to other large U.S. cities like New York, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. Why is this the case? One key factor is the presence of local ISPs. Compared to the other U.S. cities surveyed in this report, the Bay Area broadband market is the most diverse, boasting several popular local ISPs that deliver high-speed wireless and fiber access to residences and businesses. In addition to offering faster speeds than Comcast and Verizon, these ISPs tend to have lower prices and do not bind their customers to lengthy contracts. These ISPs have injected a competitive, innovative element to San Francisco's broadband market. Sonic.net, for example, has grown into Northern California's largest independent ISP since it was founded in 1994. The company strings fiber over power lines, providing high speed access to over 40,000 customers. At the moment, Sonic offerscusomers in San Francisco20 mbpsdownload speeds as well as unlimited home phone for a flat month-to-month fee of $39.99. Sonic.net even offers a 1000 Mbps connection for $69.95 a month in parts of Marin County.Other local ISPs include Monkeybrains and Webpass, which provide "last mile" connectivity between fiber lines and residences via wireless devices. Section 3: Speed Leaders The speed of your Internet connection determines your ability to view web pages, download and upload content, and use applications and services like Voice over IP and two-way videoconferencing. As network technology has improved over the years, the general trend has been an increase in broadband connections speeds. [xi] At the same time, however, the