True before i swithced providers I was using and adsl connection which did cost more than what im using now but my point is that people are still being charged for line rentals even on fibre lines in the UK...am i correct?
Regarding the broadband lottery. the price I pay is representative for most of the country, IF they can get those speeds, much like the UK....the built up areas get the same deals but in the rural areas where they dont have the infrastructure you get lower speeds and less choice, no different than in the uk.
No your not quite correct, in the UK 'fibre' is a complete con, the last mile is over copper and it uses VDSL technology through a standard phone line. The actual fibre terminates at the box at the end of the street and is refereed to as FTTC.
True 'fibre' or FTTP is rare and retrofitting it is expensive. Big tower blocks where its viable to get it retrofitted have it and a few new builds. But for everyone else its so rare its not even worth thinking about it.
It is possible to get cable in the big towns and cities but there hasn't been much expansion of the network for a long time. If you are in a cable area you can just buy internet on its down, but its only a couple of £ cheaper than getting a phone line bundled in also.
Getting the speed is the big IF though and most don't get the speeds. The average broadband speed in the USA is slower than the UK so 100Mb for $49 is not representative. Also does this also include sales tax? All UK prices would.
It also costs far more than a typical 76Mb FTTC service does here which bundled with a phone line that includes free evening and weekend calls costing £28/month.
A Cable internet only subscription costs £32/month for 100Mb, hence why I said you get milked. Mobile contacts are far worse for this.
It would be good to see a copper pair come in at sub-£10 to the end user (inc. VAT) where required for VDSL. Take dial tone off it, remove any legal requirement for emergency calls to be able to be made over it so that no "legacy" exchange kit needs to be maintained and only the length from the cabinet to your house is used if you need to save money.
That would only work for the few people that don't use their land lines and wouldn't actually save any money as most people still use their land lines. Another problem comes when you move house and the next person wants a land line.
You need to think of line rental as a network maintenance charge not a charge for a phone line. It's just the same as the standing charge for water and gas etc. What is wrong is front loading phone only customers to make the internet prices look more competitive or 'free'.
