WASHINGTON (Jan. 27, 2014) - Robert Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) will debate U.S. broadband performance at the 2014 State of the Net Conference tomorrow, Jan. 28, 2014.
ITIF has been a leader in analyzing international broadband data. Their report, The Whole Picture: Where America's Broadband Networks Really Stand, conclusively shows that broadband in the U.S. is strong and that we are not "falling behind," as some have claimed. ITIF President Robert Atkinson will present these arguments again in a debate with Sascha Meinrath tomorrow.
It is difficult to analyze international broadband data - differences in population density, topography, culture, market structures, existing infrastructure, programming costs, etc., make it hard to draw meaningful policy conclusions about broadband. Unfortunately some reports, such as the New America Foundation's Cost of Connectivity, continue to draw ill-founded conclusions from limited data. Instead of using large data sets from reputable organizations like the ITU, Akamai, or the OECD, the Cost of Connectivity report relies on a small survey of advertised broadband prices and speeds. ITIF does not see such limited data, prone to cherry-picking and poor comparisons, as a useful guide to policy.
