What bugs me is that many years ago I read a post on an online blog from a tech who used to work for a cable TV service. He said that the cable boxes we using then were throttled down versions of the ones they use in Japan and barely operate at half the speeds they're made for. It was intentional from the get go.
There was some mention of having to build up the infrastructure and they're just too cheap to do so, scrubbing every penny they can, so they take their time doing so. We could have been up and running at speeds that would eclipse the needs of the medium a long time ago but again, profits got in the way. Rant over.
All the best,
Nonoise