  maartena Stacked. Premium join:2002-05-10 Orange, CA
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to R4M0N Re: Yea But.........
said by R4M0N :I agree with you. We can all complain about how other countries have cheaper broadband, but we also must look at the quality of service AND how the service is paid for. Are they paying higher taxes to subsidize the cheaper broadband? I'd love to have "free" health care like canadians do, but I'd hate to have the quality of care they have and I'd hate to pay the taxes they have to pay. The companies that deploy broadband in France, such as France Telecom are partially state owned, that is they are large shareholders. But that only gives them some power in the decission making process, they aren't getting any subsidies from the government, they are a money-making and money-spending cooperation, just like any other company.
In other countries, such as the UK and Netherlands, their major telecom companies haven't been state-run for more then a decade, and they didn't start with broadband services until they had been privatized completely for quite a while.
The reasons why Europeans pay more taxes is because of their social systems, their healthcare systems, and other government entities, not because of broadband.
Besides, Canadians may pay more taxes but their broadband is often more lousy then here in the US.  -- "I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein." - Bush, May 2004. |