Demand and Supply are Issues for 1-Gbps Internet Access

It is easy to criticize big Internet access providers for arguing there is little to no demand for symmetrical 1-Gbps high-speed access services of the type Google Fiber is providing in Kansas City, Mo. and Kansas City, Kan. It comes off as an attempt to downplay the significance of a competitor's offering.

At least in part, such statements often are "jawboning" efforts to shape opinion. But there are other legitimate aspects as well. Consumers in some markets who can buy 50 Mbps, 100 Mbps or faster services, often have shown they are willing to buy slower-speed services. 

The other practical problem is that the rest of the Internet is not yet optimized for 1-Gbps speeds. Consider a recent test of Internet service provider access speeds for Netflix video streams. 

Without question, Google Fiber was the most consistently fast ISP in America for watching Netflix streamed content, according to Netflix. 

But keep it in perspective: Netflix streaming only happens so fast, on a 1-Gbps or much slower connections. In other words, a few consumers might want 1-Gbps like they want other products: for "bragging rights." 

In practice, a faster access pipe will always be bound by all the other access pipes, servers and backbone transit routes and equipment in between any two connections. Upgrading just one link doesn't actually provide that much value. It simply shifts the bottleneck elsewhere.