Internet connectivity

"Today, nearly all Japanese have access to "high-speed" broadband, with an average connection speed 16 times faster than in the United States -- for only about $22 a month. Even faster "ultra-high-speed" broadband, which runs through fiber-optic cable, is available throughout the country for $30 to $40 a month...

The United States has dropped from 4th to 13th place in global rankings of broadband Internet usage. Today, most U.S. homes can access only "basic" broadband, among the slowest, most expensive, and least reliable in the developed world, and the United States has fallen even further behind in mobile-phone-based Internet access...the United States is the only industrialized state without an explicit national policy for promoting broadband. " (Down to the Wire by Thomas Bleha From Foreign Affairs, May/June 2005).

All I know is that I heard today about a small library in western Kansas that is trying to upgrade to high speed internet, but can't afford the $538 per month it will cost.