>    It may surprise many that the U.S. is considered to be relatively 
> behind in terms of broadband penetration and market maturity( aka. 
> affordability ).  In my view, this situation is due entirely to our 
> current regulation policy.
> 
>    http://www.freepress.net/docs/bbrc2-final.pdf
> 
>    "In Japan, symmetrical 100Mbps connections are available for less 
> than $35 per month"
> 
>    http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060913-7731.html

They also have half the population of the US crammed onto islands the 
size of California and a huge chunk of that land is unusable (mt. Fuji). 
  With such a high density it is much easier to build the infrastructure 
and their culture supports the idea of the upgrades (workers can work 
longer hours via telecommuting).  Look at the difference in cell phone 
technologies.  Most people I know here in the states prefer to replace a 
damaged phone with a similar model and tend to keep a phone till it dies 
before replacing it.  In Japan it is normal to replace a perfectly 
working phone with a new model with new features every 6 months.
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