Feb 12 2009
Stimulating Broadband
In introducing its January 27th report, A Plan to Extend Super-Fast Broadband Connections to All Americans, the Century Foundation states: “Few doubt that broadband communications are increasingly vital to our social and economic well-being . . . Broadband communications are the future, yet the U.S. government has no national broadband policy, and does not treat broadband as a form of infrastructure and does not regard broadband as an ‘essential’ service.” Under the Obama administration change may be in the air.
When President Obama, in his inaugural address, noted building out infrastructure he was not referring just to roads and bridges, but to a technological infrastructure as well: “We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together.” Many expect this technological infrastructure to pave the way to higher levels of broadband adoption and penetration; allowing the U.S. to gain ground lost to other nations. (The country labeled as the birthplace of the Internet has slipped from number four to number 15 in broadband penetration according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.) In addition the expectation is that increased broadband distribution will more than return on the $6 billion (the House version) to $7 billion (the Senate version) investment the government broadband stimulus package is calling for.
