Broadband Speeds in Perspective: A Comparison of National Broadband Goals from Around the Globe
New America Foundation
James Losey, Chiehyu Li, Sascha Meinrath
March 25, 2010

Losey, Li, and Meinrath compare data on various countries’ national broadband plans to the U.S. plan released in March. They note that the U.S. plan calls for a “universalization target” that would make broadband speeds of 4 megabits-per-second downloads and 1-Mbps uploads available to everyone. The other top speed goal is to deliver 100-Mbps downloads and 50-Mbps uploads to 100 million homes by the year 2020.

Here are the country-by-country comparisons from the New America Foundation report:

The authors believe that even if the United States meets its 2012 goal, it will reach it half a decade later than some countries and offer lower speeds in some cases. They also said the same argument applies to the 2020 goal, which will reach an estimated 76 percent of the country.

The authors note that 10 years ago, the United States led the world in broadband penetration, but according to the most recent Organization for Economic Development rankings, the country currently ranks 15th. They said the United States should raise its broadband goals.

The full article is here.