La Justa Pulp

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Thursday, October 19, 2006

Who needs the Net and who's getting it

The Internet is an increasingly powerful tool in our world. Not only does it simplify communication and provide us with hours of entertainment, but it's also a limitless fountain of information in a world where it seems like governments, politicians and big business are trying to limit the amount of information the public has access too. That's why it's important that people everywhere have unlimited access to the Internet. However, in the United States millions of households don't have Internet access.

In the end, I think that access to the Internet comes right down to economics. Computer companies and Internet providers don't offer packages cheap enough for welfare mothers to give provide their children with unlimited access. And why would providers assume the bother and the cost of installing ADSL lines in rural areas and small cities when their profit margins won't be nearly as cushy as if they install cabling in large cities. So essentially, if you're poor or live in a less densely populated area, you aren't going to have the same access to news, cheaper forms of communication and ideas that vary from the mainstream as the urban upper middle class, the people who are already pretty much calling the shots.

It's also interesting to take into account that the US is not the global leader in high speed Internet access. According to the Communication Workers of America, "The U.S. doesn't even fall in the top ten; we rank behind Great Britain, Spain, Canada, Japan, France and even Mexico, with an economy less than one third the size of ours."

What this signals is that our government isn't spending enough on telecommunications development and access for all. Maybe Bush should start shifting some of those oil subsidies over to the telecom industry. After all, oil will be obsolete within a few years with the development of electric, solar and natural gas powered cars, but the telecom just keeps on evolving.

"Consumers are charged more for slower speeds" in the US, explains CWA. "We rank #16 in the world: behind countries that range from Sweden to South Korea."

If you want to find out if the Internet access in your neighborhood is up to par, test it at Speedmatters.org.

1 Comments:

At 9:49 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for highlighting the SpeedMatters.org project.

We're going to be rolling out some new content that showcases the amazing potential universal high speed internet access holds for the country, so stay tuned.

Also, if anyone runs across interesting stories, thoughts or examples relevant to our project, please send them along. The best address for that is: speedmatters at cwa-union.org.

But here is the real question: How fast were you on the speed test?

 

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