FCC Ignores America's Broadband Woes

FCC IGNORES AMERICA'S BROADBAND WOES
[SOURCE: Free Press press release]
The United States continues to lag behind the rest of the world in accessible and affordable broadband service, with no signs of closing the digital divide at home, according to a new report released today by Free Press, the Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union. Contradicting the rosy picture painted by the Federal Communications Commission and Congress, Broadband Reality Check II exposes the truth behind America's digital decline: A failed broadband policy that has left Americans with higher prices, slower speeds and no meaningful competition for high-speed Internet service. Broadband Reality Check II updates last year's report on the state of high-speed Internet in America and details new empirical research. Among its key findings: 1) U.S. broadband prices aren't dropping: Cable modem prices are holding constant or rising, and DSL customers on average are getting less bandwidth per dollar than just a year ago. 2) Despite claims of "fierce competition," cable and DSL account for 98 percent of the residential broadband market. And over 40 percent of U.S. ZIP codes have one or fewer DSL or cable modem providers reporting service. 3) The market share of "third platform" alternatives like satellite, wireless and broadband over powerline technologies has actually decreased over the past five years. 4) Those living in urban areas are nearly twice as likely to have home broadband access as their rural counterparts. 5) Approximately one out of 10 households with incomes below $30,000 reported having high-speed Internet access, but six out of every 10 households with incomes above $100,000 had broadband. 6) The price of broadband service, and not necessarily the lack of a home computer, is the key barrier to broadband adoption by low-income households.
http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=164

* Broadband Reality Check II
http://www.freepress.net/docs/bbrc2-final.pdf