WASHINGTON - JULY 19 - Today, Free Press released Shooting the Messenger, a new report that dispels the many myths manufactured by the telecommunications industry to excuse America's poor broadband performance compared to the rest of the world.

"Every major international ranking shows the United States falling behind other world leaders in deployment and adoption of affordable broadband services," said S. Derek Turner, research director of Free Press and author of the study. "No amount of industry spin can excuse the problems caused by lack of broadband competition, or the irreparable harm to our economy if we fail to address the mounting crisis."

The latest data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks the U.S. 15th in the world in broad penetration per capita, down from fourth in 2001 and 12th just six months ago. But instead of addressing America's digital decline, federal policymakers and industry representatives have attacked the OECD's methodology.

Free Press found that the critiques leveled at the OECD fall apart under scrutiny.
Shooting the Messenger separates fact from fiction, exposing the truth behind 10 myths used to excuse the shortcomings of the U.S. broadband market.

Among the findings of the new report:

• No matter how one measures broadband penetration — whether it's per capita or per household — the United States still ranks 15th in among the 30 OECD nations.
  
  
  
• There is absolutely no correlation between a country's population density and its broadband penetration. The geographical size of the United States doesn't explain the poor state of broadband adoption and availability.
  
  
  
• Critics claim the OECD measures are flawed because they don't count mobile wireless. But a cell phone is no substitute for a true broadband connection — and if these phones were counted, the United States would fare even worse in the world rankings.
  
  
  
• While U.S. consumers have at best two choices for a wired broadband connection, in Europe consumers have many choices — sometimes dozens — among providers on just a single platform.
  
  
  
• Many of the countries ahead of the United States in the world rankings still have higher levels of absolute broadband growth. And the U.S. broadband penetration growth rate during the second half of last year was the second lowest in the entire OECD.

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