The 3 Big Myths that Are Holding Back America's Internet

[Commentary] The US is lagging its competitors in the quality of its Internet access, and the people in charge are hearing excuses. It’s time to debunk the myths. Here's my list of the Three Great Myths about US Internet access:

1. "There's no problem because everyone who wants high-speed Internet access has it." The Federal Communications Commission's most recent data on sign up for high-speed Internet reports just 40 percent of Americans had signed up for wired download speeds of 3 Mbps or higher in 2012, with expense as the most-cited reason for not signing up.
2. "The industry has invested a tremendous amount in high-speed Internet access infrastructure; we would lose that investment if there was any attempt to regulate high-speed Internet access." Yes, Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, and AT&T have invested in their networks  --  but their capital expenditures for 2009 to 2013 amount to just 15 percent as a percentage of the $1.5 trillion in revenue during that time (quite a bit less than the 20 percent for all four during 2001–2005). These companies are in harvesting mode.
3. "Who needs fiber? Mobile wireless is the future." This is like saying that because we have airplanes we don’t need airports. To haul all our mobile wireless data back from us to the Internet, particularly when we’re uploading a ton of data, we’ll need fiber deep into the places we live, work and entertain ourselves.

[Susan Crawford is the author of The Responsive City]