Report: U.S. broadband speed outdated

So-called high-speed Internet broadband connection speeds are "pathetic" compared with other industrialized nations, a communications union report claimed.

The study was commissioned by the Communications Workers of America in Washington in a bid to get the Federal Communications Commission to redefine what constitutes true high speed, USA Today reported Tuesday.

The study found Japanese Internet users enjoy speeds of 661 megabits per second, South Korea averages 45 mps, France has 17 mps, and Canada has an average 7 mps. The median U.S. speed was 1.97 mps, the study said.

"We have pathetic speeds compared to the rest of the world," CWA President Larry Cohen told USA Today. "People don't pay attention to the fact that the country that started the commercial Internet is falling woefully behind."

The FCC defines "high speed" as 200 kilobits per second but that benchmark was adopted more than 12 years ago when dial-up connections were the norm.

U.S. users can check connection speed at a link on www.speedmatters.org .

Copyright 2007 by United Press International