Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Japanese Internet

This is topic Japanese Internet in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-17-2004, 08:10 PM:

I have read a couple of places that 40mbps ADSL in Japan costs the equivalent of $34 a month. This MUST be a typo. I know Japan prides themselves on their communications systems and they have a very good infrastructure and all that, but 40mbps? No way! Even 4mbps seems high for ADSL. Does anyone know how much "better" they supposedly are than us in this area?[av=o]

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 06-17-2004, 08:28 PM:

Looks like 40Mbps service is still pretty new, but growing. Several telecom companies over there are offering it. 40Mbps down, 3Mbps up. If you go with NTT you have to be within 2km of the CO--seems awfully short. But yeah, 40Mbps ADSL2+Q (quad carrier) service is real.

Here's one short overview of who's offering what for residential telecom services over there:

http://dns.asist.co.jp/new%20site/adsltop.htm

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-17-2004, 08:58 PM:

And why do we not have this technology over here?[av=h]

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 06-17-2004, 09:39 PM:

Dunno. Maybe it's because companies here don't like to invest in things that require big up front costs to get infrastructure in place. The Japanese telcos seem to be willing to do it, and then patiently wait (for years if need be) for the eventual return on investment. Here, accountants and stock holders usually demand positive results within one or two quarters at the most.

Also, Japanese consumers seem to be very willing to not only adopt new technologies, but to be the "first on their block" to have it. They don't seem to be afraid of the pitfalls of being early adopters. That makes it somewhat easier for companies to take a chance on new products and services.

Americans on the other hand generally would rather get a good deal and will wait for technology to improve, and for prices to fall (as they have learned to do in the PC market) before they jump in. That leads to the classic chicken or egg syndrome which makes it so hard for companies in the US to risk the launch of new services like these.

That's why you see the latest in personal electronics in Japan (in places like Tokyo's Akihabara or Osaka's Den Den Town) months or even years before similar devices show up here. And cell phones are dirt cheap over there--it seems like every junior and senior high school student in the country has a cell phone with color display, broadband gaming, email, and IM capability. The world of Serial Experiments: Lain is pretty close to reality over there.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-17-2004, 09:55 PM:

Well our videogame system is way more powerful and definitely years ahead of any of theirs. Fa![av=g]

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 06-17-2004, 10:13 PM:

And they build airports that nobody uses and then sink into the sea... [Big Grin]

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 06-17-2004, 11:04 PM:

I lived in Japan from 1977 to 1980 (I was a Marine Corps brat). Even back then many Japanese were enamored with technology. Speaking of videogames, I remember soba noodle shops and parlors filled with table top Space Invaders games. But then they had all those open sewer "benjo ditches" that emptied straight into rivers. I hope Japan's interest of building infrastructure also includes things like water and sewage lines.

Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 06-17-2004, 11:23 PM:

Many companies in Japan are "semi-subsidized" by the goverment, so they don't have to spend as much to adopt new technologies. Also, they seem to understand you can't make money on a technology unless it's brought to market, so they tend to work together. In the US, companies argue who's technology is better, delaying things like advanced cell phone features and HDTV.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 06-17-2004, 11:24 PM:

quote: Paul Mayer
they build airports that nobody uses and then sink into the sea.

Hmmmm....the Discovery Channel is still making a big deal about that airport! [Confused]

40mbs? Considering what the phone company charges for 720k, I suspect it would be out of reach of most theatre people in this country. Brad probably could afford it though, since FilmGuard's made him filthy rich!

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-17-2004, 11:59 PM:

40mbps = $34.95 per month. You are an inferior American (or if you prefer, you can use the racist term "gaijin" which means "outsider who be inferior yo" in Japanese) so you pay more for less.[av=c]

Posted by Daryl C. W. O'Shea (Member # 1303) on 06-18-2004, 12:16 AM:

4 megabit ADSL isn't high at all. We've been offering that for quite some time at $18 USD / month.

Some of our customers have ADSL circuits running at 8 to 9 megabits downstream and about half to a third up.

At $100,000 for a Cisco router for EACH AND EVERY exchange office you want to provide DSL access out of, it's no mystery why the industry is sluggish.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 06-18-2004, 03:04 AM:

Cisco should lower their prices, those bitches.[av=h] There is no need for them to be that high.

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 06-18-2004, 06:39 AM:

quote: Daryl C. W. O'Shea
4 megabit ADSL isn't high at all. We've been offering that for quite some time at $18 USD / month.

So do you have to pay in USD to get the better stuff in Canada? That`s kind of like in Yugoslavia.