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ITIF Senior Fellow Claims "America's Broadband Networks Lead the World"

Posted by timothy on from the att-clearly-breaking-the-curve dept.

McGruber writes "In an Op-Ed published in The NY Times, Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF.org) Senior Fellow Richard Bennett claims that 'America's broadband networks lead the world by many measures, and they are improving at a more rapid rate than networks in most developed countries.' Mr. Bennett also says, 'the most critical issue facing American broadband has nothing to do with the quality of our networks; it is our relatively low rates of subscribership.'"

5 of 298 comments (clear)

  1. What!? by willthiswork89 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    There are nations with 50 mbps for pennies on the dollar to our cost in America, not to mention absolutely no throttling or data limits. Wake up Richard Bennett! There are far too many monopolies in Americas internet connections and THATS the problem, no competition means they can do whatever the hell they want!

    1. Re:What!? by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The citizens already paid for the infrastructure. The telcos pocketed the cash for themselves instead.

      FTFY.

  2. The Point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Mr. Bennett also says that'"the most critical issue facing American broadband has nothing to do with the quality of our networks; it is our relatively low rates of subscribership." .. which would not be a problem if the service was as cheaper and more reliable.

    1. Re: The Point by Digital+Vomit · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Hail, time traveler! Welcome to the World of Tomorrow! I will give you a brief introduction on some important changes in society that have occurred since your time:

      • Michael Jackson died a white woman
      • New Coke turned out to be a flop
      • Berlin Wall has fallen

      Believe it or not, a black man is president of the United States now. We have computers so small that they fit in the palm of your hand. The top 14% of Americans own almost 75% of the wealth and have devastated the economy over the past half decade. The average income of a worker has remained about the same since your time, but the average CEO now makes 350 times the average worker. With so much wealth being sequestered among the super rich instead of being shared among the middle class where it would be used to keep the economy going, the US is on the verge of a complete financial collapse.

      Welcome!

      --
      Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
  3. U S A! U S A! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We're number 1! We're number 1!

    I suppose Mr. Bennett just disregards the 32 countries that have recently developed faster more modern networks (http://www.netindex.com/download/allcountries/). Make up some random metric, don't compare to all nations, disregard contradicting evidence, declare champion. Sounds like a good plan to me!