Americans are paying exorbitant prices for high speed Internet compared to other developed countries. The industry has been under the control of a shared monopoly: the cable and telephone industries. And, we’re paying about 8 times as much in the States. But there is some hope for us. First of all, high speed Internet through power lines is becoming more of a reality. The biggest rollout is going on in Texas, where about 2 million people will have access to Internet access through the “BPL” or broadband over power lines. You just plug your Internet connection into the electrical outlet, and you can move it around the room to any outlet. It will be much cheaper than the phone line or cable service, possibly getting down to as little as $5 a month. Ohio is also experimenting with BPL and hopefully others will pick up on it. So, there are little rays of hope out there for Internet users. But right now, we’re stuck way behind the rest of the world.