Netflix published a chart the other day showing the different streaming rates through the big cable/DSL/wireless providers. When you plug into your cable modem, you assume you’re getting the same “Internet” that someone else is. But in reality, the speeds differ a bit between providers.
Portland Maine uses Time Warner and we seem to be ok, thought we’re 10% lower than the highest which is Charter. This is surprising since Charter has been fighting to throttle back Netflix bandwidth. Netflix says it will publish this chart every month, a clear warning shot to ISP providers that those who cut back Netflix will be publicly admonished.
Clearwire, which provides wireless 4G access for mobile devices (think Netflix on the iPhone), is at the bottom, sharing the honors with providers Frontier and CenturyTel , largely rural providers. That there is such a disparity between rural and urban providers 15 years after the term digital divide appeared is worrisome socially and politically.
Infographic wise, this one gets a D (I can tell the colors apart), but the data is interesting.
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