SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
A survey conducted earlier this year by the Pew Research Center found that 7% of Americans lack access to reliable broadband. One reason for this may be how expensive internet access is in the U.S.
"People in the U.S. pay more for slower internet than people abroad," Open Technology Institute policy analyst Claire Park said. "For many consumers, the cost of getting online right now is simply too high and also too complicated."
The Open Technology Institute has been studying the price and speed of internet services advertised within the United States as well as abroad. Its 2020 Cost of Connectivity Report found that the average advertised monthly cost of internet in the U.S. is $68.38, which is higher than the average price of internet access for all of North America, Europe and Asia.
Outdated infrastructure in the U.S. may also be impeding internet access to millions of Americans, and lawmakers have been debating how to increase internet availability and performance.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 10 2021, @11:15PM (12 children)
We gave a ton of money to the telecommunications companies to build infrastructure and they gave it to share holders. That should have received a damn hard smack down from the government, but we let them get away with it. Time to push through a Federal law allowing localities to complete with Municipal Internet. That will lower prices really fast.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Monday October 11 2021, @12:15AM (2 children)
It would be elitist to vote for more expensive politicians
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11 2021, @06:15AM (1 child)
If the last year taught us anything, it is that you need to be a billionaire Internet or media conglomerate to get representation in government.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Monday October 11 2021, @03:52PM
No different from any other year.. Vote for billionaires, you get billionaires
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11 2021, @12:31AM
》 Time to push through a Federal law allowing localities to compete with Municipal Internet
Better yet: pass law allowing Native Americans to compete with Turtle Island Internet. Faster than a speeding eagle, more bandwidth than a mighty buffalo, and cheaper than the glass trinkets used to pay for Manhattan. Turtle Island Internet... expensive, but we owe them for all the atrocities and whatnot.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11 2021, @12:56AM
They didn't just "get away with it", they were given billions more in subsidies to pay for the work that they still haven't done, while suing anyone who actually tried to provide service.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Monday October 11 2021, @01:40AM
Who's gonna do it? Not this congress... House needs sweeping
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2) by HammeredGlass on Monday October 11 2021, @01:11PM (5 children)
Averaging out people in the U.S. and comparing them to places like Europe is an apples to oranges comparison if ever there was one considering how so much more of the U.S. is rural in comparison which has exponentially higher infrastructure costs for more recent technologies. Also why the U.S. will never be the railroad utopia that railfans and authoritarian lefties wish it would become.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11 2021, @02:42PM (4 children)
Bullshit. We have less rural population than France, Germany, or Spain. Sure, we have lots of unpopulated void, but the carriers aren’t even bothering with them. The problem of price differential is in the urban centers where they actually provide service.
(Score: 2) by HammeredGlass on Monday October 11 2021, @05:13PM (3 children)
Europe - https://i.imgur.com/FwkBPMZ.jpg [imgur.com]
vs.
America - https://i.imgur.com/6IJ45F9.jpg [imgur.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11 2021, @05:17PM (2 children)
Thank you for conceding the point so succinctly.
(Score: 1, Flamebait) by HammeredGlass on Monday October 11 2021, @05:36PM (1 child)
Put your color blind glasses on, you cowardly dog.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11 2021, @10:32PM
Uhm… so you think that by having larger areas of lesser density means we have a proportionally greater population of rural residents? Spoiler: WE DON’T. The bottom line is that 85% of this country live in urban centers. It really doesn’t matter if that remaining fifteen percent have 0bps at $infinity for purposes of the comparison at hand.