Two recent reports point to the continued dramatic success story of America’s broadband rollout.
The first, from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), found that the U.S. has made significant progress since 2009 in broadband deployment and consumer offerings.
According to the ITIF study:
The first, from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), found that the U.S. has made significant progress since 2009 in broadband deployment and consumer offerings.
According to the ITIF study:
- 96.3 percent of American households have access to wired broadband.
- The U.S. is third internationally in offering consumers a choice of at least two wired competitors.
- 82 percent of American homes are passed by a network capable of speeds of 100 Mbps or higher.
- Adoption of 4G LTE wireless broadband is higher in America than anywhere else in the world.
- Pricing for entry-level broadband access in the U.S. is second only to Israel among OECD countries.
And, earlier this year, a National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) study (PDF) found that:
- 98 percent of Americans have access to either a wired or wireless broadband network at 3 Mbps or greater.
- 91 percent have to a 10 Mbps network.
- Almost 100 percent of urban residents have access to download speeds of at least 6 Mbps.
- Between June 2010 and June 2012, broadband availability increased at all advertised speed levels, with the greatest rate of improvement happening in the higher speed tiers.
Of course, consumers who currently have a broadband connection have probably noticed that over the past several years they have been offered higher broadband speeds at either no additional charge, or for slightly higher fees. (Personally, my household is paying less for a 50 Mbps connection today than we did four years ago for a 15 Mbps connection.)
These data points all highlight the success of America’s broadband rollout, which notably has been done almost exclusively with private risk capital, instead of putting taxpayers on the hook for either huge capital outlays or for loan guarantees, as with most of our international competitors.
The United States is a huge country, comprising both high density urban areas as well as extensive thinly populated rural areas—the 27th lowest median urban density among OECD countries. For a country as large and geographically diverse to have achieved such broadband coverage should be considered nothing short of astounding; and that should be taken into account anytime critics disparage America’s broadband rollout by comparing it to smaller nations with much greater population density.
Given the obvious and compelling broadband success story, why do advocates of pervasive government regulation like Susan Crawford and Free Press compulsively call for much heavier government control over the broadband industry?
There’s simply no empirical justification for their heavy-handed regulatory solutions in search of a broadband problem.
These data points all highlight the success of America’s broadband rollout, which notably has been done almost exclusively with private risk capital, instead of putting taxpayers on the hook for either huge capital outlays or for loan guarantees, as with most of our international competitors.
The United States is a huge country, comprising both high density urban areas as well as extensive thinly populated rural areas—the 27th lowest median urban density among OECD countries. For a country as large and geographically diverse to have achieved such broadband coverage should be considered nothing short of astounding; and that should be taken into account anytime critics disparage America’s broadband rollout by comparing it to smaller nations with much greater population density.
Given the obvious and compelling broadband success story, why do advocates of pervasive government regulation like Susan Crawford and Free Press compulsively call for much heavier government control over the broadband industry?
There’s simply no empirical justification for their heavy-handed regulatory solutions in search of a broadband problem.