August 6, 2013
The broadband sky is definitely not falling.
That’s the conclusion Ev Ehrlich, former undersecretary of commerce for the Clinton administration, comes to in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal [LINK] Calling his piece “The Myth of America’s Inferior Broadband,” Ehrlich takes a direct shot across the bow of those calling for heavy-handed regulations in the U.S broadband industry. And he relies on facts rather than rhetoric to do it.
On the oft-cited global broadband ranking, Ehrlich writes:
The Internet company Akamai, which produces international speed rankings, has the U.S. currently at No. 9, up from No. 22 in 2009—faster than in France, Germany and Britain. A recent report by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation notes that the U.S. has the second-lowest entry-level broadband prices (behind Israel) in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, despite ranking No. 27 among OECD countries in population density, a key driver of cost.
A jump from #22 to #9 in just four years is a success, any way you slice it. Especially given the state of the economy during that same stretch. And a big reason for that success, Erhlich notes, is the $250 billion U.S. broadband companies have invested in networks since the global recession started in 2008. How does that match up to other countries? According to Ehrlich, quite well:
Compare this with Europe, where in most countries Internet service providers lease aging wires from incumbent, often state-sanctioned telephone companies. This may have created instant infrastructure for Europe, but because the ISPs do not own the underlying infrastructure, they have no incentive to invest in it. The incumbent phone companies, in turn, are often directly or indirectly subsidized heavily by taxpayers.
There’s much more in Ehrlich’s piece, but I’ve already used my allotment of block quotes, so head on over to the Wall Street Journal and read his full op-ed. SPOILER ALERT! Anyone hoping America embrace European-style regulations of the broadband industry are going to be a bit shocked.