Accoring to the Commerce Department, many Americans don’t plan to upgrade to broadband anytime soon. According to the AP, the report (which I can’t find on the Commerce Dept site) is based on data from various third parties:
- Almost all U.S. families live in areas where a high-speed Internet connection is available, but many see no reason to pay extra for it
- Only 10 percent of U.S. households subscribe to high-speed access, lower than the rate in Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong or Canada.
- Broadband is too expensive compared to dial-up ($50 vs. $20)
- More than two-thirds of dial-up users don’t plan to upgrade because of the cost.
Commerce thinks that broadband adoption can be increased, but increasing the amount of music, movies and games on the Net, justifying the monopoly rents of the cable co’s and baby Bells. This plays right in to the hands of the intellectual property oligopoly, who are using the promotion of broadband as a reason to force digital rights management on the public.
How about enforcing the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Sherman Antitrust Act instead?