NA includes Mexico and the carribean. If you looked at the list, you'd see that it includes a few more.

As for the eastern European countries doing so well, I was thinking about that. I believe they are doing well for the same reason Korea is - economic development in anotherwise bad place. Due to new infrastructure being built, they are able to put in new technology, as opposed to upgrading old lines (like one would do in developed countries like the US and western Europe).

So I must ask - why would Bulgaria be higher than France? I'd like to hear your reasoning too.

I saw, see by your logic latin american countries should also have amazing internet, yet they do not, so it doesn't have to do with just the development. In those countries the ISPs are probably not trying to nickel and dime their customers but are actually trying to improve so they can make more money.  Meanwhile I have not noticed any form of improvement from Bellsouth, now ATT, in the last 8 years.

Edit: Could be that the government is subsidizing some of that development.

This is actually one of the areas where I believe the Government should take more of a hands-on approach. The social benefits derived from extending and improving Internet connections far outweigh the private costs. Unfortunately, cable companies can only consider the private costs - Governments need to provide a subsidy which somehow matches the social benefits derived from improved communications infrastructure.

I fully agree. The internet is as integral at this day and age as roads, so jsut liek roads the government should take the helm in the expansion of broadband.

Well, my views are slightly different on roads, as I believe the consumer should be paying more for the maintenance of the roads. I am opposed to road/fuel tax and in full support of a road pricing system......

But, I see your point. :P

w00t. Someone needs to stick it to the big telecom companies, and stick it hard.

Ah, but they aren't subisdizing internet. I've checked for references of government intrvention in all of these high-speed eastern European countries, and the opposite is true - its all been privatized since the late 90's.

Also, you falsely assume that every country in latin America is growing at a very significant pace. You'd be correct if you were talking about Chile which has a smaller population growing development. Its broadband speed is growing at a frantic rate (its about 7.4 mb/s)...So my argument would work down there too.

It seems that the countries that are growing fast for internet speeds are small  and have high development, as opposed to massive government interventions.

And finally, I'll take private internet over government subisidized internet that can control and decide where, when and what to share.

If you don't like bellsouth, then I suggest switching. You know, there may be other providers in your area :-p

I actually need to double check that since I am not too sure that they are entirely  without any subsidies. Also, when was the last time the govrnment stopped you form using the interstate? I would love to hear it since you seem to think they are being very restrictive of what they own, yet I have not had a single problem using an interstate

Actually I can only choose between Bellsotuh comcast Comcast, and both are pretty bad at this internet business.

Are those measured in Mbyte per second or Mbit per second?

I am slower than the average of nearly all nations if those numbers are in Mbit/s.

Oh the topic of government takeover of internet....

In the small town I live close too, 5 years ago we got 5mbit service, a few years ago we got 20, this year, we got 40.

If the government had put in that 5mbit line, we would be stuck with it for another 10 years most likely.

As for me, I live in the middle of nowhere, so my choices are limited.

I pay $70 a month for a wireless 3mbit connection. If I didn't want that, the next best option for me is a 256k DSL.

The down side of living in the country, but it's fast enough for Netflix.