Cost and the internet

Slate:

According to the FCC's National Broadband Plan, the no. 1 reason that those without broadband cite for not having broadband is cost. Given that broadband is more expensive here than abroad, it's no surprise the United States lags behind a growing list of other countries. Subscribers in the United States pay more per megabit of bandwidth than countries across both our oceans. To remedy this, the FCC has a plan that's the equivalent of the United States entering the Grand Prix with the goal of finishing last. The National Broadband Plan wants all Americans to have access to 4 Mbps download and 1 Mbps upload speeds by 2020. In that same time frame, the plan also proposes a neatly framed 100 Mbps download, 50 Mbps upload connection for 100 million homes.

By way of comparison, Taiwan already has near-universal access to 10 Mbps and South Korea achieved 1 Mbps universal access in 2008. By the end of 2010, Germany and Ireland both plan to reach universal 1 Mbps while Sweden, Denmark, and the U.K. are working to 2 Mbps to everyone by the end of the year. In essence, many nations expect to achieve goals by the end of 2010 that will rival what we hope to achieve in 2020. Furthermore, the 100 million households that will get 100 Mbps speeds represent only 75 percent of the population. By comparison, South Korea plans to have 50 Mbps available for 95 percent of the population in 2013, Sweden's goal is 100 Mbps for 90 percent of the population by 2020, and Finland is striving for universal 100 Mbps availability by 2015.

Many commentators have pointed out that competition is sorely lacking among broadband providers. As the FCC noted in its national plan, 96 percent of all households are served by two or fewer providers. But even when some choice is present, precious little information is available for customers to make informed decisions about their broadband service offerings. Speeds are advertised as "up to"—even though systematic testing documents that customers usually receive only half this advertised speed. And advertised prices almost always exclude hidden fees and additional costs, often require bundling with additional services that customers neither want nor need, are usually only good for short promotional periods, and come with a mountain of caveats and other fine print allowing providers to sever connections, manipulate customers' Internet traffic, and even spy on your online activities.