said by DaveNJ :

Plus the fact that most have cable, and have Docsis2. Fiber isnt as necessary in todays cable environment, yet. Its really only telco using fiber.

said by Matt :

I don't believe anyone but Cablevision has deployed DOCSIS 2. The vast majority of cable systems are DOCSIS 1.1.

said by Nightfall :

Which is fast enough for 98% of the broadband users out there since all most people do is email and web browse.

said by firephoto :

Oh, that's it. We only need "good enough". Make sure grandma is good with her quest for recipes and seeing small blurry pics of the grandkids.

The land of the free becomes land of the good enough.

said by firephoto :

The land of the free becomes land of the good enough.

said by firephoto :

Oh, that's it. We only need "good enough". Make sure grandma is good with her quest for recipes and seeing small blurry pics of the grandkids.

The land of the free becomes land of the good enough.
[/BQUOTE

Since when has "Land of the free," meant "Land of the fastest broadband connectiion?"

-Tzale
--
Neoconservatives (G.W.B) are not real conservatives. A conservative believes in defending the Constitution. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. - RON PAUL 2008 »www.usconstitution.net/const.html

Which is fast enough for 98% of the broadband users out there since all most people do is email and web browse.

said by digitalfreak :

Woohoo! More made up statistics

said by Nightfall :

The US is the largest country of all those and ranks 8th? I think thats pretty darn good considering all the area we have to cover.

said by nasadude :

well, China ain't exactly small and it looks like they are close to the U.S.

and Sweden and Norway are small but have low population densities, much lower than major U.S. cities, which our wonderful incumbents can't seem to bring fiber to.

size and population density are not why we are 8th or 15th or whatever place instead of 1 or 2 - it's our monopoly/duopoly market and the incumbents lack of capital expenditure to lay fiber; upsets investors, you know, to be spending all that money instead of giving them dividends.

the way I would say it is: 8th is pretty darn good considering the U.S. market has no competition.

said by Nightfall :

....

I could go on and on here....

said by EPS :

Those numbers can be misleading- like Canada, the numbers average out to 3.0, sure, but most of that broadband is likely in the most densely populated part of the country, the strip along the US border. Iceland is also very unevenly distributed.

Of course, the US isn't evenly distributed either- much of population is in more densely populated areas than the density numbers reveal.

said by nasadude :

why aren't LA, NYC, Chicago, DC, etc. wired for fiber? I'm sure where fiber is going now is pretty dense, but the U.S. is doing pitifully compared to the rest of the developed world. What the hell happened to we're #1? We used to lead the world in almost everything; now, just in making war and torturing people.

said by nasadude :

why aren't LA, NYC, Chicago, DC, etc. wired for fiber?

said by nasadude :

here have a drink of some facts, then you're welcome to have at it:

1st google hit on my search, but references the OECD data I knew existed; I'm sure the most recent OECD data could be found directly with a little more effort:

»www.saschameinrath.com/2006apr13···relation

A closer look at the recent OECD data (through December 2005) offers a pretty damning critique of this position.

The population density of the United States is roughly 31 inhabitants per square kilometer. While some countries with higher broadband penetration rates do have much higher population densities (e.g., South Korea has 483 inhabitants per square kilometer; Japan has 338), others have much lower (e.g., Iceland has 3 inhabitants per square kilometer, as does Canada). In the end, with the US in 12th place, 5 countries have lower population densities, 6 have higher.

What this points to is that broadband penetration rates don't correlate well with population densities. Which begs the question, what then, if not population density, accounts for why so many countries are doing better than the US; and, relatedly, how has the US managed to do so poorly (slipping from first to 12th in a single decade)?

Here's the full info for population for all 30 OECD countries covered the first number is the broadband penetration rate, the second is that country's population density (inhabitants per square kilometer -- as of December 2005):

Read more...

Iceland 26.7 3.0
Korea 25.4 483.0
Netherlands 25.3 399.0
Denmark 25.0 125.0
Switzerland 23.1 179.0
Finland 22.5 15.0
Norway 21.9 14.0
Canada 21.0 3.0
Sweden 20.3 20.0
Belgium 18.3 341.0
Japan 17.6 338.0
United States 16.8 31.0
United Kingdom 15.9 244.0
France 15.2 110.0
Luxembourg 14.9 174.0
Austria 14.1 97.0
Australia 13.8 3.0
Germany 13.0 231.0
Italy 11.9 191.0
Spain 11.7 85.0
Portugal 11.5 114.0
New Zealand 8.1 15.0
Ireland 6.7 58.0
Czech Republic 6.4 129.0
Hungary 6.3 109.0
Slovak Republic 2.5 110.0
Poland 2.4 122.0
Mexico 2.2 52.0
Turkey 2.1 92.0
Greece 1.4 84.0

said by nasadude :

the rest of what you say I agree with somewhat, but I think the main reason fiber is not more prevalent is the lack of competition.

said by Alakar :

I did a little chart to show what those numbers actually mean. Now it's not completely accurate, since the study is based on homes/apartment buildings wired and I went as a straight percentage of population. However it does get you an idea of the scales involved.

FTTH Population Country Population Percentage Covered by FTTH ________________________________________________________________ Korea 49,044,790 31.40% 15,400,064 Hong Kong 6,980,412 23.40% 1,633,416 Japan 127,433,494 21.30% 27,143,334 Sweden 9,031,088 7.10% 641,207 Taiwan 22,858,872 6.80% 1,554,403 Norway 4,627,926 6.00% 277,676 Denmark 5,468,120 2.50% 136,703 United States 301,139,947 2.30% 6,926,219 Slovenia 2,009,245 1.80% 36,166 Iceland 301,931 1.50% 4,529 China 1,321,851,888 1.50% 19,827,778 Netherlands 16,570,613 1.40% 231,989 Italy 58,147,733 1.20% 697,773 Sinapore 4,553,009 1.10% 50,083
As you can see, Japan's progress is the most impressive and China as well, considering their starting point. I don't even know why Iceland and Slovenia are on the chart.

said by DCHuckster :

Considering most of those Asian country FTTH deployments were either fully or partially subsidized by the government, I think the U.S. is ranked pretty well.