Broadband plan says 'Let's go for last place'

The FCC National Broadband Plan to deliver 100 Mbps of data to every American doesn't go far enough to create competition that will lower prices and speed up connectivity according to the New America Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that addresses next generation of challenges facing the U.S.

The Washington-based organization pointed out that a 100 megabit connection is as cheap as $16 a month in Sweden and $24 a month in Korea but operators are charging up to $145 for half those speeds in the U.S. The FCC plan, the group said, fails to address the lack of competition that results from a "duopoly broadband market controlled by giant phone and cable TV companies" in the U.S.

The broadband plan, which was released last week, has had its share of critics from cable to telcos to broadcasters, each of whom is unhappy with certain aspects of the plan. Sascha Meinrath, director of the New America Foundation's Open Technology Initiative, however, took criticism to a new level, saying, "A national broadband plan should be bold and visionary and this isn't. This is like entering the race and saying 'Let's go for last place.'"

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