Battleangel

Sweden is doing alright in fact, at least considering the relatively low population density.

With an average broadband speed of 4.9Mbps, the US is being Chariots of Fire-d by South Korea (49.5Mbps), Japan (63.6Mbps), Finland (21.7Mbps), Sweden (16.8Mbps), and France (17.6Mbps), among others. Not only that, but the price paid per megabyte in the US ($2.83) is substantially higher than those countries, all of which come in at less than $0.50 per megabyte.

The report argues that the government cannot stand idly by and hope for the best. Again, using Sweden as an example, broadband expansion has been neither easy nor cheap. But it has worked, and now the government can take a step back.

Several of these initiatives have been proven in countries like Sweden, which has pumped $800 million into subsidies for broadband deployment; for a country the size of the US, that would come to some $30 billion. Needless to say, no such major infrastructure investment has been forthcoming from the federal government. But Sweden has also targeted the demand side of the equation, subsidizing personal computers that businesses purchase for employees’ home use. This kind of a program is also important in the US, where broadband availability runs ahead of actual broadband usage.