Post deleted by MrSaffron

No need to get personal.

If what you're saying is correct on how internet speeds should be compared between countries, then why does no one do this?

You can pick and chose which states/areas you want to compare - you have to look at countries as a whole. Some states in the US have more invested than others for faster internet, as do some counties in the UK.

I don't even know where to begin..*sigh*

Go and read up on how the United States works please.

Removed the post, as while its fine to disagree with people do it in a reasonable way

OK, let me rephrase. Andy needs to understand how the Federal system of the United States of America works. When he has done this he will understand why comparing US States to English Counties is facile.

Fair?

Whilst I to some extent agree with your premise re the error in comparing states to counties, it isn't completely true. Witness the varying use of the BDUK scheme and many other regional intiatives.

Also, you do in your opening post compare a small selection of states with the whole of the UK. That is just as invalid a comparison.

Those states I quote have similar income / quality of life levels to England, hence using them as a comparison rather than the US as a whole (which is far greater in diversity than England).

In reply to a post by Stevenage_Neil:

I have lived in the US for quite a few years, (9 to be exact).

Goodie. Has what to do with the UK though?

In reply to a post by Stevenage_Neil:

Poles are ugly as the Japanese will tell you, after the US re-building effort.

They aren't attractive, no. Can't say I have ever noticed them but I guess that's just me. The Japanese also find satellite dishes hugely unattractive to the extent where they'd rather pay for cable TV than use a dish. This doesn't mean they are indicative of third world infrastructure though.

In reply to a post by Stevenage_Neil:

Where poles are used, nearly every utiliity/supplier will use those poles.

Must've missed where, in the UK, we have all these utilities piling in to use the telegraph poles. Control over poles is completely different here so, again, this has what to do with the UK?

In reply to a post by Stevenage_Neil:

How many people in the US have died as a result of an ice storm removing their poles/services for weeks at a time? (I lived through one in Dallas)

Once again this has what to do with the UK? We have occasional issues where overhead power lines are brought down, certainly, however we aren't Dallas, and we aren't the USA. Our weather is far more temperate.

I'm struggling to see where any of this responds to my contention that opposition to poles in the UK is largely snobbery. I didn't argue that they aren't attractive, though it could be said they are no more unattractive than a 5ft 3 high, 4ft wide, 1.5ft deep street cabinet unless one spends most of their time looking up.

Edited by deleted (Mon 25-Aug-14 22:35:42)

In reply to a post by Andrue:

Last I heard they didn't have market dominance even in cable areas so even less reason to be worried. If VM can't win the fight on its home ground BT have little to fear.

Edited: Typed 'had' instead of 'didn't have'.

That's purely the Sky and Freeview, prior to that terrestrial analogue, effects. In the USA an awful lot of people were getting analogue channels via MATV rather than aerials or satellite so the cable companies had a ton more momentum.

At a retail level Virgin win comfortably in their served areas. Infrastructure wise versus Openreach it's 40:60-ish.

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

On this map, with only FTTP selected (for all providers), US coverage looks a bit sparse as at 31/12/13. Nice price as well.

A good part of this is due to two factors though, one is how sparsely populated the USA is, the other than only one of their 2 major telcos pursued FTTP. The other, AT&T, have pursued a largely FTTN policy, and man are their offerings abysmal.

Check the coverage of cable in the USA and it's likewise pretty sparse outside of the major urban areas. Not a really great surprise, there is a lot of the USA in between the urban areas where there are significant quantities of people.