Why is America 16th in the World in Broadband?

On the Internet I periodically see articles that state that America has slower broadband service, even 100 times slower, than than some other countries around the world. These often allude to what a group called Teletruth, an Alliance for Customers' Telecommunications Rights, is calling "one of the largest scandals in American history,and it's never been told, but it impacts every aspect of the future of telecommunications and broadband in America from municipalities laying fiber or building Wi-fi networks, the issues surrounding "Net Neutrality", "VOIP", "cable services", the cost of local phone service, the new digital divide, and even America's economic growth."

They have published an Ebook called the "$200 Billion Broadband Scandal." A short summary is provided in this press release. And, they filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission on October 27th, 2005.

This issue seems critically important for those of already using the Internet and one that should have already provided the impetus for a lot of "Social Networking" citizen discussion opportunities. I would like to find links to any of these we can find.