For starters, other countries beat U.S. broadband by the basic numbers.
-- In Japan, broadband service running at 150 megabits per second (Mbps) costs US$60 per month. The fastest service available now in the United States is 50 Mbps at a price of $90 to $150 per month.
-- In London, $9 a month buys 8 Mbps service. In New York, broadband starts at $20 per month, for 1 Mbps.
-- In Iceland, 83 percent of the households are connected to broadband. In the United States, the adoption rate is 59 percent.
Why the gap? One crucial factor is the size of the United States relative to other countries. Wiring customers is costly, and it makes a big difference. Consider the following: