Reply #6: We already have the worst broadband service in the developed world

[kaygore]

Can we really trust Republicans and further, it was tax payers' money that created the Internet in the first place. We have the worst Internet broadband service as it is in the developed world (see below). Finally, as the Interstate highway system gave a huge boost to our economy so would free broadband wireless, but do you think that the ISP would really go along. No, they would rather our economy stagnate for short term profits:

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
subscribe 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