After what seems like an eternity of telcos and cablecos not understanding that we like to send as well as receive data at blazing speeds, Verizon decided to launch a 20Mbps symmetrical connection for home users. The real shocker? The price tag, a paltry $65 a month, shockingly low for an incumbent offering these speeds. But hold up there, cowboy; only select residents in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will be able to get the service right now.
Analysts are predicting that this move might put pressure on cable companies to start competing on the upload side of things as well. Most DSL and cable modem connections download about 10-20 times faster than they'll upload, a big gap that forced the FCC to make "broadband" 200K in both directions and "high-speed" 200K in one direction only. I'm hoping that maybe Comcast or Qwest will give us a bit more than the lousy 768K we currently have to suffer with lest Verizon decide to "outgrow" its current territory.
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