We need faster broadband, right now
Stephen | 
More and more people are becoming regular users of the internet today; sending e-mails, making VOIP calls, chatting through video, watching YouTube, sharing photos, downloading music; the list is endless. Most of these activities require a lot of bandwidth, and most current infrastructures can only deliver between 8 and 16mbps. I’m on an “8mbps” plan from BT right now - but it’s more like 6mbps.
However, not all of the world is lagging behind in internet speeds. Japan has an average of 60mbps, Korea has an average of 45mbps and Finland has an average of 25mbps. These are average speeds, not the highest speeds. The UK has less than 4mbps average, and about the same for the USA.
There are three main options for upgrading broadband speeds:
Fiber Optic Cable
Verizon in the USA is already offering a service they call “FiOS” - but it only delivers speeds of up to 25mbps, mainly in densely populated areas. In theory, fiber optic cable can bring speeds between 50mbps and 100mbps - but it’s going to be hard to lay an entirely new infrastructure across countries.
VDSL
VDSL stands for Very High Speed Digital Subscriber Line. It uses existing copper lines, with fiber optic lines to bring speeds of up to 100mbps. It’s still pretty hard to deploy, but costs a lot less than fiber.
WiMAX
WiMAX, as you may have guessed (or not), is a wide area form of Wi-Fi. You wouldn’t need a Wi-Fi router in your home, instead you would just connect to a WiMAX transmitter which is nearby. WiMAX can deliver speeds of up to 70mbps, and can travel up to 50km (31 miles).
As a citizen of the United States of America, I frequently wonder why we are so behind in technology, design, and worldwide standards. And then I remember that this is America.
Broadband speeds suck in the USofA. We suck at heathcare, we suck at making good products (except Apple), we suck at keeping up with world standards, our cellular networks suck, and our broadband sucks. What is wrong with this picture? America? Aren’t we supposed to be really advanced and shit?
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Nick Humphries (Check me out!) — May 1, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
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