Broadband And You

There's an excellent article at The New Republic examining the failure of growth in the home broadband market. As John B. Judis writes:

But the growth of broadband is lagging. Eighty percent of businesses
connected to the Internet use broadband, but only 12 percent of homes with
Internet service do....

There are important financial reasons why this is true, and they have to do with protecting profits. It's an interesting read.

It's also why I'm so excited by the partnership between Memphis Light, Gas and Water and some infotech companies, Memphis Networx, to bring a ring of very high speed fiber optic cables to the City. Despite some problems, MLGW is a pretty well-run utility. Just ask the folks in Mississippi and Arkansas what they think of theirs! Partnering to provide cheap broadband to local ISPs to resell to consumers is a great idea. So great that TimeWarner cable and Bellsouth have been fighting it tooth and nail.

As the article points out, competition is what's been missing in broadband. Here's hoping we see some soon.

Until next time,
Your Working Boy