Yes, the difference is that big. Average cable offering is 7 Mbit today where I live. You can upgrade to a whole 15 for an arm and a leg.
A few lucky big cities have Verizon FiOS (fiber to the home), which can go up to 50 Mbit.
US broadband speed is seriously behind Europe and Japan.
I think he was referencing average household speeds, and he didn't implicitly state those ARE the speeds.
To homes, five megabits today should be 10 megabits in 2011
He also said that those speeds are possible now, but restricted by the carriers.
These data-connection speeds are technically doable today, with obsolete voice and video policy holding it back.
Here in Europe ADSL is already 20 Mb for most connections and cable is offering up to 120 MB now. This is now, in 2009. I expect 100 Mbit connections to be the norm in 3 years here in western Europe.
Is the difference in network speed between the eurozone and the States that big? Hearing Andy it seems so, and that difference is to stay.