IT Professionals

US Broadband Speeds A Joke

Posted by on Aug 14, 2008 | 5 Comments

When you read reports like this stating that US broadband speeds are not just behind other nations, they are so behind that it is totally pathetic. Now I am not blaming any one ISP here, however I must ask whether or not we will ever be able to catch up with some of the other nations linked above?

What really grabbed my attention in the report was the alarming concern that this is going to pose problems for the US to remain competitive in the global marketplace. And clearly, this is already an issue on almost every level, the last thing we need is yet another area where we as a nation are falling behind.

So what is the hold up then? Some might say that our biggest issue is related to the US geography, which is semi-fair to point out. However with new wireless technologies, clearly the biggest holdups stem from ISP not providing enough penetration and yet the rates continue to rise. Go figure!

  • John

    The U.S. was given a chance, but corporate greed took over to the tune of $200 billion. Robert Cringley can explain it better than me:

    The $200 Billion Rip-Off: Our broadband future was stolen

    http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070810_002683.html

  • Raymond Combs

    I don’t know where they get their numbers! According to THEIR site (speedtest), my Comcast account is getting 24,939 DL, and 2343 UL.

  • MC

    We have the same fraudband snail like speeds here in Australia so you guys are not alone. Cable download speed of 7Mbs is theoretical max but it averages out at around half that.

  • Ray

    Yeah, but who can afford a T-1 line in a residence?

  • David

    What we are stuck with is a case of our past being too good. We have had an infrastructure capable of supporting the internet for many many years. It’s known as POTS, plain old telephone service. The ISPs used this as it’s been in place for a long time. Most of the rest of the worls didn’t have it. We had our modems and then DSL. Along comes cable and such. This requires a whole new system. Cables, fiber, whatever. The ISPs say “Why should we spend the $$ to install all this new stuff? The old POTS is fast enough.” Meanwhile, the rest of the world who didn’t have the telecommunications infrastructure are putting up fast infrastructures. It’s the same reason most countries are way ahead of us in cell phone capability. It would cost a fortune to catch up. As of yet, the cost to upgrade has yet be worth it. I have a feeling it’s not far in the distant furute though. We’re starting to get FIOS, U-Verse, etc.

    Oh, BTW, my comcast line is 23mb down 3 MB up. There;s a major tap in my front yard!