There are 54 countries with faster mobile internet speeds than the US (4G LTE) according to an article over at Quartz. The list of countries with faster internet than the US include:
- New Zealand (3.6x faster)
- Romania
- Hungary
- Greece (economic health isn’t a leading indicator of infrastructure quality apparently)
- Canada (by 80%)
- Lithuania
- Sri Lanka
Yet still people argue that the existing US competitive environment for telecommunications is acceptable. There is no way that it should be considered acceptable. CRE fundamentals are rooted in business fundamentals. Businesses like to operate in business friendly environs of which a significant component of is infrastructure.
But it’s okay, let’s let existing companies not follow net neutrality so that they can charge the traffic from both ends and find another reason to not upgrade their networks and compete on true quality. Just don’t be surprised when a little ways down the road our economy slowly begins to bleed as we lose economic battles to other countries that actually foster and invest in their critical infrastructure.