[RndTbl] I...am not feeling too well...

[Alberto Abrao]

On 2021-03-15 1:55 p.m., Chris Audet wrote:
> I'm not a telecom guy, but is this really a concern?

Neither am I, but I would say that yes, it is.

>
> In 2019 the CRTC forced the big ISPs to allow smaller ISPs to resell 
> their networks.

That's only part of the equation.

It's not only about what you pay - or the speeds you get - but 
increasingly about the underlying infrastructure and its upkeep. You 
need to look forward before it comes back to bite you.

A million players renting infrastructure from companies that don't give 
a flying expletive about that won't make it any better, quite the 
opposite, actually.

I was not getting more bandwidth back in Saskatchewan, but I did have 
fibre to the home. That means I could, and probably would - eventually - 
get more. I assume SaskTel did not have a big pipe going to a city with 
10k people back then, but the infrastructure is already there for when 
they want to do so.

Here, I am on Coax. Which limits my upload considerably, although my 
download is great. I don't have the knowledge to say how far Coax can 
possibly go, but there must be a reason why new deployments are all fiber.

Infrastructure is hard, expensive, and does not conduct to great 
shareholder value, our quintessential 21st century religion. So 
companies tend to avoid doing it unless they must.

That's why Bell MTS relied on copper, and Shaw on Coax. Still, because 
Shaw is not a big player nationwide, it did have the incentive to grow 
on markets where it is established. Bell, not so much, especially in 
Western Canada (a blip in the radar, population-wise).

Now, imagine what will happen when you bring another Eastern fat telecom 
cat to play around these parts... hell, even small-ish town Ontario was 
neglected by all of them infrastructure-wise. I shudder to think about 
what what they'll do to Manitoba.

I hope I am wrong, though. Still, 4th place *has* to care, 2nd place? 
Nah, just join the table, let's have some drinks.


Kind regards,
Alberto Abrao