US is no longer the pioneer in providing broadband internet access to its residents. A study done by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has placed US at 15th rank in providing citizens with fast internet access. US was at number three a decade ago in the rankings. South Korea, Iceland and Germany fared better than US in the 2009 study. It was also found that internet connections were faster and cheaper in 12 countries including Hungary and Denmark.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski admitted that a lot more needs to be done to increase broadband internet usage in the US. FCC is also proposing to spend $16 billion in the next decade to increased internet usage. It is providing federal subsidies and encouraging investment to achieve these results.

FCC aims to provide 100 million U. S. homes increased broadband speeds as part of its National Broadband Plan.

Experts at a UN conference at Hyderabad, India are also discussing various measures to increase internet usage. This is especially true in the developing countries where internet usage is only 20% compared to developed countries.

Tech experts point that more steps are needed to promote internet across US. Competition apart from innovative services ensures that are a lot more people using internet in Europe as compared to US.

FCC maintains that the average broadband download speed is 4 megabits per second in US. As per FCC estimates 90% of US homes will have access to high speed internet by the year 2013.