[the_mitsuhiko]

I can't talk about Italy but this does not hold true to deployments in Austria. In particular first responders would be able to get more reliable internet via LTE than local wifi. First of all because LTE can do per device QoS, secondly because LTE antennas have better backhaul connections than most homes would have access to.

ISPs here do not upgrade customers automatically unless they pay which means many users stay on very slow internet for a long time.

[pietroalbini]

While in most big cities there's a good LTE coverage, in that area no major provider has an LTE network at all.

[kalleboo]

I don't know about Italy but in many places 3G has better speeds than landlines - in Australia, my parents live rurally and can choose between 3G, 56K, or satellite

[raverbashing]

Also my bet is that the LTE network still doesn't have the capacity of the 3G network, that's why people are being migrated slowly

But still undersubscribed, that's why you get a better connection (beyond the tech advancements)

[toyg]

> I can't talk about Italy

Then (most respectfully) don't :) That area in central Italy is mountainous, not particularly significant from an industrial perspective, and hence poorly covered by wireless data networks, whereas ADSL is pretty ubiquitous.

[rurban]

Austria is far more mountainous than Italy. But what doesn't add up is that only the bigger cities there have proper LTE coverage, the small towns only G3 or G2. But even G3 would be better than the WiFi on broken 2Mb copper cables in the earth.

[delcaran]

Nope, not in Italy. Here with 3G you can barely load google on mobile (at least, that is my case). If I don't see an H+ on my phone I don't even bother to try going online.

[toyg]

But the point is that G3 will saturate and cannot be used at the same time as you talk, so any additional connection is welcome.

[rurban]

Yes, but my point was that with an earth quake (>6 richter) the copper earth lines will likely be more broken than slow G3 air lines.

[ojm]

Or we cannot get better access. I'm in Melbourne suburbs and can only get shocking ADSL1.

[ragix]

I love NZ ;). I'm on 200/200mbit fibre and I heard a rumor my city is going to be come a giga-city soon. Bring on 1gbps internet at home!

[yitchelle]

I always wonder why the home needs such high bandwidth. What are using all that bandwidth for?

[kalleboo]

For me it's about being able to ignore the lack of QoS. My wife is streaming an HD movie, our 3 iDevices start downloading some new update that just came out, I'm on Skype and doing research, it's all completely seamless, everything blows ahead at full speed.

[yitchelle]

Oh I see, even if the link quality is crap. You have the high enough bandwidth to recover.