Pushing for faster Internet connection with fiber

[Commentary] When it comes to speed, the United States is to the Internet what Jamaica is to bobsledding. We rank a shameful 25th around the globe. Even the tech Shangri-La of San Francisco isn't much better, with average download speeds in some neighborhoods that are one-tenth of what you'd get in South Korea. The good news is that there are some people pushing feverishly to catch up; the bad news is that it's a very bumpy track.

Two outspoken advocates for the local cause are Dana Sniezko, a nonprofit Web developer and technology activist who started the informative site SFFiber.info; and Alex Menendez, co-founder of MonkeyBrains, a San Francisco Internet service provider that's developed interesting (though ultimately limited) ways to boost Internet speeds in patches of the city. They're both lobbying San Francisco officials to make it easier for ordinary companies to lay fiber or install their own ultra-fast cables throughout the city. They see it as the best bet for loosening the grip on local Internet service that AT&T and Comcast currently hold, and leapfrogging from aging DSL and cable technology to direct fiber connections to the home.