Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
CNN) -- People in the United States basically invented the Internet. So U.S. connections must be the fastest and cheapest in the world, right?
Not so much.
Broadband Internet speeds in the United States are only about one-fourth as fast as those in South Korea, the world leader, according to the Internet monitoring firm Akamai
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Communications Commission is kick-starting Wednesday a concerted effort to remove regulatory barriers that hinder investment in faster wireless and Internet networks.
On Wednesday, the agency plans to hold a public hearing on how to eliminate bottlenecks. Some of the issues under review include rights of way, the placement of wireless-phone towers and how much cable and phone companies should pay to connect wires to utility poles.
Such barriers collectively raise network-buildout costs by as much as 25%, according to Genachowski. “These are not sexy issues, and no single one is a silver bullet,” he added
Cable executives believe the utilities are exaggerating their potential losses from reduced pole-access fees. “It’s a huge money-maker for them,” said Brian Dietz, spokesman for the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. Even if the FCC manages to resolve a thorny issue like utility-pole fees, some telecom-industry executives say there are bigger obstacles to investment. AT&T and Verizon, for their part, finger “special access” rates set by regulators.These rates dictate how much competitors have to pay AT&T and Verizon to use large cables that connect to big commercial buildings or wireless towers. AT&T and Verizon complain that rates are too low, giving them little incentive to upgrade to faster technology. Rivals say they charge too much.
When regulators keep only 1 wire per household running down the street, then lack of competition gives them little incentive to upgrade to faster technology.
In Japan net users have 100Mbps lines, 10 times higher than the OECD average. Japan's price for broadband per megabit per second is the lowest at $0.22.
When regulators keep only 1 wire per household running down the street, then lack of competition gives them little incentive to upgrade to faster technology.
It's not just regulators keeping one wire down the street. In fact where I live there are at least two wires, AT&T U-verse and Comcast. But the cost of building a substantial broadband network is MASSIVE whether the technoligy is fixed line or wireless.
He wasn't asking a serious question. Though admittingly, this form of question is difficult for foreign English speakers to understand but, I guess I would say sarcasm would be the closest thing. The point he was trying to make that we should be ahead of the curve since we came up with the idea of the internet
I do really agree though. US internet really sucks, and our geography plays a big part in that. Then the ISPs take advantage of this and charge top dollar for service with virtually no competition. Telecoms in this country are thus, expensive. A 50Mb connection plan with Comcast in my area costs $100,but a 50Mb connection in Berkshire, England would cost around £40. It's much cheaper over there (exchange rates are useless in this aspect)
He wasn't asking a serious question. Though admittingly, this form of question is difficult for foreign English speakers to understand but, I guess I would say sarcasm would be the closest thing. The point he was trying to make that we should be ahead of the curve since we came up with the idea of the internet
Yea I got that alright but still why should you be ahead of the curve just because you came up with the idea of the internet. It makes no sense. Japan and far east-asia in general have always had faster Internet access. This is more a question of telecommunications infrastructure than who invented the internet, isn't it.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
