I can't believe that it's been six years since I started writing about our country's poor Internet performance and high Internet cost. The OECD periodically reports on the Internet status in their various countries. We are not the cheapest; there are 28 (of 34) OECD countries whose citizens pay less than we do for web access. This high cost has affected Internet penetration; in 2002, the United States had the sixth-highest broadband penetration among all O.E.C.D. countries. Last year it was in 15th place. Somehow in the country that invented the Internet we rank 17th in terms of average download speeds.
And now net neutrality has once more become a hot item in the halls of Congress. The lobbyists are out in force to allow the telecommunication companies to discriminate amongst its users; equality of access will vanish.
The 20th century FCC was concerned with us. Remember the MCI decision? They also made sure that you could use a non-Bell phone to make calls on Bell networks. AT&T was cut up into smaller - and sometimes more responsive - companies.
1 comment:
How true! I would like to view your video on the orangutans and iPads. I can't. HughesNet satellite, the only 'broadband' option open to me, is too slow to allow downloaded video. The first few seconds arrive quickly enough, then it grinds to a halt as bandwidth is strangled. If I want to watch it, it has to be between 2am and 6am, the only time HughesNet allows unrestricted download. All for $80 a month.
Post a Comment