China Shames U.S. With Plan to Speed ‘Last Mile’ Internet

In the U.S., waiting for high-speed fiber internet to come to your neighborhood is a bit like waiting for a file to download over dial-up. It’s gonna take a while.

But in China, the government will soon require all new homes constructed where public fiber-optic telecom networks are available to be equipped for access to those networks, according to China Daily.

Residents will be required to have equal access to services from available telecom companies. The new policy from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will go into effect April 1, 2013.

The Chinese government wants to connect 40 million families to fiber networks by 2015 — according to the Economic Information Daily Journal, as cited by China Daily — and fiber connections grew by 10 million families in 2012.

By Klint Finley

Full Story: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/01/china-fiber/