[LINK] 119 million Americans lack broadband Internet, FCC reports

[Roger Clarke]

At 9:24 +1000 23/8/12, Kim Holburn wrote:
>119 Million people out of 314 Million.  They define broadband as 
>4/1Mbps.  What would Australia's coverage of broadband be at that 
>speed?

It might be time to compare notes on current services around the place.

On the many occasions I've run ozspeedtest, I've occasionally seen 
4Mbps one way, but never more than about 0.55 the other.  The current 
measure of 2.42Mbps / 0.3 Mbps is about what it normally shows.

I'm on ADSL2+, and about 1.8 crow-flies km from the exchange, 
presumably in the range 2-4km of cable.

TransACT have recently decided that, after 9 years of inability to 
service me, they can now do it - presumably thanks to the VDSL2 black 
boxes having just a little more reach than the old ones?  (I was 
having meaningful conversations with senior execs, but the iiNet 
takeover changed all that, i.e. half of them went, so I have to talk 
to the shopfront now).

Based on their tariff, I think I can swap from a mix of Telstra and 
Optus telephony services plus TPG ADSL2+ to mostly TransACT but 
keeping the first Telstra line for redundancy, and pay the same as 
I'm paying now and get a theoretical 60Mbps (a practical 10Mbps 
maybe?) instead of a practical 2.5Mbps, and the same telephony 
services on the same numbers as before.

Savings?  Nope.  Speed improvements?  Very probably, constrained by 
servers and to some extent by my devices.  Reliability?  Maybe not 
quite as good as ADSL2+.  (I recently had problems, but a dying codec 
was a primary reason).

___________________

>http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/08/119-million-americans-lack-broadband-internet-fcc-reports/
>
>>  119 million Americans lack broadband Internet, FCC reports
>>
>>  Many can't afford to subscribe, but 19 million live in areas 
>>without any access.
>>
>>  by Jon Brodkin - Aug 22 2012, 4:38am EST
>>
>>  The US is a long way from its goal of making broadband Internet 
>>available to all 314 million Americans. In its third annual 
>>broadband progress report, the Federal Communications Commission 
>>says 19 million Americans have no option to buy fixed broadband 
>>Internet service, and an additional 100 million Americans that do 
>>live in areas where broadband is available are not subscribers.
>>
>>  The FCC defines broadband as 4Mbps download speeds and 1Mbps 
>>upload speed. So, many people have Internet access that isn't 
>>counted in the report. But the US is decidedly behind many other 
>>countries. A report last year by the International 
>>Telecommunications Union showed the US having 27.6 fixed broadband 
>>subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, behind 15 other countries 
>>including first place Netherlands, which achieved 38.1 
>>subscriptions per 100 inhabitants.
>>
>>  Exactly how many people in the US have any type of Internet access 
>>is not detailed by the FCC. US Census figures from 2010 showed that 
>>in 74.2 percent of households, at least one person had Internet 
>>access at home, outside of home, or both.
>>
>>  Until 2010, the commission defined broadband as 200Kbps in both 
>>directions, and then adopted the current 4Mbps/1Mbps definition for 
>>the last three broadband progress reports (see this year's full 
>>report). The FCC's 2011 report identified 26 million Americans 
>>living in areas with no broadband service, so things have improved 
>>in the past year. The 19 million living in non-broadband areas 
>>today represent 6 percent of the US population.
>>
>>  Not surprisingly, the situation is worse in rural areas, where a 
>>quarter of the US population lacks access, and in tribal areas, 
>>where  almost a third lacks access. The FCC noted progress such as 
>>expansion of LTE wireless networks, which can easily meet the 4Mbps 
>>threshold. Additionally, DOCSIS 3.0 rollouts have made networks 
>>"technically capable of 100 megabit-plus speeds" available to more 
>>than 80 percent of the population.
>>
>>  But there is still much work to be done, particularly in rural and 
>>tribal areas, and in building a stronger economy in which more 
>>people can afford broadband. The FCC has unveiled a Connect America 
>>Fund that will provide broadband access to nearly 400,000 residents 
>>and small business owners in the next three years. But the 
>>commission said today that the gaps in service show "broadband is 
>>not yet being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion."
>
>
>--
>Kim Holburn
>IT Network & Security Consultant
>T: +61 2 61402408  M: +61 404072753
>mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
>skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request
>
>
>
>
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-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

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Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law               University of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University