Let's face it: We can argue about the pros and cons of P2P clients and protocols 'til we're blue in the face. But without available bandwidth, it all means nothing.

So I'd like to pick all your brains about the present and future of connections offered by ISPs and compare the situation in different countries:

a) How much is the installation cost and monthly fee for each type of connection?

b) What is the availability of high-bandwidth connections? (rural areas may often only have old exchanges offering dialup - if you're lucky)

c) Are these prices reasonable considering what the providers have to spend on investment and maintenance? (I'd like to hear from telecommunications experts on this one)

d) What is the penetration of high-bandwidth connections in your country and is it likely to increase significantly in the short or medium term? (another one for the comms boffins)


As an example and reference. Here's the situation in Spain, which has around 7,7 million users who regularly connect to the net:

Modem dialup
Monthly flat fee of around 29 euros ($26.70) for 6pm-8am on weekdays and all weekend (6pm on Friday until 8am on Monday morning)

In Europe we don't have free local calls like in the USA as far as I know! Some rural areas in Spain still can't even connect to internet on normal lines.

Cable/DSL

Spain has about 405,000 wide-band users (focused mainly around Madrid and other big cities) Telefónica - the leading telecommunications company in Spain - has said that DSL coverage should be about 90% by the end of the year. The main providers have been campaigning heavily in the media to get people to upgrade to DSL so this number should increase significantly in the next couple of years.

128/256kbits - around 40 euros ($37) monthly fee - no installation fee for the cheapest offers.

128/512kbits - 70 to 90 euros ($65 to $83,70) monthly fee - up to 150euros ($139) startup fee.

300Kbits/2Mbits - Around 180euros ($167) monthly fee - at least 300euros ($279) startup fee

The sources I have looked at don't even mention faster connections , though I'm sure they're available at vast cost.

http://www.aui.es/estadi/egm/iegm.htm#evolucion
http://www.teltarifas.com/internetindex.php3?con=cable
http://es.gsmbox.com/news/mobile_news/all/42952.gsmbox
http://www.lavanguardia.es/web/20020415/23442854.html
(all in Spanish)

I'd appreciate your feedback on this one as it's a central issue to the evolution of file-sharing and the internet in general.

These are approximates for my area (Eastern Pennsylvania, US)

[list=1][*]Cable-modem service (300 Kbit - 1.5 Mbit+):
Installation is free for some, others require a fee such as $9.95 for a "Do-it-yourself" packet. Monthly fees range from $19.95 to $45.00 a month. Cable modem rental is usually an additional $3.00 per month.
[*]56Kbit Modem service:
No installation fees. 24/7 monthly service charges range from $4.95 a month to $29.00 a month. Free ISPs are becoming rare. Toll-free or 1-900 numbers are charged per minute.
[*]DSL service (64 Kbit - 2 Mbit+):
Installation is free for most. Some are charged if DSL line needs to be installed by telephone company. Monthly prices range from $29.95 to $300+ a month, depending on various options and DSL type.
[*]One-way Satellite service (400 Kbit):
Installation is free for most (do-it-yourself) or a $50-$100 installation charge for the dish. Service price range from $65 per month and up. Does not include dish ($199 minimum)
[*]Two-way Satellite service (500 Kbit):
Installation (+ equipment) $199-$499. Monthly prices between $99 and $169.
[*]ISDN:
I'm not aware of these prices. But they're higher than DSL or Cable modem service.[/list=1]


One-way or Two-way satellite for rural areas, but most are getting cable modem and DSL access too now.

For Cable and DSL, yes, I think so. For modem, the higher priced ones ($19.95+) is too much. Technology cheaper, but people still pay the same price or even more as 5 years ago. Satellite service is new, so it'll be costlier too until more people will sign up.

Well, most residential areas have access to low-cost high bandwidth connections. Rural sites may have access to the satellite services, but they don't come cheap. With prices for cable and DSL access dropping, it's becoming more popular to have broadband access instead of modem access.

Thanks Cultiv8r,

From your reply it sounds like Cable and DSL are widely available and that that basic wide-band packages are pretty cheap - as you would expect from the huge volume of the market in the US.

Some regions like South America - where most countries don't yet have the necessary infrastrucure and are suffering economic and political problems - could potentially explode as net / P2P users in the next few years. For example, I read recently that the number of connected users in Bogota (Columbia) has risen spectacularly in a couple of years.

People without at least a flat-fee 56k connection (ie. not per-minute rates) are not going to leave their client open for people to upload, neither will they be doing much downloading anyway. It's obvious that any serious user needs a wideband (cable/DSL) connection and people will not subscribe to these massively unless they are widely available and reasonably priced (as they obviously are in the US).