connections, since it is probably hard to outdo a cable that just directly transmits light. There should be a lot of room for technological advancement without needing to replace the fiber optic cables themselves.