Data from a recent CWA project shows that the average download speed in the US is a pathetic 2.3 megabits per second.
That’s only from users with broadband – dial-up speeds are to embarrassing to mention. Why? Take a look around the globe at the other major players:
** France, 14 mbps
** South Korea, 49 mbps
** Japan, 63 mbps
** US, 2.3 mbps (just have to put it in the line up to emphasize how really sad it all is.)
What does it mean? It means if you live in the US, it could take you an hour and a half to download a multimedia file that would take barely four minutes in South Korea.
Sad.
What can we do about it? Nothing, really, as long as we have no policy for high speed internet access on a national level. It’s not just about movie files and videos, it impacts the speed at which Americans can do business, and that is what is so discouraging.
“Speed matters to our economy and our ability to remain competitive in a global marketplace,” said Larry Cohen, president, Communications Workers of America. “Rural development, telemedicine and distance learning all rely on truly high-speed, universal networks.”
Tags: broadband, download speed