U.S. falling behind in broadband: a Sputnik moment

Once considered "the fertile crescent of Internet innovation," the U.S. is trailing the world in broadband Internet, according to a report by Strategy Analytics Inc.

The market research firm calls this a "Sputnik moment" for the country, a point at which we need concerted national policy to boost broadband penetration and speed.

The U.S. has not come close to meeting the goal -- enunciated by President George Bush in 2004 -- of "universal and affordable access by 2007." In fact, in the so-called "metrics that matter," including penetration, availability, speed and affordability, the U.S. has been overtaken by other developed nations.

In the mid-nineties, the majority of Internet connections in the U.S. were at 28kbps; today, typical speeds advertised by U.S. cable and DSL providers are in the 3Mbps to 11Mbps range. This still pales in comparison to what the typical Japanese or South Korean consumer receives, where 100 Mbps service is commonplace, and average data rates are on the order of 50Mbps.

"The issue transcends one of simple national pride -- the enormous economic and social effects of broadband warrant immediate action," says analyst Ben Piper.

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• Bush's broadband plan: A miserable failure
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• Broadband penetration growth slows: Has the rural rollout run out of gas?
• All Computerworld blog posts about broadband