100 Million Prime members (disclosure: I'm one.)

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I last renewed my Prime membership May 6. Today I see at Amazon's website that my next renewal is scheduled for June 6. I spoke with an Amazon rep, and apparently I am getting a month free! Anybody else?

I'm not

[SteveEisenberg]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Crooked politicians working hand-in-hand with greedy corporations.

Well, I'll say one thing about bribing Comast to expand in Philadelphia. It's brought us a heck of a lot more jobs than comparable bribery paid to the Eagles and Phillies.

And, personally, I don't feel it is quite fair to call them crooked and greedy when what both the bribers and bribed are doing is non-violent, perfectly legal, and generally and on balance, popular.

Having said that, I wish it was unpopular. As part of regulating interstate commerce, Congress should pass laws against state and local governments bidding against each other to bring in, and retain, businesses.

I suppose that when you call it crooked, and I say it's merely legalized bribery, we aren't far apart.

[fjtorres]

Those wired monopolies are going to get seriously challenged over the next decade by 5G wireless. That is the reason why ATT and Comcast are buying content producers now. The value of the pipe monopolies is going to decline as more people bypass them.

It won't be today or tomorrow but it does start this year.
And it won't be cheap right away. But once it gets going it'll look a lot like current 4G LTE broadband but much, much faster and the competition will get plenty fierce.

Here:

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/5g-netwo...re-the-basics/


https://www.cnet.com/news/5g-super-s...like-mwc-2018/

I've recently had the need/opportunity to live off a 4G LTE broadband router part-time and have found that it can be an adequate cable internet replacement but, at least in this area at this time, service quality varies a lot, ranging from a high of 30Mbps (yay) to lows in the 1Mbps range depending on time of day. Factor in the speed and capacity boosts from 5G and things will get interesting.

Based on that, I'm mildly hopeful that the days of the broadband monopolies are numbered.

Where there is a need, there is money to be made and ways will be found around the entrenched establishment, whether it big cablecos or big publishing houses.

[John F]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Those wired monopolies are going to get seriously challenged over the next decade by 5G wireless. That is the reason why ATT and Comcast are buying content producers now. The value of the pipe monopolies is going to decline as more people bypass them.

It won't be today or tomorrow but it does start this year.
And it won't be cheap right away. But once it gets going it'll look a lot like current 4G LTE broadband but much, much faster and the competition will get plenty fierce.

Here:

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/5g-netwo...re-the-basics/


https://www.cnet.com/news/5g-super-s...like-mwc-2018/

I've recently had the need/opportunity to live off a 4G LTE broadband router part-time and have found that it can be an adequate cable internet replacement but, at least in this area at this time, service quality varies a lot, ranging from a high of 30Mbps (yay) to lows in the 1Mbps range depending on time of day. Factor in the speed and capacity boosts from 5G and things will get interesting.

Based on that, I'm mildly hopeful that the days of the broadband monopolies are numbered.

Where there is a need, there is money to be made and ways will be found around the entrenched establishment, whether it big cablecos or big publishing houses.

I'm hoping the 5G would replace cable for internet, but is it doable? I find that 4G would be fine for me as far as speed, it is the capping/pricing that is the killer. Will 5G allow for true no capping with a low price point?

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by John F

I'm hoping the 5G would replace cable for internet, but is it doable? I find that 4G would be fine for me as far as speed, it is the capping/pricing that is the killer. Will 5G allow for true no capping with a low price point?

It depends on the supplier.
There are places where you can get no- cap 4G LTE in the $30-50 depending on whether it is by contract or pay-as-you go.
The one I have is the latter. No cap no throttling.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

Those wired monopolies are going to get seriously challenged over the next decade by 5G wireless. That is the reason why ATT and Comcast are buying content producers now. The value of the pipe monopolies is going to decline as more people bypass them.

So we'll move from the vicious monopolies of ATT and Comcast to the benevolent arms of ATT and Verizon?

[John F]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It depends on the supplier.
There are places where you can get no- cap 4G LTE in the $30-50 depending on whether it is by contract or pay-as-you go.
The one I have is the latter. No cap no throttling.

I guess my question is, can the carriers handle everyone going to 5G speeds, or is there some limit/bottleneck in the tech that would prevent most customers using it for their primary internet provider. For example, I probably go through 600GB a month, if everyone did that, could the 5G network handle it (never mind the wired/backbone (or whatever it is called) part, just the 5G part)?

Thanks*.


*I'm too lazy to do the research myself.

[GlenBarrington]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

So we'll move from the vicious monopolies of ATT and Comcast to the benevolent arms of ATT and Verizon?

It's HEAVEN you are describing! I can't wait! They only have our best interests at heart!

[DiapDealer]

It's only the transition period between regime changes that customers will find a bit of freedom and value. Once the new regime becomes entrenched, it will be back to business as usual: very little choice, one price, and non-spectacular service.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by John F

I guess my question is, can the carriers handle everyone going to 5G speeds, or is there some limit/bottleneck in the tech that would prevent most customers using it for their primary internet provider. For example, I probably go through 600GB a month, if everyone did that, could the 5G network handle it (never mind the wired/backbone (or whatever it is called) part, just the 5G part)?

Thanks*.


*I'm too lazy to do the research myself.

With the caveat that 5G is, as the CNET article explains, a combination of services, the answer would be yes. However, it would probably be high latency.

The way 5G is described there will be a mix of channels. Some will be low volume ultra low latency for real-time interaction while others will be high volume high latency. Some will be long distance, some very short.
Each provider will get to pick what services they offer and price according to the market. One size will not fit all. And that is why net neutrality is counter-indicated for 5G: not all services require the same capabilities so segregating the traffic makes more sense. Some functions, like telemedicine, really do require privileged treatment.

So, for example, a provider focused on video streaming services could use cheap high bandwidth but short range channels and a specialty provider focused on autonomous long range trucks would need expensive low latency very long range channels but not massive bandwidth.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

So we'll move from the vicious monopolies of ATT and Comcast to the benevolent arms of ATT and Verizon?

If that's your choice.
There's lots of smaller regional cellular service providers out there.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List...vice_providers

Also, the transition to 5G will allow new players to jump in.

We already know that SpaceX is looking to build a satellite-based system to help fund their Mars colony and Facebook and Google are providing internet access in some locations. (Google fiber failed because last mile fiber is labor intensive and thus expensive. Each customer hook up costs money. Wireless isn't.)

5G deployment is a matter of attaching new transmitters to existing cell phone towers or atop existing buildings. Or atop highway light poles.

Wouldn't surprise me to see the big tech players jumping in to the game.
(Amazon 5G would be one way to get into the phone business. And Bezos loves vertical integration...)

There is even serious thought being given to governments building national 5G networks (akin to the interstate road network) and leasing bandwidth to all comers.

https://www.cnet.com/news/trump-offi...ed-5g-network/

https://www.cnet.com/news/trumps-cra...curity-threat/

So no, don't expect the existing 900lb gorillas to continue being dominant in the 5G world. It's not a given.

5G is not an incremental tweak of existing communications but rather a true disruptive jump to "everything on ip" and the "Internet of things". It'll take time but by the time the transition is over the world will literally be a very different place.

Again: look to the news. Disney buying Fox, ATT in court to buy TimeWarner, the US government blocking the Broadcom purchase of Qualcomm over 5G concerns.

5G is big changes ahead.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by John F

I guess my question is, can the carriers handle everyone going to 5G speeds, or is there some limit/bottleneck in the tech that would prevent most customers using it for their primary internet provider. For example, I probably go through 600GB a month, if everyone did that, could the 5G network handle it (never mind the wired/backbone (or whatever it is called) part, just the 5G part)?

Thanks*.


*I'm too lazy to do the research myself.

No, for much the same reason that they can't handle it with 4G. That is a lot of bandwidth and will require a lot of build out and a lot of infrastructure. The issue isn't a limit/bottleneck in the tech, the issue is that to support a lot of people using a lot of bandwidth will require a much more densely populated network. 5G doens't require the big towers that 4G does, which will help, but even cheap cells become expensive when you start multiplying the cost out.

Consider why so many carriers now support wifi calling.

[fjtorres]

Comcast is sweating.
They're offering cable bundles with Netflix and officially bidding for Sky and its European operations.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/comp...PMy?li=BBnb7Kx

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

5G deployment is a matter of attaching new transmitters to existing cell phone towers or atop existing buildings. Or atop highway light poles.


5G is big changes ahead.

<Quote Edited>

From what I read on 5G is it's similar to satellite dishes. Line of sight is needed for the fastest most reliable connection. At the moment, 5G can't penetrate buildings, trees, etc. If that remain so, 5G will not be useful in urban areas where the demographics may possibly support the expensive infrastructure.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Fbone

<Quote Edited>

From what I read on 5G is it's similar to satellite dishes. Line of sight is needed for the fastest most reliable connection. At the moment, 5G can't penetrate buildings, trees, etc. If that remain so, 5G will not be useful in urban areas where the demographics may possibly support the expensive infrastructure.

That is true about the very high frequencies but not the lower ones.

It's lot like MIMO WiFi in that it achieves its highest performance by combining channels at different frequencies.