Hats off to the Obama Administration for recognizing the nation’s expanding broadband gap puts the country at a competitive disadvantage.
Obama has set aside billions to improve broadband and rules to govern the spending are set to be unveiled shortly. While the rules were initially conceived to shore up broadband in rural areas, they also may address the speed gap that has developed compared with other developed countries, such as Japan, Korea, the Netherlands and France.
That would be good news.
I don’t need to tell many of you that the United States slipped to 19th place in 2008 in terms of the speeds consumers get from their commercial providers. It was 13th in 2007. The average download speed in the U.S. is 9.6 mbps, or a tenth of what is offered in Japan.
Think of the applications you might be able to use if your broadband ran 10 times faster.
Almost a half of US consumers express interest in a cellular modem if the price is right
I came across another example Monday of how a lack of competition in the communications markets is hurting broadband consumers. A survey by ABI Research found that 47 percent of U.S. consumers have at least some interest in a cellular modem for their laptops.
Today, cellular modem service from a carrier such as Verizon comes with a $50 to $60 a month charge. The survey found that mass consumption would probably begin if the service cost about half the price.
“Respondents who don’t currently own cellular modems but are interested in them…place a significantly lower value – somewhere between less than $10 and $30/month – on that service,” according to an ABI Research report.
In the U.S., entrepreneurs usually line up to address business propositions when the target audiences reaches into the millions. And they work hard to lower prices when necessary. So where are they now?
The answer is on the sidelines with access to the national networks closed off. Is it time again for the country to rethink its network access policies?
Posted by Mark Boslet 
