Top-quality, universal broadband essential
As the United States competes in the global economy,
affordable high-speed Internet access is more vital
than a telephone line and far less available. It's
essential for the nation to come up with an effective
strategy in 2007 to ensure that every American can
get broadband service by the end of the decade.
The Internet opens the world and equalizes it like
no other tool ever invented. Children can tap into
vast libraries of information and great teachers,
no matter how isolated their homes or how bad their
schools. Consumers can find the latest goods for
the lowest possible prices, no matter where they
live, and download a variety of entertainment with
the click of a button. Individuals can bond with
friends, family and even strangers, thanks to the
Internet's many communications channels: voice,
e-mail, instant message, photo, video, Web page,
blog. Businesses, whatever their niche, can locate
anywhere and connect with customers worldwide.
In short, everything is better with broadband.
Yet, the United States ranks 12th in the world
for broadband penetration, lagging behind such nations
as Denmark, South Korea and the United Kingdom,
according to the international Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development.
At the end of 2005, just 27 million U.S. homes
and businesses had Internet lines with speeds of
at least 2.5 megabits per second, according to federal
regulators. Rural and low-income households were
far less likely to have a fast line than wealthier
and urban ones.
Moreover, typical U.S. speeds, which are barely
enough to handle postcard-size streaming video clips,
are nothing compared to the 100-megabit lines that
Japanese and South Korean users can get for less
than $35 a month.
During the dot-com boom, Silicon Valley proclaimed
that broadband would end the digital divide. In
his 2004 campaign, President Bush proclaimed, ``We
ought to have universal, affordable access to broadband
technology by the year 2007.'' Earlier this year,
incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi promised that
House Democrats would deliver universal broadband
within five years.
Enough talk. Let's roll. The faster, the better.
We need a cohesive national strategy for achieving
universal broadband an effort that could cost tens
of billions of dollars to fully achieve.
We need to define minimum acceptable speeds. We
need aggressive annual targets for rolling out access.
We need to open up more airwaves for Internet use,
which will give more people mobile access and provide
much-needed competition to the cable and phone companies.
We need to find a funding mechanism to subsidize
access in sparsely populated areas, where private
companies don't have the financial incentive to
do it themselves.
Silicon Valley business leaders should be leading
the charge on this issue. Not only is universal
broadband good for society, it's good for the technology
business. Intel will sell more chips, Hewlett-Packard
more computers, Cisco Systems more routers, Google
more ads. Telephone and cable companies see huge
profits in delivering TV, Internet and phone service
over fast land lines.
In some communities, telecom providers are teaming
up with local governments to offer free or cheap
wireless Internet service, another way to expand
access.
These efforts are a good start, but making broadband
truly universal will also take leadership and money
from the federal government.
To help pay for Internet service in rural areas,
the United States should redeploy the Universal
Service Fund, which collects more than $7 billion
annually from phone users to subsidize basic telephone
access throughout the country. A Democrat-proposed
tax credit for rural service providers is also worth
considering.
Looking a bit further ahead, the government should
spur growth and competition in wireless broadband
by auctioning off analog television frequencies
that won't be needed when TV broadcasters go to
full digital transmission in 2009. Some of the auction
proceeds could be used to subsidize universal broadband
service for rural and low-income customers, if needed.
Extending high-speed Internet service to everyone
isn't a luxury it's vital to our economic competitiveness
and our lives.
