Cable, Telcos Killing US Web Success Says Pundit

Sees broadband providers' Luddite attitudes stifling growth, innovation
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 22, 2007 11:48 AM CDT
Cable, Telcos Killing US Web Success Says Pundit
   (Shutterstock)

Comcast’s recent disabling of big file uploads could lay waste to Silicon Valley’s media complex, says SiliconValleyWatcher’s Tom Foremski, injuring or killing Web 2.0 companies like YouTube or Facebook. Comcast's insistence that it isn’t contractually obligated to provide those companies’ services, he argues, is the kind of Luddite thinking that has long slowed technological progress in America.

And Comcast isn't alone. US broadband adoption rates and speeds are among the world’s slowest, Foremski says, and without "Net Neutrality" rules, cable and telecom companies will continue to be reluctant to introduce new technology and quick to use their DC lobbying power to squash perceived threats to their oligopolies. He predicts a coming "battle for bandwidth" as Silicon Valley continues to grow high-demand services. (More digital downloads stories.)

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