More than half (55%) of rural broadband users saw maximum peak downstream speeds of less than 3 Mbps in the second quarter of 2012, according to a new study by hardware vendor Calix (via Telecompetitor). The hardware vendor, who would obviously like carriers to buy more hardware to shore up these speeds, said 60% of rural subscribers received speeds of 3 Mbps or less. 25% received peak downstream speeds between 4 and 10 Mbps, and 8% received speeds above 10 Mbps, says Calix. These speeds won't improve any time soon, with incumbents like Verizon and AT&T hanging up on residential DSL, and smaller telcos (Frontier, CenturyLink) having little to no competitive incentive to upgrade their lines.
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