I strongly disagree with your scenario that we are falling behind in the broadband internet service. According to Nielsen/Net rating report in June 21 2006 it says that 72% of US homes has broadband internet www.nielsen-netratings.com/pr/pr_060621.pdf . The link below made in 2005 shows 61% of homes in the US use the internet service and that was in 2005, http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0509/ . So with the same growth from 2005 to 2006 we can say that in August 2007 over 80% of American homes have broadband internet. Also 85% of businesses used broadband internet services and in 2005, I am sure today it is over 90% if not over 95% of businesses who have broadband internet
You may see the same percentage of broadband users in Europe and Japan as in the US but less people there have access in their homes to the internet compared to people in the US for the simple reason that more Americans own computers at home than Europeans or other people in the world.
My previous post shows the % of people accessing the internet and the US is by far number one. There is a reason internet cafes are much more popular in Europe and the world than the US, and that is because much less people in these places have computers at home to access the intenet compared to the US. This by itself make the big difference and the other statistics are secondary.
>> Hal, I strongly disagree with your scenario that we are falling behind in the broadband internet service.
The entire media and communication spectrum should also be included in the discussions since fiber, for example, provides for a variety of communication and content.
The Nielsen report is a measurement of usage, not availability.