WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Many of us were familiar with this sound back in the era of dial-up, but in this age of gigabit fiber connections, 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:13.500 streaming 4K video, and cars that connect to the cloud AI in real time, seems like dial-up should be a distant memory. 00:00:13.500 --> 00:00:19.500 But did you know that people still use old-school dial-up as their main home internet connection? 00:00:19.500 --> 00:00:26.500 As of 2021, well over a quarter million homes in the United States relied on dial-up, 00:00:26.500 --> 00:00:35.000 and in 2020, it was estimated that around 1% of Canadians, or around 38,000 people, also dialed in to connect. 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:38.500 But hold the phone. How is this possible? 00:00:38.500 --> 00:00:44.000 Well, it turns out that quite a few folks in rural areas don't have many other options. 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:50.000 The main alternative to dial-up in many of these places is satellite internet, which is much faster than dial-up. 00:00:50.000 --> 00:00:57.000 All you need is a clear view of the sky to get a broadband signal, so it's available from at least one provider in most remote locales. 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:03.500 But that's about where the advantages end. Although satellite internet is high speed in the sense that it isn't dial-up, 00:01:03.500 --> 00:01:08.000 it's still much slower per dollar than the average fixed connection like cable or fiber. 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:15.500 Basic plans tend to start at around 65 bucks a month, just for 10 to 25 megabits per second. 00:01:15.500 --> 00:01:21.000 Plus, you often have to pay initial and or monthly costs for the equipment. 00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:30.500 SpaceX's Starlink promises faster speeds, but at even higher rates, and an initial $600 fee for hardware. 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:33.500 Guess Elon has to come up with that Twitter money from somewhere. 00:01:33.500 --> 00:01:41.000 Satellite internet is also notoriously sensitive to the weather, much like satellite TV, and usually has high latency, 00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:44.500 making activities like online gaming a real chore. 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:50.000 But even if you can put up with that, it's simply cost prohibitive for some folks in underserved areas, 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:58.000 especially considering some dial-up providers now even provide a fixed number of hours of internet access for free each month. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:05.000 The low cost of dial-up also means that devices like ATMs and card readers, which don't need much bandwidth to begin with, 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:08.500 still often have a dial-up connection at least as a backup. 00:02:08.500 --> 00:02:11.500 But hopefully, what about DSL? 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:18.000 It runs over planned old phone lines and is much faster than dial-up, so why don't people in remote areas just use that? 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:26.500 Although higher speed DSL can run over phone wires, it requires specialized expensive equipment at each end compared to traditional dial-up. 00:02:26.500 --> 00:02:34.000 Because it's slower than cable or fiber, many ISPs are killing off DSL because they don't want to deal with the upkeep costs, 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:42.000 which has caused some controversy since there are people in outlying areas that rely on it to connect to the internet at respectable speeds. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:46.500 Not to mention fiber deployments tend to reach wealthier areas first. 00:02:46.500 --> 00:02:50.500 Cost is also the reason rural areas tend to be underserved in the first place. 00:02:50.500 --> 00:02:59.500 The low population density and vast tracts of land mean that cable companies have hang-ups about building expensive infrastructure to every home. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:05.500 It's the same reason many of these same houses can't even get cable TV as if they'd want to these days. 00:03:05.500 --> 00:03:09.500 And of course, this isn't the late 90s where the internet was a mere novelty or luxury. 00:03:09.500 --> 00:03:13.000 It's a practical necessity to participate in modern society. 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:17.500 So many areas with limited options for internet access are losing population, 00:03:17.500 --> 00:03:22.000 giving the ISPs even less of a reason to serve the folks who stay behind. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:28.500 But the hope is fixed wireless technologies where an internet signal is delivered to a home via a cell network 00:03:28.500 --> 00:03:34.500 could help bridge this digital divide in the years to come as large mobile carriers continue to build out more towers. 00:03:34.500 --> 00:03:40.500 It'll take time and money, but it could end up being more cost-effective than laying cables everywhere. 00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:44.500 And a lot quieter than listening to Google pick up your backyard. 00:03:44.500 --> 00:03:49.500 Thanks for watching, guys. Like, dislike, check out some of our other videos, comment with video suggestions down below, 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:52.500 and don't forget to subscribe and follow. Thank you.