Comcast, Verizon Editorials Distort True Picture of U.S. Internet Service, Experts Say
The number of people in the US watching TV OTA (Over the Air) has grown over the last 3 years from 14% to over 19%. The main reason proposed, is the cost of cable. The discussion over cable rates these days cannot be stripped out of internet access rates, as the same company you choose for either, will be providing both.
Triple play (Internet, Cable, and phone) rates in the US are at record highs. The average US cost for these services is $160 per month, as compared to $38, for example, in France. Even though the US “invented” the internet, we now have some of the slowest services in the world. (29th and dropping)
Over the course of the last 20 years, nearly $500 billion has been collected by the telecom companies to (allegedly) bring America into the 21st century with an “Information Superhighway,” says Johnston. That works out ot $3,000 per household to have access to high-speed Internet.
And we hear from Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam in a New York Times Opinion that :
“…..the United States has gained a global leadership position in the marketplace for broadband”
What started when AT&T was busted up to “create competition and lower cost” has done everything but that. Comcast Chief Executive David Cohen says “consumer prices have remained relatively stable“. That is not a sign of a competitive environment.
In the UK, the government required that service providers that were building out their networks to share that build out with competitors for a reasonable price. This process is now being proposed for the entire EU per an article by Wired Magazine.
Pricing in the UK decreased as internet service was deployed, per ofCom (Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries).
Eye on the Ball 