US: Home of the Internet, but not home when the broadband salesman calls

The latest broadband country statistics are out and the US is once again nowhere to be found in the top ten. Indeed, landing this time way down at 16th, barely edging out Russia and behind Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovenia. The study, commissioned by US gear maker Cisco listed Japan as the hands-down Internet speed leader offering what the study described "robust" broadband technology. The study was performed by researchers at Oxford University in the UK and Spain's Oviedo University. The top 10 speediest BB Internet countries after number 1 Japan are Sweden, the Netherlands, Latvia, Korea, Switzerland, Lithuania, Denmark, Germany, and Slovenia in that order. Oddly, the US' lack of Internet prowess is not a big issue for the American public and is not often mentioned on the campaign trail compared to gay marriage and moose hunting. There is however a bill quietly wending its way through the legislature that might help, called the Broadband Data Improvement Act introduced last year. That law would mandate research on broadband deployment and adoption in every state offering solutions to improve penetration. The bill's main champion is Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) who is apparently paddling against the tide.