Skip to main content

The Digital Self: Admit it, U.S. Internet service sucks

The Digital Self: Admit it, US Internet service sucks
Image used with permission by copyright holder

If you live in the U.S., you are probably being ripped off by your Internet service provider. That should make you angry – and it’s time to start doing something about it.

This is the message of Benjamin N. Cardozo School Professor Susan Crawford, a former special assistant to President Obama for science, technology and innovation. Crawford is on a mission to change people’s expectations about Internet service in the U.S. She has just published a new book, Captive Audience, in which she lays out exactly how the big Internet service providers (ISPs) have eliminated nearly all competition in the ISP market, which allows them to stick us with Internet service that is sub par compared to the rest of the world, and also too expensive.

In a recent op-ed for The New York Times, Crawford summed up the situation like this: “At the heart of the problem lie a few powerful companies with enormous influence over policy making. Both the wireless and wired markets for high-speed Internet access have become heavily concentrated, and neither is subject to substantial competition nor oversight. … As a result, prices are too high and speeds too slow.”

More specifically, cable giants like Comcast and Time Warner Cable have no reason to spend gazillions of dollars digging up roads to lay down fiber, which she believes is the best technology to allow for next-generation, symmetrical download and upload speeds. Companies like Verizon and AT&T have, for the most part, abandoned their pursuit of fiber services, and are instead putting their resources in LTE – which is great, but will still keep us locked into average speeds. And on the government side, we have policies that protect these companies, and even give them resources to maintain their grip on the Internet service market.

Last week, I had a chance to speak with Crawford about this subject, and I finished the conversation even more convinced that the Internet service game is rigged against us. Furthermore, I realized that the only way this situation is every going to change is from the ground up: We, the people, must fight for better Internet service.

“What we need to do is change Americans’ expectations,” says Crawford. “It’s going to take so long to change federal policy that the way to go at this problem is to start at the city level, so people get upset or disappointed at the status quo, and start advocating for changes when they see that a neighbor city has fiber and they don’t.”

The resounding success of Google Fiber in Kansas City has already started to help this shift in expectations. People around the country are already jealous that some people have access to 1 Gbps Internet for just $70 a month, but most of us don’t.

The more places we have like Kansas City, Crawford argues, the more pressure people will start to put on local politicians to establish their own fiber networks.

“My expectation is that Kansas City is going to provide us with that visual, a picture of what it’s like to live in a place that has a gigabit symmetrical connection,” says Crawford. “When people see it, touch it, feel it – only that changes their minds.”

We need, in other words, more companies than just Google offering fiber service. (Verizon FiOS barely counts, as it’s only available in a limited number of markets.) Unfortunately, there are a number of impossibly tall barriers standing in the way of local communities who might want to launch their own municipal fiber networks to compete with the cable and wireless giants. The main one, of course, is money.

“This is all just about money,” says Crawford. “The barriers to entry is having access to low-interest, long-term financing that will allow a competitive fiber provider to show up [and build out the network].” And right now, those loans aren’t available.

One part of the solution, says Crawford, is for the Federal Communications Commission to better allocate the $115 million that’s available through the Connect America Fund, which is supposed to help provide broadband Internet service to people that don’t yet have it, or can’t afford what’s available in their area. There’s just one problem.

“Right now, that money is going mostly just to traditional players,” says Crawford. “And they don’t have much incentive or desire to invest in upgrading their service.”

According to Crawford, the FCC “feels constrained” by statutes that limit the types of companies eligible to receive CAF money. If this changes, we could see the emergence of all types of new fiber Internet service providers pop up around the country – it wouldn’t only be Google.

“Opening up financing and creating the legal structures to make it easy for cities [to build their own fiber networks] would radically change the situation in American,” says Crawford.

Of course, there are plenty who don’t want anything to change at all. Analyst Bret Swanson, for example, brushed aside Crawford’s arguments in a recent Forbes column by saying, essentially, that there is plenty of competition already, and the cable and LTE are perfectly good for delivering the services we want. This sentiment was echoed in a letter to The New York Times by Steve Largent, president and CEO of CTIA – The Wireless Association, and others, who have taken to blasting Crawford in Amazon reviews of her book.

The status quo, they say, is just fine. There is no problem. The service you’re getting and the price you’re paying are exactly what you deserve. No reason to get angry. No reason to change your expectations.

This argument is not only absurd, it’s insulting. If other countries are beating us in both speed and price, then it’s time for us to change our expectations, and start demanding something better.

Have your doubts? Take a look at your most recent Internet service bill, and think about the fact that people in Hong Kong can get a 500Mbps symmetric fiber connection for just $25 per month, and tell me you’re happy with the way things are.

Editors' Recommendations

Andrew Couts
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Features Editor for Digital Trends, Andrew Couts covers a wide swath of consumer technology topics, with particular focus on…
Visible just made its unlimited 5G plan better than ever
Visible wireless phones and plans featured

Digital wireless service provider Visible has announced upgrades to its premium Visible+ phone plan. The highlight is a new Global Pass feature that allows Visible customers to use their phones in 140 countries worldwide.

The Visible Global Pass offers unlimited talk and text services, along with 2GB of high-speed data, for a flat rate of $10 per day. Visible+ members can also enjoy a free Global Pass usage day every month. The activation process can be done through the Visible app.

Read more
The OnePlus Watch 2 is the Wear OS smartwatch I’ve been waiting for
Person wearing OnePlus Watch 2 with a green strap on their left wrist.

The OnePlus Watch 2 -- the company's first Wear OS watch -- has entered a market that Samsung dominates. However, OnePlus' popularity as a smartphone brand can be expected to bring small, yet meaningful changes that benefit not only OnePlus users, but all of the Wear OS segment in general.

For almost a decade, Samsung and Apple have predominantly been the default options if you want a smartwatch that is actually useful and goes beyond flashy features. With Samsung shifting gears and migrating from its own Tizen OS to the (relatively) more universal Wear OS platform and Google releasing its own Pixel Watch after struggling with an identity crisis in the smartwatch world, the platform has much more traction than it did a few years ago. As OnePlus carves its way into the segment, it has the opportunity to entice people who don't wish to live within Samsung's limitations when using a Galaxy Watch with another brand's phone.

Read more
Buying an iPad Mini today? You need to know about this deal
The Apple Pencil attaches to the iPad mini magnetically.

If you've had an eye on iPad deals for the latest model of the Apple iPad Mini for a while now, this may be the offer that you've been waiting for -- a $100 discount from Best Buy on the tablet's Wi-Fi, 64GB model, slashing its price to $400 from $500. It's still pretty popular years after its release, so we don't expect stocks of the device for this sale to last long. If you're thinking about taking advantage of this bargain, you better push through with your purchase as soon as possible to make sure that you don't miss out on the savings.

Why you should buy the Apple iPad Mini 2021
The latest generation of the Apple iPad Mini was released in 2021, but it's still featured in our roundup of the best iPads because it's the model that you should buy if you want a smaller and more compact version of Apple's tablets. Its 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display is smaller than the screens of its peers, but it's still big enough to enjoy watching streaming shows and browsing websites, while allowing you to use the device with one hand. Unlike its predecessor, there's no Home button, so the Touch ID sensor is instead built into the power button at the side of the Apple iPad Mini 2021.

Read more