I'm the Idiot Who Bought an HD-DVD Player

[jayn_j]

I believe you make a mistake when you take the technological issues out of the political context.
During the technobubble of the late 90s so much fiber optics was laid, it is still half dark
(remember when Google was caught buying dark fiber around the country for pennies a few years back?)

I believe, by the time studios are ready to look at alternatives to BD seriously (1-2 years, IMHO), there will be more than one
fast pipe into the majority of households: fiber in urban areas, satellite in rural, wireless (WiMax, 802.11N, etc.) in most.
Diogen.

It may very well be true that everyhome has a broadband connection, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Here is an article from the current Test&Measurement World on internet bandwidth that supports my position.

OFCNFOEC: The increasing demand for bandwidth - 2/28/2008 12:23:00 PM - Test & Measurement World

The following quote is especially telling, in light of the widespread opinion that we overbuilt our fiber backbones:

Wednesday at OFCNFOEC 2008 featured a panel discussion with members of companies ranging from Facebook to component maker Avago Technologies. Five other companies were represented, including Reuters. Each panel member discussed how the increasing demand for bandwidth from Facebook to YouTube to the 18-to-29-year olds is fueling the need for ever more network bandwidth. As a result, video downloads are stressing core networks and the unlit fibers of earlier this decade are now full.