ISP Review Roundup & Reader Survey Results

[vaughn2k]

I am paying U$43per month on a 700kbps, with an actual of 350kbps (50%) download rate an average per month (Globe Telecom Philippines). And there is U$35per month for a 300kbps (PLDT). And you think prices in US are outrageous?

 

[STQ]

Living in Montana is awesome because we live in the technological stone age. We have two options: Comcast and Centurylink, and I have Centurylink because here Comcast doesn't believe in burying the cable lines. When I had cable I would have to get a technician to my place every other week because the cable line would either get chewed through by squirrels or twist so much in the wind that it would disconnect from the box on the tower. Their customer service is also atrocious. Good monopoly they have going though, so kudos.

 

[Aragorn]

Where's Cablevision?

 

[socialassassin]

The American providers are still an upgrade over us here in Canada. Paying $73/month for 30 Mbps down / 5 Mbps up and a 300GB cap.

 

[Fates_Demise]

Not sure why a lot of you compare the US internet speed to other small countries. Go compare to other large countries if you want a better comparison; Canada, china, Russia, Australia ect.

Smaller countries like korea, japan, uk are much easier to establish a high speed network due to the short distances.

also @burtzum different locations in the US have different area prices, generally the closer to a large city you are the cheaper and faster your internet is.

 

[Attermire]

WOW....only 4 ISP's for a Country that size! no wonder it's so expensive with so little competiton :< I feel sorry for those USA peeps

 

[The original Derfman]

@Attermire No, there are dozens of ISP's here, the journalist just decided to only rate the top 4 ISP's that received the most responses in the survey.

 

[poxenium]

I have 500down/25up from UPC Romania (cable modem) with "Best Effort" packet scheduling

That you are aware of your QoS settings suggests that there are tiers or options available. I would really like to hear more, as in the US you don't really get any assurances whatsoever of service levels until you're looking at thousands of dollars a month.

This "Best Effort" nonsense is in the modem's firmware for both Personal (12USD including VAT) and Business (30EURO + VAT) type subscriptions (at UPC Romania)...you can't change it. We have no guarantees, but our situation is kinda unique, because the national infrastructure is really really good. Anything we access from within the country - downloads at max. speed, while from the internet - download speeds vary between 50-500Mbps in my experience.

 

[Achoo22]

The American providers are still an upgrade over us here in Canada. Paying $73/month for 30 Mbps down / 5 Mbps up and a 300GB cap.

Keep in mind that the four top ISPs that readers of an online tech. site voted for are hardly an accurate representation of America at large. I am paying as much as you for a meager 1mb/s connection. There's no cap, but at ~300MB / hour maxed out I can't really do much damage.

 

[D JAY Cva]

Malaysia : 60USD for 50Mbps ..

Unlimited Bandwidth

happy with the speed .. unhappy with price ...

 

[Sn3akr]

Where i live (Denmark) they just started competing on the prices, this has resulted in some ISP's offering 1Gb/1Gb for 43,7 USD

So i hope the price will rub off at my ISP as i'm paying the same for a 60/60 Mb (running at least 65/65 when tested up to 100/100)

Fair use on my connection... Full throttle 24/7 - No limit

I'm glad i'm not in the US with those speeds/prices, that just horrible.. Do they even have that horrible internet anywhere in the 3rd world countries anymore?

 

[xenol]

Geez, AT&T fastest offering pales in comparison to its competitors and is still DSL. Now we know anything AT&T says about its service is BS.

 

[climber]

I am unfortunately on DSL, I live above the arctic circle for a job. I pay $83/month with a $20 connection fee for the active phone line since I don't have a phone with the ISP, but use an LTE smartphone as my only phone. My bandwidth is 15Mb/s download, 1Mb/s upload with a 200GB/month cap where I pay $2.50/GB over the cap per month charge in 1 cent increments. I've never gone over the cap.

 

[f-14]

ftp://ftp.fcc.gov/pub/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0917/DOC-323344A1.txt
Illustrative cost calculation for aerial plant in suburban areas
using model version 3.2
Fiber
Materials Placement
Structure
+ $0.444 /foot for 48-fiber bundle
+ $0.118 /foot material loading
= $0.562 /foot
+ $1.185 placement / foot
+ $0.0053 admin cost/foot
+ $0.230 engineering cost/foot
+ $0.540 splicing cost/foot
= $1.960 / foot
+ $214.61 per pole ? $1.25/foot
+ $86.56 per anchor ? $0.072/foot
+ $5.61 per guy ? $0.0046/foot
+ $0.131/foot for material loading
= $1.459 / foot pre-sharing
= $.7005 / foot including sharing
+ $452.97 per pole ? $2.64/foot
+ $184.25 per anchor ? $0.154/foot
+ $25.60 per guy ?$0.021/foot
+ $0.401 engineering cost/foot
= $3.22 / foot pre-sharing
= $1.54 / foot including sharing
Total construction cost per foot for suburban aerial plant: $7.20
Aerial cost per foot for suburban for ILEC: $4.77
Total cost
• Multiply all costs by Regional Cost Adjustment
• For routes where feeder and distribution overlap, suburban aerial
structure shared 78% of the time (i.e., less structure cost incurred)
• Addition of state specific sales tax on material

Additional
adjustments
13
Illustrative cost calculation for buried plant in suburban, soft rock
areas using model version 3.2
Fiber
Materials Placement
Structure
+ $0.466 /foot for 48-fiber bundle
+ $0.050 /foot material loading
= $0.515/foot
+ $0.00 placement / foot
+ $0.0053 admin cost/foot
+ $0.001 engineering cost/foot
+ $0.531 splicing cost/foot
= $.538 / foot
NA + $6.87/foot for labor
+ $0.979/foot for engineering
= $7.844 /foot pre-sharing
= $6.275 / foot including sharing
Total construction cost per foot for suburban, soft-rock, buried plant: $8.90
Buried cost per foot (suburban, soft-rock) for ILEC: $7.33
Total cost
• Multiply all costs by Regional Cost Adjustment
• For routes where feeder and distribution overlap, suburban aerial
structure shared 41% of the time (i.e., less structure cost incurred)
• Addition of state specific sales tax on material

Additional
adjustments
14
Illustrative cost calculation for underground plant in suburban,
soft rock areas using model version 3.2
15
Fiber
Materials Placement
Structure
+ $0.445 /foot for 48-fiber bundle
+ $0.057 /foot material loading
= $0.502 /foot
+ $2.289 placement / foot
+ $0.0053 admin cost/foot
+ $0.442 engineering cost/foot
+ $0.582 splicing cost/foot
= $3.319 / foot
+ $3084.38 per manhole ? $3.43/foot
+ $2.04 / foot for duct
+ $0.714/foot for material loading
= $6.18 / foot pre-sharing
= $5.48/ foot including sharing
+ $3131.12 per manhole ?
$3.48/foot
+ $0.71/foot for duct (no sharing)
+ $11.88/foot for excavation
+ $2.29 engineering cost/foot
= $18.36 / foot pre-sharing
= $14.75 / foot including sharing
Total construction cost per foot for suburban, soft-rock, underground plant: $28.37
Underground cost per foot (suburban, soft-rock) for ILEC: $24.05
Total cost
• Multiply all costs by Regional Cost Adjustment
• For routes where feeder and distribution overlap, suburban aerial
structure shared 67% of the time (i.e., less structure cost incurred)
• Addition of state specific sales tax on material

Additional
adjustments
Sources for aerial plant cost calculation
Fiber
Materials Placement
Structure
• Fiber Material: Size 24 Aerial Material cost:
$0.3135/foot * 1.42 for 48-fiber cable = $0.444
per foot
• Labor Rates and Loadings: AerialFO Total
Material Loadings: .265177 ? $0.118 per foot
• Material Labor: AerialFO Placing cost per foot:
$0.836 * .142 for 48-fiber cable = $1.185 per
foot
• Material Labor: AerialFO Telco admin cost per
foot: $0.0053
• Labor Rates and Loadings: AerialFO
Engineering rate: .1925 ? $0.230 per foot
• Splicing (see “Sources for Splicing” slide):
$0.540 per foot

• Structure Material: Size 35 Material cost per
pole: $214.61
• Engineering rules: Size 35 pole spacing: 200 feet
• Engineering rules: Typical aerial span: 1200 feet
?7 poles over 1200 feet
• Structure Material: $86.56 per anchor
• Structure Materials: $0.11 per guy per foot
• Engineering rules: Guy length to pole height
ratio: 1.5 ? $5.61 per guy (size 35 pole)
• Engineering rules: Typical guy span: 1200 feet
• Labor Rates and Loadings: Pole Total Material
Loadings: .098305 ? $0.131 per foot
• Plant Sharing Tables: Aerial 48%
• Structure Labor: Size 35 pole: $452.97 per pole
• Engineering rules: Size 35 pole spacing: 200
feet
• Engineering rules: Typical aerial span: 1200
feet ?7 poles over 1200 feet
• Structure Labor: Size 35 pole: $452.97 per pole
• Structure Labor: $184.25 per anchor
• Structure Labor: : $25.60 per guy
• Engineering rules: Typical guy span: 1200 feet
• Labor Rates and Loadings: Pole: .1425 for
engineering ? $.401 per foot
• Plant Sharing Tables: Aerial 48%
16
Sources for buried plant cost calculation
Fiber
Materials Placement
Structure
• Fiber Material: Size 24 Underground Material
cost: $0.32878/foot * 1.42 for 48-fiber cable =
$0.466 per foot
• Labor Rates and Loadings: BuriedFO Total
Material Loadings: .106440 ? $0.050 per foot
• Material Labor: UndergroundFO Placing cost
per foot: $0.00
• Material Labor: AerialFO Telco admin cost per
foot: $0.0053
• Labor Rates and Loadings: AerialFO
Engineering rate: .1925 ? $0.001 per foot
• Splicing (see “Sources for Splicing” slide):
$0.531 per foot
• NA • Structure Labor: Buried excavation, suburban
soft rock: $6.87 per foot
• Labor Rates and Loadings: Conduit: .1425 for
engineering ? $0.979 per foot
• Plant Sharing Tables: Suburban, buried: 80%
17
Sources for underground plant cost calculation
Fiber
Materials Placement
Structure
• Fiber Material: Size 24 Underground Material
cost: $0.31407/foot* 1.42 for 48-fiber cable =
$0.445 per foot
• Labor Rates and Loadings: UndergroundFO Total
Material Loadings: .127821 ? $0.057 per foot
• Material Labor: UndergroundFO Placing cost
per foot: $1.62* .142 for 48-fiber cable = $2.29
per foot
• Material Labor: AerialFO Telco admin cost per
foot: $0.0053
• Labor Rates and Loadings: AerialFO
Engineering rate: .1925 ? $0.442 per foot
• Splicing (see “Sources for Splicing” slide):
$0.582 per foot

• Structure Material: Size 3 manhole: $3084.38
• Engineering rules: Size 3 manhole spacing: 900
feet
• Structure Material: Duct cost: $2.04/foot
• Labor Rates and Loadings: Conduit: .130561 ?
$0.714 per foot
• Plant Sharing Tables: Suburban, underground:
80% (conduits are not shared)
• Structure Labor: Size 3, soft-rock manhole:
$3131.12 per manhole
• Engineering rules: Size 3 manhole spacing: 900
feet
• Structure Labor: Underground excavation,
suburban soft rock: $11.88 per foot
• Structure Labor: Underground duct labor:
$0.71 per foot
• Labor Rates and Loadings: Conduit: .1425 for
engineering ? $2.29 per foot
• Plant Sharing Tables: Suburban, underground:
80% (conduits are not shared)
18
Sources for splicing cost
19
Closure and
setup
Aerial
• Material Labor: $83.85
• Labor Rates and Loadings:
Engineering rate 0.1925 ?
$16.14 per splice


• $0.084 / foot
Buried
• Material Labor: $87.60
• Labor Rates and Loadings:
Engineering rate 0.1925 ?
$16.86 per splice


• $0.088/ foot
Underground
• Material Labor: $121.80
• Labor Rates and Loadings:
Engineering rate 0.1925 ?
$23.45 per splice


• $0 .122 /foot
Occurrences per foot (typical) determined by model/topology: 0.00084 (1 per 1189 feet)
Splice cost • Material Labor: $9.72 / fiber
• Labor Rates and Loadings:
Engineering rate 0.1925 ?
$1.87 per splice


• $0.456 / foot
• Material Labor: $9.46 /fiber
• Labor Rates and Loadings:
Engineering rate 0.1925 ?
$1.82 per splice


• $0.443/ foot
• Material Labor: $9.83/fiber
• Labor Rates and Loadings:
Engineering rate 0.1925 ?
$1.89 per splice


• $ 0.460 /foot
Occurrences per foot (typical) determined by model/topology: 0.0393 (24 splices every 611 feet)
Number of splices driven by network topology – splices are assumed
wherever there is a branch (a “Y”) in the network or when the number
of strands drops enough to move to a smaller cable
Total • $0.540 / foot • $0.531 / foot • $0.582 / foot
Illustrative construction costs per foot assuming 48-fiber
bundles, 35-foot poles and no regional cost adjustment
23.74
4.617.20
24.31
5.367.20
27.75
6.997.20
Aerial Underground Buried
Normal
Soft rock
Hard rock Rural
Suburban
Urban
28.35
8.807.20
28.37
8.907.20
32.99
10.147.20
Aerial Underground Buried
33.37
10.84
7.20
33.37
10.84
7.20
38.85
10.84
7.20
Aerial Underground Buried
20
Calculating annual cost of initial investment: levelization using
Annual Charge Factors
• Annual Charge Factors (ACFs) relate the initial investment to the cost over the useful lifetime of
each asset
– Based on lifetimes for each asset class using retirement curves
– Includes future net salvage value or future net salvage cost as appropriate
– Captures capital recovery (DEPR), and post-tax cost of money (COM and TAX)
• The model tracks each asset class separately (despite prior cost per foot calculation)
• Output is a cost per month for each asset attributable to each census block. Asset classes
include:
– Aerial Fiber
– Buried Fiber
– Underground Fiber
– Conduit
– Circuit (network electronics)
• And excel-based model (called the “CapCost model”) is available to calculate ACFs for different
assumptions
21
Calculating operating expenses
22
Plant non-specific opex = total plant investment * (network PNS factor * (1 + size factor))
Overhead G&A = total plant investment * (overhead G&A factor * (1 + size factor))
Cust. ops & mark. opex = Customers * (Ops per customer * (1 + size factor))
Bad debt = Customers * (Bad debt per customer)
Plant specific opex = investment * ( opex factor * (1 + size factor))
Plant
type
Plant types:
• Aerial fiber optic
• Poles
• Buried fiber optic
• Underground fiber optic
• Conduit systems
• Circuit
Network plant specific opex (scales with investment in each plant type)
Non-network plant specific opex (scales with total investment)
Additional opex (scales with number of customers)
Plant
type
Plant
type
Network opex and G&A
per location per month
Illustrative investment and investment-driven operating
expenses per location by company*
23
PUERTO RICO TELEPHONE CO. 1,096
CINCINNATI BELL 1,146
HAWAIIAN TELCOM 1,674
CONSOLIDATED 1,729
CENTURYLINK 1,756
FAIRPOINT 1,998
WINDSTREAM 2,380
FRONTIER 2,404
ACS 3,457
2,809
Verizon 1,313
AT&T 1,364
MICRONESIAN TELECOMM
INNOVATIVE TELEPHONE (USVI) 2,060
7.44
7.82
10.81
10.60
10.55
11.20
13.20
13.56
20.37
22.58
9.07
8.99
17.09

 

[Shodoman]

in romania is
RDS-RCS local company
10$ 100/50
13$ 300/80
18$ 500/120
25$ 1000/150
fiber connection

your prices are off. The current prices at RDS-RCS are:

7.1$ for 100/100 or 300/100 (yes, same price)
9.5$ for 500/200
11$ for 1000/200
VAT included

This is for home users - don't know business prices.

 

[Maarsch]

I've heard a lot worse than what I'm seeing in that list.

So . . . good progress?
Not for my friends in West Virginia and South Carolina, I understand. But progress for urbanized part of the US, at least?