How Much Have Americans Really Paid For Inferior Broadband Access?

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http://www.mercola.com/2006/feb/14/how_much_have_americans_really_pai

d_for_inferior_broadband_access.htm

 

 

 

 

How Much Have Americans Really Paid For Inferior Broadband Access?

 

Despite the obstacles erected by big business interests, I remain

excited about the promise of cheap wireless Internet access via city-

funded WiFi networks.

 

Unfortunately, cheap is relative, considering Americans may have

already paid through the nose to the tune of $200 billion for

promised upgrades to existing broadband infrastructures that never

happened.

 

That's the essence of a new e-book, The $200 Billion Broadband

Scandal, written by Bruce Kushnick (a telecom analyst for nearly a

quarter-century),

http://www.newnetworks.com/broadbandscandals.htm

outlining the scam job that allowed the Baby Bells to push for tax

concessions and other financial perks at the state level.

 

In return, customers got higher phone bills and nothing else in

return, and certainly not robust broadband networks. Sounds much

like the shell game drug companies play in recycling " new and

improved versions " of older drugs just to maintain patents on their

health-harming products and keep that steady flow of cash coming.

 

U.S. residents and businesses pay two to three times as much for

slower and poorer quality service than countries like South Korea

and Japan. Since 2001, according to the International

Telecommunications Union, the United States has fallen from 4th to

16th in the world in broadband penetration.

 

What passes for broadband in the United States is " the slowest, most

expensive and least reliable in the developed world. "

 

While about 60 percent of U.S. households do not to

broadband -- because it is either unavailable where they live or

they cannot afford it -- most Japanese citizens can access a high-

speed connection that's more than 10 times faster than what's

available here for just $22 a month.

 

In fact, Japan is now rolling out ultra-high-speed access at more

than 500 times what the FCC considers to be " broadband " in this

country.

 

America has become a follower -- not a leader -- in the broadband

economy ahead, and the economic ramifications are profound.

 

MuniWireless.com February 1, 2006

 

Digital Communities

 

New York Times February 11, 2006

 

 

 

 

 

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