Broadband Reality Check II: The Truth Behind America's Digital Decline

Publication Date: August 2006

Publisher: Free Press (Organization); Consumer Federation of America; Consumers Union of United States

Author(s): S. Derek Turner

Research Area: Media, telecommunications, and information

Keywords: Internet; Broadband

Type: Report

Abstract:

With every passing month, the United States falls further behind the global leaders in broadband Internet access thanks to a combination of market and policy failures. Our markets lack the competition to bring lower prices, higher speeds, and universal access. Our policies lack the imagination and potency to create real change. Meanwhile, Americans pay more money for less service than a dozen other nations. A third of U.S households are still stuck with dial-up, and another third lack Internet access of any kind. Our broadband problem is becoming a crisis.