Internet access in Japan (was Re: BitTorrent swarms have a deadly bite on broadband nets)

Tue Oct 23 02:20:49 UTC 2007

On Oct 22, 2007, at 9:55 PM, Leo Bicknell wrote:
>
> Having now seen the cable issue described in technical detail over
> and over, I have a question.
>
> At the most recent Nanog several people talked about 100Mbps symmetric
> access in Japan for $40 US.
>
> This leads me to two questions:
>
> 1) Is that accurate?
>
> 2) What technology to the use to offer the service at that price  
> point?
>
> 3) Is there any chance US providers could offer similar  
> technologies at
>    similar prices, or are there significant differences (regulation,
>    distance etc) that prevent it from being viable?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/28/ 
AR2007082801990.html

The Washington Post article claims that:

"Japan has surged ahead of the United States on the wings of better  
wire and more aggressive government regulation, industry analysts say.
The copper wire used to hook up Japanese homes is newer and runs in  
shorter loops to telephone exchanges than in the United States.

..."

a)  Dense, urban area (less distance to cover)

b)  Fresh new wire installed after WWII

c)  Regulatory environment that forced telecos to provide capacity to  
Internet providers

Followed by a recent explosion in fiber-to-the-home buildout by NTT.   
"About 8.8 million Japanese homes have fiber lines -- roughly nine  
times the number in the United States." -- particularly impressive  
when you count that in per-capita terms.

Nice article.  Makes you wish...

   -Dave
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