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Outdated infrastructure in the U.S. may also be impeding internet access to millions of Americans, and lawmakers have been debating how to increase internet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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 11 2021, @07:30AM (1 child)
Telecommunications hasn't been a free market since Alexander Graham Bell was still alive. That is a big part of what's wrong with it. It either needs to be a government operated utility or fully open to competition, none of this government mandated monopoly garbage.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by sjames on Monday October 11 2021, @09:21AM
Actually, free competition was tried briefly. The result was a rats nest of phone wires and you had to have 3 phones on your desk (with 3 different numbers) because companies A,B, and C had no agreement to route calls between them. Also, there were problems like the one Strowger finally solved where local operators would be paid off to route business calls meant for A to company B instead.
Strong regulation will always be necessary to stop that crap from returning.