Building the Interactive TV Infrastructure

Estimated costs in the USA:

• $ 50 per subscriber to replace Cable TV coaxial with fiber
• $ 20 billion for whole US
• $ 200 billion to upgrade phone network to fiber

There is skepticism whether the last alternative is realistic. Indeed the Bell telephone companies are experimenting, as an alternative, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines which might provide 1.5 M b/s over twisted pair.

For a discussion of whether the phone companies or the Cable TV companies are more likely to build the above infrastructure, see:

• J. Malone on Telco-Cable Wars
• The Infobahn is nothing but a pile of hype