Is the U.S. a Leader in Promoting High Speed Internet?
The United States does not have a policy promoting high speed Internet access, and it's starting to show. When comparing the percentage of broadband subscribers in major industrialized nations, the U.S. ranks a dismal 16th, behind countries such as Canada, Israel, Japan and Singapore. Our ranking has fallen from 11th in 2002, and we could fall even further behind without a comprehensive strategy for technological advancement.
One of the biggest problems that must be addressed is the U.S.'s definition of what qualifies as "high speed" Internet service. The Federal Communications Commission's definition of high speed as 200 kilobits per second is shockingly low by most standards. To put it in perspective, the highest speed generally available in the U.S. from a cable modem or DSL is 6 megabits per second; that's about 30 times faster than what the FCC calls "high speed". But compared to what's possible, it's a snail's pace -- the highest speed generally available in Japan is a whopping 100 megabits per second (500 times faster than what the FCC calls "high speed"). In order to access interactive features and advanced applications via the Internet, such higher speeds are required.
Combine slow speeds with high cost, and you see why the U.S. is failing in this arena. For example, a DSL connection of 1.5-3.0 megabits (mbps) per second costs an average of $30-50 per month in the U.S., and a cable connection of 3-5 mbps costs $40-50. In Japan, a connection speed of 26 mbps (that's at least five times faster) costs about $22 a month.
Consequently, only 11 percent of U.S. households with incomes below $30,000 subscribe to high speed Internet, while more than 62 percent of households with incomes over $100,000 pay for broadband.
The U.S. must adopt a broadband policy today or the telecommunications revolution will pass us by!
BTW, Japan just launched a super speed internet satellite in Feb with downloads of 1.2 Gbps.
