Earlier this week, ITIF hosted a debate on broadband rankings , specifically focused on this resolution: “The US is lagging seriously behind other countries on broadband access and this is due primarily to a failure of U.S. telecom regulation.” Of course, this is not the way that ITIF sees it (nor we at NextGenWeb), but this is what made the topic ideal for debate.
Proponents of the resolution, Matt Wood from Media Access Project and Sascha Meinrath from New America Foundation, argued there is a need for increased competitive pressure to achieve desired industry outcomes like lower prices and higher speeds. However, Rob Atkinson from ITIF and George Ford from the Phoenix Center, were very convincing that the problem isn’t broadband access or affordability. It’s that only 62% of homes in the U.S. have computers. “We’d be ranked 6th if we had higher computer adoption like Japan and other countries,” Atkinson said.
Another issue that negatively affect the U.S. in broadband rankings is “urbanicity,” or the density of urban areas, since it’s is easier to reach many at a lower cost the more dense an area is, Atkinson also noted. Nations like South Korea have an advantage since 50% of units are multi-dwelling, versus only 3% in the U.S. having more than 50 units.
These reasons suggest that competition and regulation are not the policies needed to improve upon broadband adoption. To go even further, George Ford was adamant that adding another entrant to the market, particularly government as a provider, when there is currently so much intermodal competition would be a huge step backwards in where we should focus our energy.
Watch the video below for more from Rob Atkinson, President of ITIF.
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