A year ago the FCC “deregulated” the Internet. It was only “regulated” for two years (too many) but the regulators prophesied doom. Well, after a fashion, they were right. Doom has befallen their narrative. ISP’s would crank down the screws? Your connection speeds would crawl?
Nope. The Internet is faster.
Related: Net Neutrality – Because ‘They’ Want To Bring It Back!
Speedtest® data reveals a 35.8% increase in mean download speed during the last year and a 22.0% increase in upload speed. As a result, the U.S. ranks 7th in the world for download speed, between Hungary and Switzerland. The U.S. ranks 27th for upload, between Bulgaria and Canada, during Q2-Q3 2018. Though 5G looms on the mobile horizon, fixed broadband speeds in the U.S. continue to outpace those on mobile showing both faster speeds and greater increases in speed.
Speedtest also reports that,
As ISPs continue to build out their fiber networks and gigabit-level speeds expand we only expect to see internet speeds increase across the U.S. We’ll check back in next year to see if all parts of the nation are experiencing the same improvements or if some states fall even farther behind.
We can and will do better around these parts. But that’s because the providers are investing in faster infrastructure to provide customers with faster service. Why? Because they must. Competition demands it. People want faster. Cellular networks are eating away at cable and fiber is trying to compensate. In our version of a Mad Max movie, everyone is looking for bandwidth, except it’s not the rare commodity the Net Neutrality goons promised. With the goal of having more in more places.
A year Ago Sunday
On December 16th, 2017 I wrote about the end of Net Neutrality. In a post titled ‘The End of Net Neutrality Means Nothing” I noted that,
The FCC just tossed Obama’s attempt to regulate the Internet. When my daughter asked for my opinion I told her, “remember back in antiquity (circa 2015) before New Neutrality? When the internet was a thriving, growing, thing looking for every way possible to get as many eyeballs on its corner of the world wide web?
“It’ll be just like that, and it will keep getting better.”
It got better.
Room for Improvement
Is it great everywhere? Hell no. Should government interfere in that? Hell no. Hands off. The free market will solve these problems faster and cheaper if the Government stays out of the way.
They won’t want to do that. You’ll have to persuade them. Because at the first opportunity the busybodies will be back with their regulators. Telling tales of inequality and corporate malfeasance. Things that only the gods of government can fix.
If you don’t stop them they’ll “fix it.” Everyone’s speed will suck equally, except for theirs. And a dwindling number of crony players will have zero incentive to seek improvements.
At increasingly higher costs.
Just like Public education.
H/T Breitbart
