Maybe we'll get something better?
Internet access in Shanghai remains really bad. I am able to access Sinosplice and ChinesePod only really late at night, and they’re still slow. A lot of sites are still pretty much inaccessible.
I noticed this article tonight:
> Verizon Business, part of the No2 US phone carrier, announced this month plans to build an undersea cable with five Asian partners. It will directly link China with the United States and is due for completion by the third quarter of 2008.
> The company said on Thursday it would use the Trans-Pacific Express cable to launch a “mesh” communications network to ensure uninterrupted voice and Internet service in case of a disruption by re-routing traffic on alternate lines.
I like the sound of that. (But wait a minute… Verizon can’t even do math. Can they really pull this off?)
holy cow!! i listened to the entire recording about verizon not being able to do math. obviously none of the reps get it, but also i don’t think george did a good job making it visual enough for them. not that it should have had to have taken THAT MUCH explaining! the bit about conversion should have been enough. i think the real problem is that they (verizon reps) had so much confidence in their system that they were blind to his explanations and failed to recognize that the problem was (as george said) in terminology. ugh!
Pretty much the same down here in SZ – most sites timeout or take up to a hour to load. Click a button and get a cup of coffee or make some dinner, check in later. It feels very much like the dark ages…
I agree with you amy. If he had just insisted that he was only going to pay 72 cents, things might have escalated more rapidly.
I was jumping up and down yelling “just don’t pay” when I was listening to him explain it for the 10th time.
Yeah… the internet sucked there when I visited, too. What I’m curious about is whether if it’s just because some of the cheaper plans suck, or if it’s terrible even for those willing to pay a bit more.
MONEY – I’m pretty much convinced this was mostly a politics, brain power and communication problem, and LITTLE to do with cables that were physically damaged by the Taiwan quake. I’m not saying they weren’t damaged, but I also bet that they haven’t still been physically fixed, yet we’re getting back up to 60% capacity.
Look at this map, the MESH already exists.
http://www.globalmarinesystems.com/cap_maps.asp
But of course certain companies control certain pipes and there are contracts for costs for bandwidth. Obviously S’pore, Korea, Japan were able to respond and cover the emergency costs, and communicate with other telecoms and re-route their packets. Mainland China has still not been able to do it. It’s pretty disappointing.
zhen xiao qi, ma da pi!
i think you can go to Xiamen,it’s a beautiful city and a lodgeable city. the air is more fresh than Guangzhou which i live in China. And the public security is suitable for you live .