Broadband in the U.S.A.

Below is a video clip of Walter Mossberg, the principal technology columnist for the Wall Street Journal. He talks about the present state (i.e., crappy state) of broadband in the U.S. I think he make some really good points.



One example of overpriced DSL with ridiculous service (and security) is from the rural Utah city from which I moved in 2006, behold:

DSL Pricing
$39/month: up 1.5 M
$49/month: up to 3 M
$59/month: up to 6 M

It surprised me to see that their lowest DSL plan wasn't 256k anymore! I'm sure there are some even better examples out there, I just have dealt with this one personally.

My current situation isn't really any better, the ISP is the city in which I live. I pay $28 ($35 if I didn't get cable TV from them) and I get about 1mbps-3mbps. They don't even advertise their bandwidth. This is frustrating because 15 miles north of here and 10 miles south of here, both cities have Utopia, which offers 100 mbps upload and download for a reasonable price (someone remind me how it costs).

Mossberg makes a good point. We need to be putting as much emphasis on our broadband infrastructure as we are on our roads and freeways. If the U.S. is to keep up technologically with other high-tech countries (think economic repercussions if we don't), we need to be investing in broadband that helps us stay competitive in the global economy.

For all of the iPhone fans out there, toward the end of the video Mossberg also foretells the availability of the 3g iPhone in 60 days.