Originally Posted by
tmiw
From what I can tell, it appears we've mostly given up on faster wireline internet and are pushing wireless internet (mainly via 5G) as the fix. I'm not sure it'll fix the availability problem but if 5G ends up fulfilling even some of its promises, it may give people at least one or two more viable competitors. Whether that'll materially affect pricing in practice is another question.
Honestly, I just want faster upload speeds. Even 100mbps would probably be enough for most people for quite a while.
You're right to a certain extent. Fiber deployment is expensive. Even Verizon scaled back it's deployment in NYC if I remember correctly. There is no easy answer for a country as big as the US. Rural areas will likely never see widespread fiber deployment for the foreseeable future.
5G won't be the answer either as it depends on the frequencies used. MM-wave 5G in theory delivers very high speed, but not likely to be used outside of densely populated areas like Manhattan, NY. It's also very expensive. The 5G network that will most likely to be built will use lower frequencies which means the signal will travel farther, but won't deliver fiber like speed.
I suspect satellite will play a bigger role in the 2020s.
I agree. Upload speed is very important.