The,United,States,Doesn,Have,B DIY The United States Doesnt Have Broadband
When starting a new work at home business it is very easy to become consumed by it. We spend so much time trying to get the business up and running that we may end up becoming burned out and lose our motivation. There is so much to learn and Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in
The technology that is now called the Internet was born inthe United States. ARPANET, the predecessor of The Internetcreated by the United States Defense Department, carried its first message fromone computer to another in 1968. Sincethat time packet switching technology has grown into the global phenomenon thatis The Internet and has changed the way people live and do business forever. Why then is the United States ranked 15thin the world for broadband penetration? In France a broadbandcustomer can get faster speeds for half of what customers in the US pay, and South Korea has throughput speeds 15 times faster than the US on average. The United States is no longer leadingthe growth in this industry.Americaslack of strategy is often cited as the primary reason broadband penetration isnow lagging behind other parts of the world, as well as the governments lack ofinvolvement or even interest is promoting growth. IT would appear however that the culprit maybe a lack of competition in the market.Telephone companies and Cable Internet providers control about 97% of the broadband residential market. The other 3% currently uses inferiortechnology that is more expensive and considerably slower than DSL orcable. This is of course out ofnecessity as this small percentage does not have access to anything other thandial-up or satellite Internet. WirelessInternet threatened to bring affordable broadband to the masses, however thetwo largest providers also dominate the DSL market bringing even lesscompetition to the market.The business community is faced with similar problems. Most offices have access to a single providerfor DSL or cable, and if a T1 is the best choice for the business the samecompany that would manage it is also the DSL provider. This particular problem leads to higher costsand overcharges that have reached billions of dollars.In 2004 President George W. Bush said, We ought to haveuniversal affordable access for broadband technology by the year 2007 and thenwe ought to make sure, as soon as possible thereafter, consumers have choiceswhen it comes to their carrier. Thisstatement suggests that the current broadband market in the US is havingissues, however to date the services offered customers are too slow and muchtoo expensive. The FCC commissioneragreed and said in 2006, Even in cities and suburbs, the fact that broadbandis too slow, too expensive and too poorly subscribed is a significant drag onour economy. Some experts estimate that universal broadband adoption would add$500 billion to the U.S.economy and create 1.2 million jobs.So it would appear that the current state of the broadbandmarket in the USis not only costing consumers too much money for an inferior product, but couldbe a significant cause in stifling the growth of the economy. If this is anywhere near the mark, it wouldappear that now is the time for change. If the FCC doesnt take a long hard look at the Duopoly of the Telcosand the Cable providers its possible that the long term damage to the USeconomy could be significant.
The,United,States,Doesn,Have,B