It seems the big ISP companies are just not listening to consumer and economic experts warnings.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080624-report-us-must-have-universal-gigabit-broadband-by-2015.htmlA new report from a DC telecom law firm claims, as many other recent reports have, that the US is falling behind when it comes to broadband deployment, and it says that aggressive action is needed to keep the country competitive. What's different about the new report is just how aggressive its recommendations are: 100Mbps of "affordable" broadband available to all Americans by 2012, with 1Gbps service coming online by 2015.
E-NC's chair Jane Smith Patterson was in DC this morning to address a House subcommittee hearing on Universal Service Fund reform, and she made a strong case for more government support for broadband.
The report's argument is that broadband has become a utility service, and that communities that don't have it (or that don't have adequate speeds) are in danger of being left behind. "The history of electrification is repeating itself in the broadband era," says the report. "Like the power companies of the century ago, the major communications providers are focusing first on their most lucrative markets and are leaving less profitable communities behind."
Yet another demonstration if one was ever needed of the fact that you cant leave the market to regulate itself based purely on business ethics, looking short term is self defeating when it comes to delivering affordable and inclusive internet access, ISP companies looking to make a fast buck should be shunned, perhaps they have forgotten how nice it feels to do the right thing.
