Is the United States lagging other economically advanced nations in the deployment of broadband infrastructure? That’s the ineluctable conclusion of a study published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and cited by the blogger Groveton in a recent Bacon’s Rebellion column, “The Commonwealth is Flat.”
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece today, Robert M. McDowell, a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission, argues that the OECD methodology is “seriously flawed.”
First, says McDowell, the OECD measures broadband connections per capita, not per household. Per capita metrics favor nations with smaller family units, like those in Europe, and punishes nations with larger households, like the United States. It doesn’t matter if you have one, two or six people living in a household — if the household is served by broadband, everyone in that household has access to it.
Secondly, contends McDowell, the OECD does not include Wi-Fi hot spots unless they are used in a so-called “fixed wireless” setting. One third of all wireless hot spots in the world are located in the U.S. As an increasing number of computer users access the Internet through laptop wireless connections in hot spots, U.S. access to broadband may be significantly undercounted under the OECD methodology.
As for the Asian countries like Korea and Japan, where broadband penetration is significantly, higher, McDowell argues that their dense, urban populations make them more economical to serve. Compare densely populated New Jersey with Korea, and guess what: New Jersey has a higher penetration rate.
The United States has more telecommunications competition than most European countries, McDowell says, and the rate of broadband penetration continues to increase rapidly as video applications create market demand for higher bandwidth. Bottom line: We’re really doing OK. Our system works.
Is McDowell taking a Pollyannish view? Darned if I know. His reasoning does seem to make sense. I just don’t know if his arguments have counter-arguments.
