Today I learned through a small article in the Huffington Post that there are at least five countries that provide their citizenry with better access to high speed, broadband Internet than what we here in the United States pay dearly for, if we can get get it at all. Consider that that an estimated 19 million Americans have no access to high speed internet whatsoever.
The five countries cited in HP's article, heavily subsidize the broadband industry through direct government investment and tax incentives for industry investment in fiber optic cable installations. Virtually each of the five countries also view access to broadband as a necessity, if not a basic human right for virtually all of their citizens.
First on the list of five was South Korea, where 94% of that country's citizens have high speed, broadband access. The government there pledges that by the end of 2012, access to 1 gigabit per second will be available to its citizens.
The first country to make broadband access a legal right was Finland. That country plans for 100 mega bit access to be a legal right by the end of 2015.
Sweden offers its citizens broadband access that is two times faster and one-third the price of what we pay for and what is available to Americans. It has been documented that a full length High Definition movie could downloaded in just 2 seconds.
Japan offers the cheapest broadband connections in the world, in large part to government tax incentives for investment in large scale footprints of fiber optic infrastructure. The Japanese also believe in long-range investment in the future by looking ahead to what will still be relevant and useful for their grandchildren and their grandchildren.
The most affordable broadband access in the world is offered in France. This attributed to regulation that allows rival providers to share access to the broadband infrastructure. The French government has declared internet access as a basic human right.
It would be nice if we, here in the U.S. could have access to some of the best ideas from each of these countries that would enhance the availability and high speed access that is virtually guaranteed in each of the five.
Coming soon: My arguments as to why we could achieve these elements and much more.
