U.S. in the broadband slow lane

US IN THE BROADBAND SLOW LANE
[SOURCE: San Jose Mercury News 11/22, AUTHOR: Mark Boslet and John Boudreau]
The United States invented the Internet. But it's falling behind in the global broadband race. In 2001, it was fourth in the number of broadband subscribers per capita. Now it's 15th. What's more, high-speed Internet service in countries like Japan, France and South Korea is many times faster than in the United States and noticeably cheaper. In Japan, the average connection speed is 93.7 megabits per second, or more than 10 times faster than the average speed in the United States, according to a recent study. Yet average monthly prices are lower: $34.21 compared with $53.06 here. Subscribers in Sweden pay an average of $34 a month and get speeds that are more than twice as fast. The widening broadband gap could have broad ramifications. Some say it threatens to turn the tide on Internet innovation in the United States, where a Net-savvy population traditionally has favored domestic entrepreneurs, who have come up with breakthrough companies such as Google, eBay and Facebook. Lower penetration also could slow job growth and business development.
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