More Broadband Rankings

I would challenge some things I read in this article, notably the conclusion of the Forrestor analyst Maribel Lobez, who characterized broadband access as a "nice to have." In today's digital economy, that's like saying electricity is not essential, but "nice to have." As Red Herring puts it: a delay of widespread broadband access in the United States means missed opportunities for economic growth, innovation, and investment. Broadband access is hardly a "nice to have" in a hyper-competitive global econmomy - tell that to small towns clamoring for networks so they don't lose major employers who "must have" broadband to compete.

Forrester's survey, The State of Consumer Technology, surveyed more than 68,000 U.S. households to look at consumer interest in various technologies, found access to broadband grew from 19 percent in 2003 to 29 percent in 2004. The figure is a relatively rapid rate and far higher than growth in previous years; Mrs. Lopez attributed the rapid growth to a spike in DSL availability along with price points in the affordable $20 to $30 range. Broadband is moving into the fat part of the bell curve, where we can expect much broader market interest.

But then the article turned south for me, as Mrs. Lopez engaged in political speculation about taxpayer subsidized networks and broadband as a "universal right" or a "nice to have" technology. Red Herring does a good job of bringing out opposing analyst opinions on the value of broadband to an economy. It goes way beyond Internet access.

Indeed, Mrs. Lopez contends that the growth rate she predicts won't be enough to meet President Bush's 2007 ubiquity goal: Until we see true adoption of wireless technologies like WiMAX, along with broadband over power lines, which won't happen before 2008, it will be difficult to get much higher availability than 65 percent, she said. (what about Wi Fi Mesh networks?)

Notably, Red Herring highlights the US lag in broadband penetration as compared to its competitors worldwide (#12 and falling with a bullet). Acknowledging that small countries like South Korea are little threat to the U.S. economy (Thank You!), Red Herring cites competition from rapidly developing countries like China and India, although it is decades away. But they are coming on and there is no time for complacency. Come on wireless, and someone tell Mrs. Lopez about Wi Fi Mesh networks.