> I always thought the upstream speed was an artificial limitation so they could upsell "business internet"...
No, really not that at all. As noted in a few comments here, they rolled out their local infrastructure in the era of "on demand TV", when it made sense for both the cable operators and their customers to prioritize download spectrum over upload. And that meant installing expensive analog filters all up and down their lines.
I bet they would love to offer symmetric service, but at the relatively low frequencies that coax cable operates compared with optical fiber, and the cost of replacing all those filters, there is only so much they can squeeze out of it.
I guess you could call this The First Mover Disadvantage.
At this point they've gotten plenty of money from those filters, and they should be replacing them instead of doing their best to pretend upload doesn't exist.
It's a disadvantage vs. somehow knowing the future, but in the absence of future-knowing I bet they still made more money by deploying earlier.
On the other hand a cable tv incumbent in a given metro area has a huge first mover advantage of having established the right-of-way in various places (aerial pole to pole, underground duct, etc). And is usually treated by the local government as a default utility service same as water and power so they can build whatever they want almost anywhere they want, anytime they want.
No, really not that at all. As noted in a few comments here, they rolled out their local infrastructure in the era of "on demand TV", when it made sense for both the cable operators and their customers to prioritize download spectrum over upload. And that meant installing expensive analog filters all up and down their lines.
I bet they would love to offer symmetric service, but at the relatively low frequencies that coax cable operates compared with optical fiber, and the cost of replacing all those filters, there is only so much they can squeeze out of it.
I guess you could call this The First Mover Disadvantage.