By 2012 Koreans Will Get 1Gbps Broadband Connections
The Korea Communications Commission is working on plans that will boost broadband speeds in that country tenfold by the end of 2012. That means Koreans will access 1 Gbps service by 2012. That’s 200 times as fast as your typical 5 Mbps DSL connection sold in the U.S. At present, Koreans can get speeds of up to 100 Mbps from their broadband providers. Availability of such high-speed connections has allowed Korea to emerge as a leader in the MMO and online gaming industries. Even higher broadband speeds are going to unveil many new usage scenarios, which can lead to new company creation. 
In addition to its wired broadband efforts, KCC expects wireless broadband to get a 10x speed bump to 10 Mbps vs. current speeds. KCC is promoting the homegrown WiBro standard as a way to boost speeds. It will re-allocate spectrum in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands with preference given to new operators and latecomers to the market. KCC wants to allocate the spectrum next year and hopes that services start in June 2011. IPTV is another area of focus for KCC.
The efforts are part of giving Korean IT infrastructure a boost, according to KCC. The plan is going to cost about $24.6 billion and will create 120,000 jobs. KCC was established because of the convergence of telecom, broadcast and broadband industries.We need our FCC to start thinking along those lines and make some drastic changes to get us to an ultrabroadband future . (Image Courtesy of JoongAng Daily.)
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Agree 100%. Current proposals are so lame and short-sighted. They miss the point and the opportunity to do something right. Korea and Japan are good examples of govt. and industry partnership to boost nation’s economy.
It is very sad to see USA lagging behind the likes of Korea and Japan in broadband speeds. lets wait and see what the new administration will offer in this area.
Why is Korea so lucky? Here I am reading Korea will get 1gbps by 2012… and then I’m reading North American internet will be filtered by the government by 2012. This is crazy.
I’m sure I’ll still have 1.5/384 in 2012. Yeah America!
Oh man they’re gonna PWN us without mercy as soon as we enter any Starcraft/Ragnarok server…
South Korea continues to lead the world in this dept. Although the US has a topology that would make a similar roll out here several orders of magnitude more complex, it is completely baffling why even our major cities are incapable of having highly reliable ultra-fast broadband. Of course, I’m a bit prejudiced when it comes to this sort of stuff. If it were up to me, I’d bump that stimulus package up to a cool 2 Trillion with half of it going to broadband and advanced communication technologies :-)
On a serious note, though… selling internet access is not exactly a winning proposition. It’s a commodity people don’t expect to pay a lot of money for, yet the demand for faster access continues to increase. This is definitely a reason why the government should play a greater role. The private sector simply doesn’t have the incentive to invest in cutting-edge technology.
That’s not really a big deal anymore, in Hong Kong 1Gbps has been around for years for instance.
You can write to FCC at :
http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
I wrote to them, my post is at :
http://people20.blogspot.com
The FCC can help provide 100000 jobs and increased US productivity, by following S. Korea
Currently, as an Internet based worker, there is little motivation to stay in the US if Internet speeds are low. Also, having higher internet speeds will spur investment in Internet technologies/applications and in turn create jobs.
Published at :
http://people20.blogspot.com/2009/02/fcc-can-help-provide-100000-jobs-and.html
Wrote:
http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html
Kevin Kelly wrote a great piece, Better Than Owning. “Very likely, in the near future, I won’t “own” any music, or books, or movies. Instead I will have immediate access to all music, all books, all movies using an always-on service, via a subscription fee or tax. I won’t buy – as in make a decision to own — any individual music or books because I can simply request to see or hear them on demand from the stream of ALL.” http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2009/01/better_than_own.php
Sure, this may be the future but not the near future especially in North America. We need the infrastructure to support the premise. If not, it’s just a dream! Well unless you live in South Korea or Japan. Actually, the UK is also getting in on 100MB connections for 2012.
The other key is truly competitive rates. From what I remember in Japan, they 100mb connection (up and down) for $75. Here’s the story,Japan Optic Fiber Internet, http://www.dannychoo.com/adp/eng/1653/Japan+Optic+Fiber+Internet.html
We are turning into a nation that dreams while others do