US Faces "Sputnik Moment" in Broadband

United States Still Lags World in Key Broadband Metrics

Boston, MA - October 21, 2008 ? Once considered the fertile crescent of Internet innovation, the United States now finds itself increasingly trailing the world in broadband, according to a report just released by Strategy Analytics. The report, ?Sputnik Moment: The Call for a National Broadband Policy,? suggests that only a coordinated and coherent national broadband plan will allow the US to regain its leadership role.

According to Strategy Analytics, the US has not come close to meeting the goal?enunciated by President George Bush in 2004?of ?universal and affordable access by 2007.? In fact, in the so-called ?metrics that matter,? including penetration, availability, speed and affordability, the US has been overtaken by other developed nations.

In the mid-nineties, the majority of Internet connections in the United States were at 28kbps; today, typical speeds advertised by US Cable and DSL providers are in the 3Mbps~11Mbps range. This still pales in comparison to what the typical Japanese or South Korean consumer receives, where 100 Mbps service is commonplace, and average data rates are on the order of 50Mbps.

?The Soviet Union?s successful launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957 was a wake up call for America. What ensued was a national rallying cry, unprecedented public funding and the creation of NASA,? notes Ben Piper, Director of the Strategy Analytics Multiplay Market Dynamics service. ?We see the US facing another ?Sputnik moment? today?this time in broadband.?

?Through inertia, complacency and false security, the United States was late out of the broadband starting gate, and has barely begun the game of catch up,? Piper states. ?The issue transcends one of simple national pride?the enormous economic and social effects of broadband warrant immediate action.?


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