Journal 8, October 18

Article: Line sharing best solution for slow, expensive US broadband

The Internet has become quite pervasive in our way of life in the US and even in other countries. But the fact of the matter is that Internet service in the US isn't what it should be. For instance up until a month or two ago the fastest Internet connection I could get for under $50 was dialup which has been obsolete for years. Even now with 1Mbs cable Internet for about $25 available there isn't any competition going on since there aren't any other providers.

Policy and legislation aside, I think infrastructural challenges are what have kept faster Internet from coming my way for a good while since I am beyond the maximum range for DSL from the CO. I am not alone here either since nearly half the population in my area lives out of town and must either rely on cable Internet usually with only one choice of provider or in the absence of cable use dialup or the prohibitively satellite Internet.

The reason I think 1Mbs Internet is still an outrageously high price is for that price people living in the UK can get TV, Internet and phone service for less that $30 total from SKY. In the US the prices on comparable services are at least 3 times higher! I don't think the prices are high due to a lack of competing technologies but rather due to a lack of competing service providers. The technology used really matters very little once you think about it.

Another misconception that was cleared up by the report was areas with higher populations densities are the primary contributor to faster Internet. According to the article reports show that some countries such as Japan, Korea and the Netherlands are far outperforming what mere population density advantages would predict.

I think that if the US were to adopt more open and competition inducing policies we would see faster Internet service and better broadband Internet availability. The reason being that companies would be forced into competition that currently aren't really competing since like in my case I have no choice for broadband except one company. While the Internet is not the answer for everything and certainly has its rough spots its a shame that many areas in the US are getting left behind technologically. The Internet was designed to be and still is an excellent educational tool without which many homes will likely be poorly equipped to compliment learning done at school.

Original Berkman Center Research Paper