[lhc-]

Im not sure how the second case incentivizes them to build out their networks either. They have barely done that for the last decade or so (consider how expensive and slow internet access in the US is compared to much of the first world), so I'm not sure why they would start now that they have even more control.

[twoodfin]

"Barely done that for the last decade or so"? I don't think you remember what broadband connectivity options were available in your typical American suburb in 2004 or 1994. As rayiner pointer out in a thread a day or so ago, telecom providers are some of the largest capital spenders in the nation:

http://news.investors.com/technology/091913-671712-institute...

[elehack]

Because it improves the quality of delivery of their service (e.g. video-on-demand). The Internet user won't notice the improvement - their Internet speed would remain the same, by metering - but the actual pipe improves so they can deliver more/better video (and reap the profits from it).

[rayiner]

What's are the points of comparison? It's not really fair to compare average speeds in the U.S. with those in South Korea or Japan, where residents are heavily concentrate in a handful of major urban areas. I don't think internet access in the U.S. is slow compared to say Australia or Canada, which are similarly suburbanized and spread-out countries. According to this report, we're 11th in the OECD for average download speeds: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/sites/cyber.law.harvard.edu/fil... (page 30), ahead of Canada, Australia, and the U.K.