PDXPLT
join:2003-12-04
Banks, OR | Alot of potential customers are unserved Is our poor showing in penetration statistics because Americans don't want broadband?
I think alot of the reason for the low numbers, in comparison to other countries, is that alot of potential broadband customers are left unserved. Of those areas where broadband is deployed, the carriers have captured all the "easy" customers. Going after the rest would require signficantly lower pricing, which they don't want to do since it would result in lower total profit.
Look at situations like the Shutesbury-Leverett one. A couple of towns filled with University professionals.; if broadband were to be available there, the adoption rate would be very, very high. If those towns were located in another country, they likely would have broadband, as in most other countries there is either an official commitment to universal access, or an unofficial understanding of the concept (even in countries like the UK, where BB deployment is privately-implemented).
But here in the U.S., they don't have BB simply because Verizon decided not to give it to them. And that's OK with government policy here, where broadband is regarded as a frivelous, luxury item, something akin to having a Starbucks at the street corner. It's not considered to be a driver of economic growth and prosperity, like it is in other countries. |
