Did you know that the number of homes in the United States that have a broadband Internet connection has decreased so much that the US is now ranked 15 among 30 of the so-called developed nations of the world. This is huge considering the US was ranked 4^th only seven years ago.

So what the heck has happened. The WSJ gives no indication of how these percentages were calculated. I mean, what is considered a household, does dial-up or wireless count, or does getting your fill from connections at work count. I personally could be using my AT&T wireless card instead of paying for broadband in the house. We see this in the way mobile phones are used as there are many homes without a land line because they just you their mobile phone.

Because of this, the FCC, as stated by Chairman Kevin Martin gave his endorsement for providing subsidies to build more broadband network construction, along with waving cellphone contract termination fees.

Does this sound good to you? Read a little further and it’s only for a two week period after getting their first bill, probably a 7 week trial period. This is supposed to help consumers remedy those unforeseen charges that a salesperson might not tell a consumer about. How about just getting the telecoms to just provide a sample bill at signing? Seems like that would stop the miss-communication. I personally don’t think the mobile phone providers should eat the bill for services a consumer agreed upon. Let’s just hope it doesn’t give the consumer the right to return phone and all mobile services without some transfers of monies.