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Ask Slashdot: When and How Did Europe Leapfrog the US For Internet Access?

New submitter rsanford, apropos of today's FCC announcement about what is officially consided "broadband" speed by that agency, asks In the early and middle 90's I recall spending countless hours on IRC 'Trout-slapping' people in #hottub and engaging in channel wars. The people from Europe were always complaining about how slow their internet was and there was no choice. This was odd to me, who at the time had 3 local ISPs to choose from, all offering the fastest modem connections at the time, while living in rural America 60 miles away from the nearest city with 1,000 or more people. Was that the reality back then? If so, what changed, and when?

1 of 495 comments (clear)

  1. Europe has always had better stuff after the US. by ciscoguy01 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Europe has always had better stuff than the US.
    PAL instead of NTSC tv, because they got it after, and it was able to be improved.
    America got internet when Algore invented it, and Europe got it after, when better equipment and infrastructure was available.
    No surprise about that.

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