Broadband Internet Selected Availability and Cost Issues

Over the past two decades, the Internet has had profound and rapidly growing effects on the economy, culture, and social interactions of Americans. Yet more than one in four households in the United States have not adopted broadband technology to access the Internet at home (on a computer, tablet, or mobile device). About 29 percent of households that have not adopted home Internet service cited cost as the primary reason. The number of Internet service providers (ISP) from which consumers can choose varies by speed. This book examines fixed and mobile Internet service providers. It also assesses the impact of broadband availability in the workplace; examines broadband availability, from the most basic speed levels, which allow a user to access several basic web tools, to the fastest speeds, for which developers are now beginning to design applications; examines information available about the application of UBP by Internet service providers; issues related to UBP selected consumers report are important to them; and the potential effects of UBP on consumers.