[aunty_helen]

I remember chatting with an online friend in the USA using msn messenger who had a T1 line. It seemed so imaginary, 1.5mbs. The 56kb modem that I had averaged around 13kbs due to living out in the middle of nowhere.

Years later (mid 00s) I still had the same connection but all my friends were on 256kbs-2mbs adsl but with ridiculous datacaps. I was so envious of people in the states that had similar connection speeds but could download as much as they wanted like it was some kind of American buffet.

Moving to uni saw me break into the 2 figure mbs club but the datacaps were still there.

Then the NZ govt decided to do something abou it, they "unbundled the local loop" and the market became more competitive, no more 20gb down+up for 60USD a month.

Then realising the internet was the backbone of a strong e-conomy, they started building out a nationwide fibre network.

For around 120USD, you can now get business tier fibre up to 8gbs in your home (or if you don't want the business SLA you can just get the consumer version at the same speed, slightly cheaper).

I hear stories of how bad the internet is in Australia and how far the USA have fallen, to the point a lot of people still can't even get fibre and I feel sad they're not the inspirational places that I imagined as a kid.

[nickpeterson]

I remember as a young kid (11ish) I lived in Rochester, NY, which was one of the first areas to get cable modems. I pleaded the case to my parents and we cancelled the extra phone line we used for the modem and payed the extra $20 towards a cable modem.

This was one of the few moments in my life that felt like ‘the future’ was arriving (the other around this time was my voodoo2 gpu running unreal). A year or so later we moved to Columbus which didn’t have high speed available yet.

What’s the quote, the future is already here it’s just not evenly distributed?

Incidentally I now live in Toledo and my internet is probably about the same speed as it was 25+ years ago… sigh

[aunty_helen]

I work with a dev from Toledo, a couple weeks ago they ripped up his back yard to put fiber in. Help is on the way :)

But yes, at the moment his speed sucks.

[williamcotton]

Fellow Kiwi here, living in Austin, TX. Some crew just went up all the streets in our neighborhood and left a GFBR box buried in our front yard. Things are looking up!

[aunty_helen]

There is _a lot_ of kiwis on this site. It’s always good to see. Best of luck with the install mate.

[aidenn0]

The US unbundled the local loop in 1996, but it was done by 2003.

[aunty_helen]

Maybe I’ve got the terminology wrong, so please correct me, I thought unbundling meant you wouldn’t have things like “I can only get Comcast in my neighborhood / building”

[aidenn0]

1. Cable TV was never unbundled, just telephone/DSL

2. In 2003 FCC ended unbundling of DSL (though unbundling had already had a lot of teeth removed by various court cases and FCC interpretations of the law).