General High Speed Question?

[ReVRiN]

Forgive me for asking but how long have the average US citizen had access to affordable DSL/Cable internet access?

The reson I ask is because I've been on DSL for nearly 6 years for about $26 CDN per month so $19 USD... and I've talking to one of my American friends who is an IT professional and just got DSL access.

When I asked him the same question he said that it has super expensive to get about a year or two ago for his home. But he is in Philedelphia which I assume would have a large enough base of users that this service would be standard and cheap.

 

[computadorka]

I remember in 1999 in Utah that I was just outside the area for DsL and it cost something like 40 bucks per month.

 

[DragonNOA1]

Isn't Phily like one of the most unwired cities in the US? Top 50 as reported by Intel. I know my friend got cable when it first came to our area like 6 years ago in ohio.

 

[PopeKevinI]

I live in a town of 6,600 people that is nowhere near any major population center...the next larger town is ~30,000 people and it's 30 miles away. DSL just came available 18 months ago, and I pay $26.95.

In my home town (35,000 people) DSL started going in some time in 2001. They finished some time in 2003...the phone system there was old and had to be gutted (the telephone co. was a small one recently bought out by TXU).

There are some places in major cities in the US where DSL and cable simply can't reach. I had an apartment in Dallas that was rather poorly located--it sat just out of reach of DSL, and the cable provider for that area refused to install broadband. And north Dallas is fairly well wired.

Bear in mind that in Canada your internet and phone system may be more heavily subsidized; I don't know this for certain, but your government does spend a lot more of your money on such things than you might realize