Here’s how the new internet could finally kill Comcast

In 2014 Consumerist called Comcast «The Worst Company in America». Pretty bad, right? But wait. Let’s go back to 2003 and we’ll see that the American Customer Satisfaction Index found Comcast to have the worst customer satisfaction of any US organization, including the Internal Revenue Service. Uch.

Is there anyone who really Like Comcast? Seriously, speak up. I’m honestly curious. So, given that public opinion rates it somewhere between taxes and gout, how is Comcast still the largest cable Internet provider in America? Something doesn’t add up here.

That’s why many Americans — and sympathetic non-Americans — want Comcast to crash, burn, and get retribution for their grievances. But is such a fate even possible for an entity as large, pervasive, and ingrained as Comcast? You put.

Soon? Let’s see. Here’s how it can happen.

Net neutrality + Comcast = David + Goliath

Without a doubt, net neutrality has been the biggest threat Comcast has faced in years. For those who still don’t understand the whole controversy, we have a great roundup on net neutrality. which explains everything you need to know about it, but you can also learn about it at YouTube

In short, net neutrality is the idea that all Internet traffic should be treated the same, that certain types of traffic should not be regulated or priced differently, and that it shouldn’t matter where the traffic starts or ends.

Do you want to receive additional subscription fees for accessing certain websites? Or do you want to pay more money for 1 GB of «video data» versus 1 GB of «text data»? These are the kinds of atrocities that net neutrality seeks to prevent, and we are fortunate that the FCC ruled in favor of net neutrality. in net neutrality in net neutrality not so long ago.

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Death by net neutrality will mean terrible things for broadband customers, especially those of monopoly giants like Comcast. Because ISPs are playing territorial wars — not wanting to expand into areas where previous ISPs exist — most of us don’t have much choice on which ISPs we can choose to subscribe to. For many of us, it’s Comcast or nothing.

So imagine being «forced» to use Comcast. Comcast and Hulu are two services in the same segment (both owned by NBCUniversal), what happens if Comcast decides to charge extra for access to competing services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video? Or denied access altogether? Nightmare scenario.

Comcast is already a media giant, but the company continues to grow and become more monopolistic every day. We were lucky that his merger with Time Warner Cable didn’t happen, otherwise we really were would be in their power.

The important point about net neutrality is that it interferes with some of Comcast’s ability to become a universal media provider and thus forces it to play well with the competition…

Comcast needs healthy competition

… except that Comcast doesn’t have many competitors, which is one of the key reasons why they’ve managed to stay on the throne as America’s biggest cable provider while also being ranked America’s worst company. It’s easy to be king when consumers are trapped.

That’s why people across the country were excited when Google launched its experimental Fiber program back in 2012. For the first time since the company became dominant, Comcast finally has reason to fear another ISP.

Let’s compare. For $77 per month (excluding regional taxes and fees), Comcast offers 75 Mbps download speeds and 10 Mbps connection speeds. For $70 a month (also excluding taxes and fees), Google offers 1000Mbps download speeds and 1000Mbps connection speeds. They are different worlds.

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And there’s mounting evidence that Google Fiber’s existence is enough to force competing ISPs to offer faster speeds on the same infrastructure they’ve always had — which is exactly what happened in Kansas City, where average internet speeds jumped a little over by 80 percent.

The obvious problem here is that Google Fiber has limited reach. It is currently only available in Kansas City, Kansas, Austin, Texas, and Provo, Utah, and plans to expand to seven other cities over the next few years.

Problems aside, can you imagine what would happen if Google Fiber was available everywhere? Companies like Comcast need to start offering a similar level of service before all of their customers get off the ship. If Comcast refused to step up, you can be sure it will stay behind.

But here’s the funny thing: while people were still asking Google to put Fiber across the country, Verizon announced that they had begun testing their fifth generation of mobile network technology that could supposedly provide speeds faster than even Google Fiber.

now we have two large companies that are aiming for internet speeds in excess of 1 Gbps, and none of these names are Comcast. How long will it take before Comcast joins them? Because if Comcast waits too long, the future of gigabit internet is accelerating. will make it obsolete in no time.

Three global internets in the sky

If net neutrality and competition aren’t enough of a threat, Comcast has one more thing to watch out for: innovation in its internet infrastructure. If all goes according to plan, these innovations will be the final nail in Comcast’s coffin for providing the Internet.

At this point, the main reason why Comcast can have such a monopoly grip on the American Internet is because Comcast owns a lot of the infrastructure — the wires, cables, and hubs — that allow data to get from point A to point B. If he wanted to compete, he would have to rent infrastructure (unlikely) or build his own network (unlikely).

Therefore, until recently, users like you and me had to put up with it and deal with any ISPs that were available in our regions. But now there are three incredibly rich entities that are working to solve this problem.

First, we have Google. As if its Fiber project wasn’t innovative enough, Google is moving forward with another project called Loon, which involves building a global network of space balloons that will bring Internet access to all people around the world. Is free? Probably not, but it’s still an ambitious idea worthy of applause.

Even when Comcast competitors like Google want create an alternative infrastructure, they cannot do so because of the laws and regulations that prevent it. This is why the Google Fiber areas are few and slow to expand. But, hey, if Google can’t deliver the internet through the earth, it will deliver it through the sky.

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And Elon Musk does this too. Elon Musk is not only revolutionizing the energy industry. and make improvements to public transport. last year he announced that he was going to launch a fleet of satellites that provide Internet access. into the space. The current plan is about 4,000 satellites by 2030.

That’s a higher goal than Google Loon, especially because launching and maintaining satellites is extremely expensive, but if successful, Comcast will knock out several levels in the ISP hierarchy. Unfortunately, 15 years is a long time, but it is necessary for a project of this magnitude.