Argumentative Essay On American Internet

499 Words2 Pages
America has always been technologically advanced, home to world famous technology companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. Yet American internet isn’t as great as you would think. Ranking 31st globally in download speeds and 42nd in upload speeds, the United States is no longer at the top of its game. Much smaller countries like Hungary, Slovakia, Uruguay, Lesotho, and Slovenia have passed us in download or upload speeds. There’s no doubting American internet is slower than most, but why? The answer lies in our country’s telecommunication companies. The beginning of our internet drawbacks starts at the 1996 Telecommunications Act. This act allowed cable and telecoms companies to divide markets, essentially leading to monopoly. Large companies such as Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon, and AT&T did just as the act permitted; they divided up markets and subjected themselves to no competition. Competition is what lowers prices and increases quality, so without healthy competition these companies can charge higher prices without better internet. One example of this happening is with fiber optic connections. These offer faster and…show more content…
Many people are arguing for a stronger regulation to prevent this from happening further, like John Cassidy. He argued that we need a new competition policy that puts the interests of consumers first, similar to other countries’ policies. Despite people like John Cassidy, there are still plenty of people who have free market ideologies. The new head of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler, is a former lobbyist for the cell-phone operators and the cable companies. His connections cause his views to be skewed, preferring the “old way” rather than creating a new policy. As Tom Wheeler is in charge of regulating what people want to change, it seems we are stuck with our slow

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