"More than half the households in Japan will have broadband Internet access by the end of 2005, according to some predictions I heard during my visit. Most of those households will get high-speed Internet access via phone-based Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service, rather than through the cable modem service that is more popular in the United States.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government's Office of Technology Policy estimates that only about 10% of U.S. households currently subscribe to high-speed Internet access.
Why is Japan -- not to mention Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and even Canada -- so much ahead of the United States when it comes to broadband adoption?
Price. As of last week, the going rate for monthly high-speed Internet service in Tokyo via DSL was less than $20 (U.S.) a month. In some cases, $15. There's lots of competition to offer broadband service, and competition leads to lower prices.
Here at home, I pay about $50 a month for broadband access. And my local Time Warner Cable sales representative reminds me that I'm darned lucky they can work me into their schedule. (Time Warner Cable gives FORTUNE no special breaks, even though they are both the red-headed corporate stepchildren of AOL Time Warner. Example: I've been waiting EIGHT MONTHS for a high-definition cable TV converter box.)...
Broadband Internet will transform communications in the coming decade, but it's a shame that the United States won't be leading the way." [The Fortune Weblog]
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