Right before the new year I posted "A Broadband Services & Pricing Reality Check" which presented a quick survey of Broadband Service Pricing in the US versus Japan. As it turns out, the Japanese services surveyed averaged about $41/month for a 100Mbps/85Mbps line.

I received a number of comments, both via e-mail and over at MuniWireless.com claiming that US Broadband pricing was higher because of the lower population density and geographic expanse. But along comes the Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency (UTOPIA) to demonstrate conclusively that multi-megabit symmetric lines are both entirely possible and can be delivered for roughly $40/month.

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I recently came across an e-mail sent to one of the lists I'm on with information on Japanese VDSL services. It provides a sobering reminder of just how unbelievably slow (and, at the same time, expensive) broadband services are in the US and many other countries. Here's a brief list:

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In the last couple days, Verizon's been getting a lot of press for offering supposed low-cost broadband. But further investigation of this "deal" shows it to be little more than a bait & switch tactic to suck people into a higher cost broadband contract. Here's how it works & compares with other broadband service offers:

Verizon offers you a $14.95/month contract for one year. Now, this is a good offer by comparison with SBC (whose service runs closer to $40/month). However, if after one year, you don't lock in another 1-yr contract (or if that second year rate turns out to be not as low), the rate is $37.95 per month (folks had to call to find this out, it's not mentioned anywhere on Verizon's website). Amortized over 2 years, the cost of Verizon's "deal" averages out to be $31.28 a month plus the cost of phone service. After 3 years, the cost averages out to be $34.84 plus the cost of phone service.

Facts about Verizon's offer:

• Offer available to new Verizon DSL customers only.
• 768kbps/128kbps service (slow, and half the normal DSL speed, 25% the normal cable speed)
• 1-yr commitment required, with an early termination fee of $79.
• Other taxes USF fees are about $4.00 per month.
• $19.95 shipping/activation charge.
• Verizon local residential phone service required.
• The $14.95 offer expires on September 17th 2005.

Still think it's a good offer???

On a per mega bit basis, the Verizon offer alone is $19.47/Mbps. The SBC offer is $38.49/Mbps. Right now Japan telecom's DSL service is a 40Mbps connection for $29. That's $0.73/Mbps.

Are we supposed to be happy about paying far more for worse service?

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