Another anemic showing for U.S. broadband
8 comments- IT TOPICS:Government & Regulation, Networking, Internet
If you need any more evidence that U.S. broadband is anemic at best, here's another one: The Communications Workers of America (CWA) has just released a report ranking us 16th in broadband speeds and connectivity among industrialized nations.
According to a Computerworld report, "the median real-time download speed in the U.S. is 1.9Mbit/sec., compared with 61Mbit/sec. in Japan, 45Mbit/sec. in South Korea, 17Mbit/sec. in France and 7Mbit/sec. in Canada."
Not only are our speeds pitifully slow, but we pay more for them. The Computerworld article notes that in Japan, people pay about $30 per month for 50Mbit/sec. access. By way of contrast, in the U.S., we pay $20 for about 1Mbit/sec. service and $30 to $40 for about 4Mbit/sec. service.
As I've previously written, we also lag the world when it comes to broadband penetration as well. We're a mediocre 24th in the world.
Congress may take action to improve on all that. Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) has introduced a bill to require that the federal government better track true broadband use, something the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has refused to do. That bill will only be the first step; next will come pressure to ensure better broadband access for all.
Other Blog Entries by Preston Gralla:
- Preston Gralla: Australian broadband puts U.S. to shame
- Preston Gralla: Google: Do no evil ... except in China
- Preston Gralla: One more reason Vonage is dead
- Preston Gralla: AT&T's Whitacre: We'll charge Web sites for admission to the Internet
- Preston Gralla: Why Verio is the world's worst hosting service
- Preston Gralla: New VoIP business plan: Sell to swingers and cheaters
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