Americans are paying more for broadband speed but getting less

[Commentary] It's one of the biggest rackets of the telecommunication world -- broadband Internet access touted as being "up to" a certain speed but that's really a whole lot slower. You think you're buying cyber-lightning. What you're likely getting instead is a gentle digital breeze. The New York attorney general's office said enough's enough. It sent letters to Time Warner Cable, Verizon Communications and Cablevision asking why some customers experience reduced download speeds. "Many of us may be paying for one thing and getting another," said New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman. He said many families in his state pay "a huge cost" for broadband service. "I will not tolerate a situation in which they aren't getting what they have been promised," NY Attorney General Schneiderman said. The problem is by no means limited to New York. Californians and denizens of most other states pay some of the highest broadband prices in the world for speeds that frequently eat the dust of faster services abroad.

What's needed is a requirement that broadband be marketed by each provider's average monthly speed in a particular region, with companies submitting test data to the Federal Communications Commission at regular intervals. This would provide consumers with a far better sense of what they're buying and would offer a much more accurate yardstick of each broadband service's performance. It also would boost competition and network investment by encouraging service providers with faster average speeds to promote their edge over rivals. Or we could just keep paying through the nose to stay in the slow lane. Take your choice.
​