Planet Broadband

Chapter 8. Broadband Everywhere

TODAY, EVEN AS BROADBAND networks proliferate, a majority of the residential population within developed countries doesn’t currently subscribe to broadband service, or physically cannot receive broadband because the delivery agents haven’t built or upgraded their facilities. In rural areas where low housing densities make it difficult, if not impossible, to earn a return on investment from building broadband networks, residents are at risk of being left behind in the broadband age, furthering the so-called digital divide that concerns many information age policy makers. In short, although broadband has grown and continues to grow rapidly, the sheer potential of the medium leaves us wanting more presence, faster. ...