While the article below give insufficient weight to the fact that the extensive USA wired network definitively shapes the American demand for wireless broadband, it nevertheless makes the point that we cannot neglect infrastrcture.
from http://www.govtech.net/digitalcommunities/story.php?id=97829
Let There Be Wi-Fi
January 2006 
Broadband is the electricity of the 21st century -- and much of America is being left in the dark. Two decades ago, the chattering classes fretted about economic upheaval rising from Japan and the Asian Tigers. They feared an invasion of cars, microchips, and Karaoke that would take away American jobs, take over U.S.-dominated industries, and shift cultural norms. In the 1990s, America responded with a boom in high technology and Hollywood exports. But a revolution is again brewing in places like Japan and South Korea. This time it's about "broadband" -- a technology that, in terms of powering economies, could be the 21st century equivalent of electricity. But rather than relive the jingoism of the 1980s, American policy makers would be wise to take a cue from the Asian innovators and implement new policies to close the digital divide at home and with the rest of the world.
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