|
Friday, 3 April 2015
quote [ EVER THOUGHT YOUR LIFE is too expensive? Well, if you?re living in the western world, it probably is, but it?s probably not as expensive as life in Switzerland. Movehub, an international moving company, put together this incredible infographic to show you where the cheapest places in the world are, and where the most expensive are, with a bit of info on every country in between as well. ]
|
rndmnmbr said @ 4:07pm GMT on 3rd April
Utility companies can't legally go "Nope, not going there, not worth the money". This applies to electricity and phone service universally - if the company has to install extra infrastructure to service you, they are allowed to add a surcharge to your bill, but they're not allowed to not service you. This was all hashed out in the 1930's, and is federally regulated by the Rural Utilities Service department of the USDA. Gas service is similarly regulated, either requiring natural gas to be piped to the premises or a company to deliver LP gas/heating fuel to your own private supply cylinder.
Water service is typically only provided within city limits, but you can always have a well drilled if you live in the countryside. Inside city water service, garbage collection and sewerage are provided and included in the water bill; outside, you can rent a dumpster directly from the garbage collection company (or do what most other people do, either dig a trash pit and burn it occasionally, or sneak your garbage into the nearest town and toss it in a dumpster and try not to get caught), and most houses have septic systems.
Cities can go bankrupt, they can depopulate and fade into ghost towns, but utility service is legally mandated. If there is no longer a city to provide services, the state will step in and have a regulated private company provide services.
Internet, on the other hand, isn't (yet! Go FCC!) a regulated public utility. Most towns will have some kind of broadband available (typically 1.5k/728k ADSL) within the distance limits of the local phone exchange. Outside of those distance limits, well, occasionally there will be a fixed-base wireless provider (usually 728k/256k), but you may well be limited to dial-up (33.6 because 56k is distance limited like ADSL, so lolno), satellite internet service, or tethering through your phone. But inside city limits, yeah, you can usually get at least one flavor of slow broadband.
rndmnmbr said @ 12:14pm GMT on 3rd April
Utility companies can't legally go "Nope, not going there, not worth the money". This applies to electricity and phone service universally - if the company has to install extra infrastructure to service you, they are allowed to add a surcharge to your bill, but they're not allowed to not service you. This was all hashed out in the 1930's, and is federally regulated by the Rural Utilities Service department of the USDA. Gas service is similarly regulated, either requiring natural gas to be piped to the premises or a company to deliver LP gas/heating fuel to your own private supply cylinder.
Water service is typically only provided within city limits, but you can always have a well drilled if you live in the countryside. Inside city water service, garbage collection and sewerage are provided and included in the water bill; outside, you can rent a dumpster directly from the garbage collection company (or do what most other people do, either dig a trash pit and burn it occasionally, or sneak your garbage into the nearest town and toss it in a dumpster and try not to get caught), and most houses have septic systems.
Cities can go bankrupt, they can depopulate and fade into ghost towns, but utility service is legally mandated. If there is no longer a city to provide services, the state will step in and have a regulated private company provide services.
Internet, on the other hand, isn't (yet! Go FCC!) a regulated public utility. Most towns will have some kind of broadband available (typically 1.5k/728k ADSL) within the distance limits of the local phone exchange. Outside of those distance limits, well, occasionally there will be a fixed-base wireless provider (usually 728k/256k), but you may well be limited to dial-up (33.6 because 56k is distance limited like ADSL, so lolno), satellite internet service, or tethering through your phone. But inside city limits, yeah, you can usually get at least one flavor of slow broadband.
Where I live now, a town of roughly 2k people in the Texas panhandle, there are two ADSL providers plus the cable company, so I'm not personally limited for options. In the last town of this size I lived in, 6k/1k ADSL was available, and I'm currently on 50k/5k cable internet service.
rndmnmbr said @ 12:15pm GMT on 3rd April
Utility companies can't legally go "Nope, not going there, not worth the money". This applies to electricity and phone service universally - if the company has to install extra infrastructure to service you, they are allowed to add a surcharge to your bill, but they're not allowed to not service you. This was all hashed out in the 1930's, and is federally regulated by the Rural Utilities Service department of the USDA. Gas service is similarly regulated, either requiring natural gas to be piped to the premises or a company to deliver LP gas/heating fuel to your own private supply cylinder.
Water service is typically only provided within city limits, but you can always have a well drilled if you live in the countryside. Inside city water service, garbage collection and sewerage are provided and included in the water bill; outside, you can rent a dumpster directly from the garbage collection company (or do what most other people do, either dig a trash pit and burn it occasionally, or sneak your garbage into the nearest town and toss it in a dumpster and try not to get caught), and most houses have septic systems.
Cities can go bankrupt, they can depopulate and fade into ghost towns, but utility service is legally mandated. If there is no longer a city to provide services, the state will step in and have a regulated private company provide services.
Internet, on the other hand, isn't (yet! Go FCC!) a regulated public utility. Most towns will have some kind of broadband available (typically 1.5mb/728k ADSL) within the distance limits of the local phone exchange. Outside of those distance limits, well, occasionally there will be a fixed-base wireless provider (usually 728k/256k), but you may well be limited to dial-up (33.6 because 56k is distance limited like ADSL, so lolno), satellite internet service, or tethering through your phone. But inside city limits, yeah, you can usually get at least one flavor of slow broadband.
Where I live now, a town of roughly 2k people in the Texas panhandle, there are two ADSL providers plus the cable company, so I'm not personally limited for options. In the last town of this size I lived in, 6mb/1mb ADSL was available, and I'm currently on 50mb/5mb cable internet service.
<-- Entry / Current Comment
rndmnmbr said @ 4:07pm GMT on 3rd April [Score:1 Informative]
Utility companies can't legally go "Nope, not going there, not worth the money". This applies to electricity and phone service universally - if the company has to install extra infrastructure to service you, they are allowed to add a surcharge to your bill, but they're not allowed to not service you. This was all hashed out in the 1930's, and is federally regulated by the Rural Utilities Service department of the USDA. Gas service is similarly regulated, either requiring natural gas to be piped to the premises or a company to deliver LP gas/heating fuel to your own private supply cylinder.
Water service is typically only provided within city limits, but you can always have a well drilled if you live in the countryside. Inside city water service, garbage collection and sewerage are provided and included in the water bill; outside, you can rent a dumpster directly from the garbage collection company (or do what most other people do, either dig a trash pit and burn it occasionally, or sneak your garbage into the nearest town and toss it in a dumpster and try not to get caught), and most houses have septic systems.
Cities can go bankrupt, they can depopulate and fade into ghost towns, but utility service is legally mandated. If there is no longer a city to provide services, the state will step in and have a regulated private company provide services.
Internet, on the other hand, isn't (yet! Go FCC!) a regulated public utility. Most towns will have some kind of broadband available (typically 1.5mb/728k ADSL) within the distance limits of the local phone exchange. Outside of those distance limits, well, occasionally there will be a fixed-base wireless provider (usually 728k/256k), but you may well be limited to dial-up (33.6 because 56k is distance limited like ADSL, so lolno), satellite internet service, or tethering through your phone. But inside city limits, yeah, you can usually get at least one flavor of slow broadband.
Where I live now, a town of roughly 2k people in the Texas panhandle, there are two ADSL providers plus the cable company, so I'm not personally limited for options. In the last town of this size I lived in, 6mb/1mb ADSL was available, and I'm currently on 50mb/5mb cable internet service.
