Rick Karr recently wrote a great piece for Engadget based on an investigation he did into broadband speeds and pricing in the US and Europe. To the surprise of no one here in America we pay too much here and get too many limits on our usage while AT&T, Verizon and Comcast fight competition at every turn. In the UK, customers often get as many as a dozen options with higher speeds and lower prices and providers are actually removing usage caps. http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/networking/2011/03/10/bt-to-lift-limits-on-unlimited-broadband-40092098/

Here in the US we are getting tighter caps even as speeds creep up and we get access to new services like Netflix and Hulu streaming that threaten to put ever more users over their caps. It's even worse in the wireless field where Verizon is rolling out LTE at the same time it introduces the most expensive tiered pricing in the business.

Frankly the opposition that AT&T and Verizon have to increased competition should be all the reason that the FCC and FTC needs to deny the T-Mobile takeover. None of the big carriers should be allowed to buy out other companies until we start seeing some increased competition.

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Why is European broadband faster and cheaper? Blame the government …
Rick Karr is a journalist and frequent contributor to The Engadget Show. If you've stayed with friends who live in European cities, you've prob.

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