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Comment by CamperBob2 | Hacker News Reader

I like the quote about putting Comcast out of business, but I don't know that I would have said as much publicly.

It might not be comcast that dies, but rather a couple of the cell phone vendors. Those are the businesses that are making bank on what is basically low bandwidth wide area coverage. Given the transmission path is going to be going up, it seems that a lot of the existing problems with topology and buildings getting it the way will be reduced.

Anyway, I'm in a town with google fiber, but can't get more than a 30Mbit uplink on spectrum (which is actually faster than AT&T) because the only places in town with competition are the areas already served by google fiber.

It won't take much to kill these lumbering giants that refuse to invest in their infrastructure. Particularly given the ill will most people feel towards them.

Starlink service will not compete with cell phones; the terminals are too large. If anything, it will complement cell service, by making tower backhaul easier.

It's also unlikely to directly compete with wired ISPs in cities, as the bandwidth required for everyone to have a terminal would be high. But it could enable unwired 5G stations as micro-ISPs, which would be a similar effect.

What it will kill are rural or undeveloped area ISPs (such as they are) and provide high threat to undersea cables and cross-country fiber.

All of the above is positive, in my opinion. As long as the Starlink sats somehow, eventually, fall out of corporate hands. I mean, such infinite power...

Amen, I am in a smaller city in Central Va. If you go more than 10 minutes outside the city no Comcast. There is a local cable company but it is 3x the Comcast price for half the speed. I can be 15 minutes outside of the city and have no internet options.

What on earth do you mean? Everyone online, i.e. in the general public, hates on Comcast.

Disclaimer: Never been a customer. Started my own ISP's instead.

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