Bill:
There might be some misunderstanding when you read my post. I referred to ILEC DSL pricing not CLEC IDSL pricing.
As you probably know, IDSL does not compete with cable. Its purpose is to provide current IDSN users with a dedicated connection requiring no dial-up, with a minimum pop in bandwidth up to 144Kbps.
DSL,OTOH, does compete with cable. And ILEC pricing, now established at $49.95/mo for 12/mo, which includes the line as well as the Internet access, competes with the cable pricing -- at least in my area, & that what you have to look at.
CTYA, recently merged with ADLAC, holds the franchises for LA's Westside. Their plant upgrade is underway with first rollout due by this summer in S. Monica. Pricing will be $44.95/mo, $34.95/mo if you're a cable subscriber. But one also needs to consider the additional cost of dial-up access when not at home.
Cable throughput you referred to is misleading. It is shared by every subscriber on the same node. Expect to share the cable pipe with 500-1000 users. During prime time your throughput could actually drop to dial-up speeds. With DSL, its your pipe; its your own private road to the Internet backbone.
Cable will offer the FIRST subcribers the highest QoS. But has the upgraded plant is fully built out, users will increase & QoS is bound to drop -- significantly.
Cable or DSL? The choice is yours. And I wouldn't let $10-15/mo variance influence my decision -- but that's me. |
