Category: National Broadband Strategy

The Case For Universal Broadband in America, Now

Today, more than three years after President Bush made universal broadband “in every corner of America” by 2007 an explicit goal of his administration, millions of Americans are still without broadband access to the Internet. The reality is that in 2007, there are wide swaths of our nation that have no broadband. Other areas have access only to low quality “fraudband” that is so slow, unreliable or unaffordable that it fails to meet other countries’ definitions of broadband, and fails to provide the benefits that President Bush described when he established the goal.

John Edwards’ Stance on Technology and Broadband Development

Invest in Rural Broadband: Rural households are about half as likely to have a broadband connection. Just as FDR’s rural electrification initiative brought power to every corner of the country, Edwards will set a national broadband policy with a goal of giving all U.S. homes and businesses access to real high-speed internet by 2010. Universal broadband will give rural areas better access to medical care and specialists through tele-medicine facilities. A national broadband map will identify service gaps to encourage investment, Edwards will require telephone and cable companies not to discriminate against rural communities, and set aside a portion of the broadcast spectrum for community providers to improve service in rural areas. [ITU, 2006; CWA, 2006]

Japan’s Warp-Speed Ride to Internet Future

Americans invented the Internet, but the Japanese are running away with it. Broadband service here is eight to 30 times as fast as in the United States — and considerably cheaper. Japan has the world’s fastest Internet connections, delivering more data at a lower cost than anywhere else, recent studies show.

Bill Moyers talks with FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps

BILL MOYERS: Low-power radio is one piece of the media landscape — a small piece…an alternative, as you’ve just heard, to the handful of corporate giants that have gobbled up practically every media outlet in sight. Those media titans control most of what we hear, see and read and they still want more.

Cisco CEO calls for U.S. national broadband policy

Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers called on political leaders to develop a U.S. national broadband policy to help the United States close the digital divide and compete more effectively on a global scale. Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers moments ago called on political leaders to develop a national broadband policy, which would help the United States close the digital divide and compete more effectively on a global scale. He also called on the United States to change its definition of broadband to 100Mbps connections.

Free Press refutes criticisms of OECD data

On April 23, 2007, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released their latest semi-annual broadband penetration rankings, which revealed that the United States had fallen to 15th place among the 30-member nations, down from 12th place just six months earlier. This slide continued a downward trend for America, dropping from a high of fourth place in 2001. The OECD data showed other problems for America: Annual U.S. penetration growth ranked 20th, and semi-annual growth was 24th out of 30 countries.

Scott Wallsten: Everything You Hear about Broadband in the U.S. is Wrong

The supposedly poor state of broadband in the U.S. relative to other OECD countries has generated tremendous consternation. Conventional wisdom about these rankings, however, is wrong and should not be used as a basis for making policies. First, the OECD data are unreliable and misleading. More careful analyses show that the U.S. actually compares quite favorably to the rest of the world in terms of household broadband penetration. Second, comparisons of actual—as opposed to advertised—bandwidth across countries reveal that broadband speeds in the U.S. are similar to most other advanced countries.