United States Falling Behind in Broadband April 14, 2005
73% of South Koreans have broadband access while 20% of U.S.
citizens don't even have the option of obtaining broadband
Internet access. And to make things worse our broadband access
is much slower than some countries. How did the U.S. get
behind so quickly in Internet connection speed. BusinessWeekreports:
In 2000, the OECD said the U.S. ranked third in Net users connecting
at high-speed among the top-30 world economies. The next year it fell
to fourth. Now it's 11th, according to the OECD. And fast connections
in the U.S. are slower than in many other countries. A top-of-the-line
cable modem in the U.S. carries five megabits per second, while
broadband connections in Asian countries like Japan and South Korea
are often 20 times faster. South Korea is, in fact, the world leader
in broadband. And unlike the U.S., it has multiple companies offering
most of the country DSL lines that are also faster than what's available
in the U.S., thanks in no small part to government encouragement and
sponsorship.
The OECD is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the OECD's website can be found here.
Canada also has much better broadband availability than the U.S.
BusinessWeekreports that some critics are blaming the government for
not allowing more competition in the broadband market:
Many critics point the finger at Washington for not fostering the kind
of competition that has allowed Canada's broadband market to thrive and
led France -- not exactly known for fostering capitalist competition --
to boost its broadband penetration from 12% in 2003 to a forecasted 41%
next year. If cable companies were forced to open up their lines,
over-night 80% of the U.S. would have more than one broadband supplier
to choose from. Theoretically at least, that would drive down prices
and force companies to offer enticing service packages like phone and
TV delivered via the Web.
