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from the are-utilities-really-optional dept.
Broadband Internet access is a "core utility" that people need in order to participate in modern society– just like electricity, running water, and sewers, the White House said on Tuesday. A report written by the Broadband Opportunity Council, a group created earlier this year by President Obama and co-chaired by the Secretaries of Commerce and Agriculture, says that even though broadband "has steadily shifted from an optional amenity to a core utility," millions of Americans still lack high-speed Internet access.
The report cites 2013 data indicating that about 51 million Americans, or about 16 percent of the population, cannot purchase broadband access at their homes. That number may have dropped by now, but the White House says the government needs to make a bigger push to expand broadband deployment, especially in rural areas and low-income communities.
(Score: 1) by Pino P on Thursday September 24 2015, @02:20PM
wireless phones with internet comparable to the fastest terrestrial connections from a decade ago
I don't think "the fastest terrestrial connections from a decade ago" were limited to single-digit GB per month. Had that been in effect, things like YouTube would never have become popular, and Netflix would still be disc-based.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 24 2015, @03:36PM
My 56k was limited to about a gigabit a month. Think about it - how many megabytes can you download in a month's time? Assume the you and/or other family members might want to be able to brows a little bit while the download(s) are taking place.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 24 2015, @07:59PM
Streaming stuff wasn't all HD a decade ago. There's a HUGE difference in number of pixels sent between HD and NTSC/PAL.
(Score: 1) by Pino P on Friday September 25 2015, @01:22AM
Back when the warez scene was using the DivX stack (MPEG-4 ASP video and MP3 audio in an AVI container), a two-hour movie at 640x480 could fit onto one 700 MB CD with some artifacts or two CDs with fewer artifacts. Because the MPEG-4 AVC codec is a bit better at hiding artifacts than ASP, I'll say a streaming site serves the equivalent of one CD per movie. A 110 minute movie would then be 840 kbps average bit rate, which matches what speed testers [superuser.com] report for Netflix on Wii.
Now try to watch two 700 MB movies per weekend on a typical 5 GB/mo cellular plan. You will incur overages even if you don't do any web browsing, GPS, email, or anything else over your connection.