Category: National Broadband Strategy

Scott Wallsten: Towards Effective U.S. Broadband Policies

OECD statistics show that the U.S. has fewer broadband subscribers per capita than some other countries, causing great consternation. This concern has contributed to growing calls for government intervention including open access regulations much like the failed unbundling regime that the U.S. recently ended.

Why the US has no national broadband strategy

The OECD global broadband rankings released earlier this week showed the United States dropped further when it comes to broadband penetration. The politicized and polar response to the report is a prime example of why the nation has no broadband policy in place — we simply cannot agree on how to proceed, much less come to a common understanding that there are issues regarding rural broadband deployment in America that may need addressing. A collection of opinions from the week:

US Falls to 25th in Broadband Penetration Worldwide

The US fell from 23rd to 25th place in worldwide broadband penetration in the last half of 2006, according to a recent survey by Point Topic. OECD data confirms the slowdown, with the US falling to 15th in broadband penetration among OECD countries surveyed. US broadband penetration grew 0.65 percentage points to 80.81% among active Internet users in March.

Former FCC Commissioner Harold Furchgott-Roth

“In the next few weeks, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will issue its semiannual report on broadband penetration, and America is likely to have a middling ranking (it was 12th out of 30 countries in the most recent OECD numbers of a few months ago). Its standing is fodder for many politicians, including several candidates for president, who say we need a national broadband policy. They are wrong: Industrial policies, including for broadband, are bad ideas.”

Esme Vos on the State of US Broadband and the National Broadband Strategy

“As a nation that prides itself on technology leadership, it’s mystifying why the U.S. doesn’t have a clear, well-planned strategy and supporting policies for broadband. No matter what your personal beliefs are as to whether the federal government or market forces should actually provide tomorrow’s high-speed networks, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that the lack of a coherent plan for how the country will use bandwidth to enhance its citizens’ lives, and maintain its competitiveness in world markets, is a huge problem.”

Gordon Cook on the National Broadband Strategy

In the absence of Jim Baller’s plan, the US has no initiative to move past status quo. Many informed people have rung the alarm, but he’s the first to articulate the steps necessary to achieve results. Kudos to him. Any concerns expressed should be seen against the backdrop of his commitment. The timing (before the next election) is about right for getting the matter into the political domain.

Rich Tehrani from TMCnet on “Eight Bold Steps”

“A few of my friends have ordered FiOS from Verizon and they seem happy to have broadband access at speeds once unavailable from phone companies. The sad thing is that even though broadband speeds are increasing in the US, the cost of the connections are higher than in many other parts of the world, and the speeds are still only a fraction of what others are experiencing in places like Asia.”