The Benefits of Broadband Competition You understand broadband rivalry in many areas of the state is awful. We understand broadband rivalry in many areas of the state is awful. The FCC understands broadband rivalry in many areas of the state is awful. Heck Comcast kinda sorta understands that broadband competition is largely awful. And therefore the findings of a recent important government report, which finds that broadband rivalry is very awful, shouldn’t be a surprise.The Commerce Department has recently released a brand new report (PDF) that tells us in detail just what most of us know from experiences lived: for enormous swaths of the nation, broadband competition is a joke at best.Most of us do not have fiber, and DSL simply is not up to level, although alternative technologies exist.FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said back in September, as well as the brand new round of data bear out him. As well as the image gets more frightening as the wires get quicker. The awful news? For the majority of us, it is just one someone. Of us have a choice between two suppliers (generally FiOS or UVerse and one cable company), and just 9% can select among three.
Keep upping the speeds, as well as the amounts get worse. 59% of Americans have any accessibility to speeds of 100 Mbps, as well as a large proportion of those have only one supplier to turn to. Just 8% of Americans can select between a couple of ISPs for speeds of 100 Mbps or better.
The report also breaks down what technologies are accessible: of us really do, although 89% of the state could sign up for DSL service. Are signed up, although 24% of families nominally have access to fiber. The majority of us — 43% of the nation — get our internet service from cable TV firms. Wireless broadband technology is additionally accounted for by the report writers.