The technician told me Verizon plans to have digital TV available using the fiber optic cable this spring.
I'm getting 15.5 mbps download speeds which is a little faster than the advertised 15 mbps. I'm really happy about that, but looking at the big picture - the U.S. is lagging behind other industrialized nation in high-speed internet access.
"The median U.S. download speed now is 1.97 megabits per second — a fraction of the 61 megabits per second enjoyed by consumers in Japan, says the report released Monday. Other speedy countries include South Korea (median 45 megabits), France (17 megabits) and Canada (7 megabits).
'We have pathetic speeds compared to the rest of the world,' CWA President Larry Cohen says. 'People don't pay attention to the fact that the country that started the commercial Internet is falling woefully behind.'
Speed matters on the Internet. A 10-megabyte file takes about 15 seconds to download with a 5-megabit connection — fast for the USA. Download time with a 545-kilobit connection, about the entry-level speed in many areas: almost 2½ minutes.
Broadband speed is a function of network capacity: The more capacity you have, the more speed you can deliver. Speed, in turn, allows more and better Internet applications, such as photo sharing and video streaming. Superfast speeds are imperative for critical applications such as telemedicine."
From a June 2007 U.S. Today article, U.S. Net access not all that speedy
High speed internet, faster computers and increased storage capability are not ends in themselves, but they do provide opportunities for people to find innovative ways to share ideas, work on projects and exchange products and services - in ways that we can't imagine today.
That's a good thing.
