Wondering the same thing. Why is this a bid deal?
While those of us in urban areas aren’t complaining much...the rest of the country is primarily dial-up and don’t expect any relief...for at least a decade or two. The problem is that rural America isn’t getting new telephone infrastructure or upgrades...and it will simply continue. My brother works in a town where DSL and cable is everywhere....but he live 40 miles away...and dial-up is the only option. The amusing thing is that he is a modem engineer and builds all of these great modems that urban area telephone centers use. He goes home and checks email/news...forget any video/audio links or movies.
I live in Germany, where 75 percent of the population has access to DSL at this point. Private companies are competing hard to get business and cut rates...plus putting pressure on the national company that installs all telephone hook-ups to upgrade.