U.S. not up to speed on broadband

US NOT UP TO SPEED ON BROADBAND
[SOURCE: Los Angeles Times, AUTHOR: Jim Puzzanghera]
The federal government's latest annual report on the availability of high-speed Internet service throughout the country contains 19 pages of detailed data -- pie charts, bar graphs, maps and column upon column of numbers and percentages. Most of them are useless. The Federal Communications Commission considers any Internet connection faster than 200 kilobits per second to be high speed, even though that's too slow to effectively watch streaming video and download large files. And if broadband service is available to one home in a ZIP Code, the FCC assumes it to be available to everyone in that area because it lacks any more detailed data. Federal and state officials are working on solving the data problem. They warn that getting high-speed Internet access to more Americans is crucial to the nation's economic growth and the ability of U.S. companies to compete globally. The FCC has been studying how to improve its annual report. Now, legislation is moving through Congress that would dramatically upgrade the government's broadband data.
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-broadband28nov28,1,192347.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-business
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