Ranking-wise, the US is in 26th place in internet speeds.The countries with the highest speeds are South Korea, Romania, and Bulgaria, in that order. CEO of Pando Networks Robert Levitan said the fastest speeds were found in areas like Eastern Europe, where “focus on infrastructure development and favorable geography promote an incredible level of connectivity."
The National Broadband Plan is supposed to bring high-speed broadband internet to nearly all households in the US, with a connection speed of 100 mbps. In the executive summary of the plan it states, "The United States should lead the world in mobile innovation, with the fastest and most extensive wireless networks of any nation." Obviously the FCC wants to be on top of the food chain in their department, but it is showing to have issues concerning privacy for its tests. These issues are from the National Broadband Plan's website. They are supposed to take your location and use it to map out low points of the broadband in the country. Ryan Radia, Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Associate Director of Technology Studies, wrote in a statement that the FCC“appears to be collecting more personal information than necessary, failing to fully disclose what it is collecting, and providing this information to law enforcement without any due process or judicial scrutiny." If this plan is going to be effective, it needs to not give signs of using any underhanded tactics to get support.
Sources:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/21/a-look-at-whos-winning-the-global-internet-speed-race-infographic/
http://news.yahoo.com/privacy-implications-fcc-broadband-test-called-030206271.html
This was an interesting topic. I had never guessed that we were so low on the totem pole. I wonder if the cell phone reception is so much better in those countries or if its just in home connection speeds?
ReplyDeleteI feel this is a very important movement. In this digital age, the Internet is becoming part of life. It is important that all people, of every social class, are connected and have the resources they need. The Internet has become part of a nation's infrastructure that should be invested in. More people need to get on board for national broadband. This is something that would raise the standard of living for everyone, and be very progressive for our country.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great plan, but at what cost? Unfortunately, when it comes to broadband networks, in order for the U.S. to compete on a global scale, it has to overcome hurdles that many (or most) other countries don't face. I'm talking about things like geography and population distribution. South Korea ranks near the top of the list because it is a small, densely populated country (I'll admit Bulgaria's and Romania's ranking surprised me!). The U.S. has millions of square kilometers to cover, and despite increasing urban growth, there are still numerous rural communities that will take a lot more work and a more robust infrastructure to reach. The plan is good, but it's going to take a while.
ReplyDeleteIf the problem with implementing this plan does have to do with the geography, then maybe the best plan would be to begin in places that are more densely populated and grow from there. This would probably mean expanding first down the east coast then the west coast.
ReplyDeleteThis is just a site I found with a US census map.
http://bmander.com/dotmap/index.html#4.00/29.34/-96.23
This plan sounds like a great idea. We live a world where technology and internet connectivity go hand in hand. That be said it would only make sense that the country that can produce the fast internet speeds would be a wide advantage in many economic and social ways. The only problem with this plan is how they are misusing their ability to screen information. High speed internet should be available to all, but not at the price of loosing your privacy.
ReplyDelete