The Bandwidth Dilemma

Reprinted in The Australian Financial Review, 19 January, 2001. Original available at www.newstatesman.co.uk (warning: complicated procedure to download content).

13 Things to Know About Broadband by Gerry McGovern, fist published in his "New Thinking" electronic newsletter, then published in Steven Carlson's NowEurope newsletter which was forwarded on May 13, 2000 to the nettime mailinglist www.nettime.org. On January 13, 2001 David Garcia forwarded "13 reactions" of John W. Patterson to nettime in response to Gerry McGovern.

"Although many providers of broadband Internet access have increased their marketing budgets to entice customers into upgrading their connections, analysts say few of the providers have been able to meet the demand that they have created. Stories abound of broadband customers waiting weeks or months to have DSL or cable-modem access installed, and Jupiter Research analyst Joseph Laszlo says the coming years will see the broadband market remain "more supply-constrained than demand-constrained." Analysts say the most likely reasons for providers' inability to meet demand are a lack of infrastructure and a shortage of installers and service personnel." Wall Street Journal, 12 February 2001.