- September 2, 2009 10:11 am
Image above is slightly outdated as South Korea, Japan, and France in particular now average 10-35Mpbs more
Sadly, the US sinks further and further out of relevance when the topic of global broadband speeds are brought up. Are average speeds pail in comparison to many other countries. Just a few numbers to get you all in a bunch:
- US Average Broadband Speeds: 4.8Mbps
- Japan widely offers speeds of 80+Mbps
- South Korea also is around the 70-80Mbps mark
- Even France slaughters us with speeds in the 40-50Mbps range
Sure, you could argue that these nations have much less square mileage to cover, which, costs them less in rollout and upkeep costs. Still, when countries across the pond are bouncing off of the 100Mbps routinely while we sit here twiddling our thumbs tyring ot open up Wikipedia, chugging along at 5-6Mbps (on the faster side — used by the general population) is ridiculous. Perhaps even more ridiculous is the fact that US broadband providers want to steal our money and piss it away without actually doing much upgrading. Why the colorful language? What are the speeds these “broadband” providers are lobbying the FCC to declare “Basic Broadband” for?
- Comcast: 0.256 Mbps (256Kb/s) — It’s comcastic!
- Verizon: 0.768 Mbps (768 Kb/s) — slightly better but still worthless for anything
The Comcast quoted number of even “basic broadband” is the dumbest thing and worst attempt and grabbing public money I have ever seen. Basic broadband running at 256K was ok in 2004. In 2009 the minimum speed should be 2-3 Mbps no if’s and’s or but’s. Of course, then there’s the whole issue with the blatant false and misleading advertising every internet provider is guilty of — that is, listing the maximum connection rate instead of real world daily speeds. My AT&T 3 meg connection actually steamrolls along at roughly .7-1.3 Mbps with ocasional “good days” of around 1.5 Mbps. Hardly what I’d call fast, reliable, or honest. These companies talk about innovation and being global leaders while our friends overseas laugh at us everytime they see a case like this. Comcast is a disgrace to America. Verizon isn’t far behind.
In reality, it’s pretty much all broadband providers. Here’s a crazy idea that’ll never see the light of day. Fire some executives and slash executive bonuses and pay. Why should they make huge sums of money when their networks are crap? Hopefully the FCC can see through their silkscreen of lies, deceit, and plain BS as nothing under 1 Mbps is broadband in my book. I’m sure there are many of you out there who agree no?
Source: Gizmodo, MSNBC, Image Source
Internet junkies and most gadget freaks have a border line addiction when it comes to being connected. Naturally, in the age we live in with quickness and efficiency being constantly rammed into our heads, we want whatever it is we’re searching for on the digital frontier to arrive on our computers fast…instantly even. While we all know that the U.S. is sorely lacking when it comes to broadband speeds compared on a global level, with our friends across the big blue pond enjoying the upper double digits routinely, who gets to claim bragging rights here in the states? As you can see from the list pictured, the digital playland, California, isn’t number one as many would assume. Instead, the land silicon comes in at a rather low 11th place nationwide. Instead a cluster of smaller north eastern states such as Delaware, Rhode Island, New York, and Massachusetts make up the top four.
The next time you want to toot your own, Red, White, and Blue color horn in regards to broadband speeds here in the states, look at the chart above and remember one thing…we lag…greatly. It’s a joke. A joke that isn’t funny. Why we are so far behind is beyond me. Lets hope to god congress updates the “official” classification of broadband as something that is faster than the now grossly antiquated quote of 222kbps. Whether or not you’re “giving it your all”, 19th place sucks plain and simple. Heck, South Korea has a goal of 1Gbps speeds for all individual homes means the U.S. is even more out of touch with internet and anything remotely close to real home broadband.
Source: Tech Digest
While Time Warner is busy screwing around with caps, limiting speeds, and flat out ignoring network upgrades because they aren’t getting their way, other more sensible companies such as Virgin UK are taking the higher road and instead actually investing in their network. What do the customers have to brag about? How about 200Mbps download speeds! In order to reach such brisk speeds, a high-end implementation of the DOCSIS 3 cable modem standard is being used. The very same standard that Time Warner is stalling plans on rolling out. Great job guys,way to stay classy! Moving on, with this new found speed, Virgin UK can for now claim the top speed champ prize as it beats out Japan’s 160Mbps service and flies past the U.S.’s 101Mbps Optimum Online service. Currently, a pool of 100 testers will be giving the network a flogging over the next six months punishing it with relentless 3D and HD media streaming as well as anything else that they can to try and push the network to its limits. Hopefully the U.S. providers get their acts together and start pushing us ahead into the current century speed wise and stop falsely advertising this 1Mbps crap service as “high speed”.
Source: Electronista, Pocket-Lint, Image Source
