Internet service customers paying for inefficiency

[Commentary] Is it any wonder the United States lags behind the rest of the world in broadband Internet cost and service? We're home to Google, Apple and other tech trendsetters, but when it comes to wiring people for Net access, we're the tortoise to Europe's and Asia's hare.

The Federal Communications Commission issued a report last year showing that the U.S. ranks 12th for broadband service such as cable and DSL connections, outpaced by South Korea, Iceland, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg, Britain, Canada and Germany. Meanwhile, a 2010 report by the Technology Policy Institute found that while broadband prices had dropped overseas as much as 40% in recent years, prices in the United States were barely budging. Pretty sad for the country that invented the Internet. So why are we such slowpokes? A 2010 report by Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet & Society came up with a ready answer: government regulation, or a lack thereof.