Understanding Why Internet Service BandwidthUsage in Some areas is limited

[Moontrash]

I've been researching internet access in some areas (rural) that don't have a lot of population and I've noticed that their service pricing/packages have extremely low bandwidth allowance for he price you pay. For example...If its a cable connection in say NY and its comcast...for $70 bux a month you 250gb's.. In a lot of rural areas...cable internet, if it's available, is like the same price for like 40gb's a month. Same goes for dsl and satellite service. Why is it like this? Is this a Hardware issues on the ISP's end? Do they not have the proper hardware to support the k's or is it old hardware that cant support today's speed? Same goes for Satellite, can't understand why its' like this. For $30 a month you get 200mb's a day to grab...basically 5gb's a month.

Can someone give me a general idea why it's like this?

[zoobie]

Did Comcast ever break into the top 10 worst companies in America? Last I read, they were only 14...may be part of the answer

[wulf109]

DSL is restricted by your distance to the nearest "hub" and in rural areas that figures to be a longer distance resulting in a slower connection. DSL is also slowed by number of people connected to the nearest hub.

[Moontrash]

the dsl thought i never considered...good observation...now that leaves cable and satellite ...Do isp's purchase only an allotted amount of bandwidth a month? maybe thats why they cant give u but a small amount a month..where as cities or populated areas can give u more

cable i'm just not sure....i thought about the satellite thing last week cause of all the attention to given that wireless company who's capping bandwidth because of over usage...i'm assuming the same satellite that provides 3g or 4g service to cell phones is also allowing satellite access to rural areas so the speed is limited

comcast has been the worst for years...they flat out stink but if its all there is in certain areas....i guess u can't be picky...my tiny dsl connection is half the price and i can grab however much i want.

[jagabo]

It's also a matter of density. If you route a mile of cable through a dense area you may get hundreds of customers. A mile of cable routed in a rural area may only get you one customer.

[Moontrash]

economics seems to be most of the equation. Seems odd in a town of say, 1500 people, the allotted amount you get thru cable or dsl is around 5 gb's a month. To me that means even though they have the technology in the town (i.e...they have the dsl/cable there) u still get pretty much no bandwidth. I live in a small town of around 1000 people. My isp 6 years ago installed those hybrid copper/fiber lines so my dsl speed is fine but even if it didnt have it the speed would be adequate. This is where I'm having trouble understanding why in a rural area that has the technology, their bandwidth is limited and the prices are high. Can only come up with that the hardware they have equals the amount of people that would use whats there so they don't invest more into what they have. That and those people in those rural/rare areas must just not be surfers or care about speed or the amount they grab. Email and a few web sites a day and they're done. All I see is $30 a month for 5gb's..that's a rip to me.

[jagabo]

Of course, the fact that the IPS usually has a monopoly in the area has nothing to do with the the high prices.