A new
report from the Pew Center on States suggests that the biggest obstacle to
bringing broadband Internet to Americans may just be Americans themselves.
While the majority of Americans currently have access to broadband at home,
suppliers are struggling to successfully bring higher speeds to rural areas and
regions with lower incomes. The report suggests that about 35% of citizens
cannot afford broadband, do not know how to use it, or find it irrelevant to
their lives. The report surmises that it’s this lack of accessibility that has
allowed the U.S. to slip in the global broadband per capita rankings from
number one in the year 2000 to 15th just last year.
Affordability is
chief among the concerns for the spread of broadband Internet. When the U.S.
was #1 in 2000, most Americans could get acceptable Internet access using
regulated dial-up or DSL phone lines. Since that time, deregulation of
Internet access providers has driven up industry profits, a major benefit
that companies are hesitant to risk losing by expanding to rural communities.
The result? A growing disparity in high-speed Internet access, with wealthy
urban and suburban neighborhoods on one end and inner city and rural areas on
the other. Consumers and companies alike have now turned to the government to stimulate
both supply and demand for broadband.
As Pew Center on
the States Deputy Director Lori Grange said today in unveiling the report,
“Broadband access is about much more than getting on YouTube.” High-speed
Internet access fosters economic growth, the creation of jobs, and global
competitiveness for the United States. In many ways, the broadband revolution
is akin to the electric revolution. Its growth is subject to local and cultural
constraints and attitudes, which is why states and state governments are
instrumental to the progression of high-speed Internet access.
CCIA has
advocated for public policies to support the broadband revolution since its
inception, encouraging greater access to open networks, improved productivity,
and economic growth. Grange pointed to the inspiring efforts of North Carolina,
which has developed an array of private-public partnerships through an
innovative state grant program. In 2007 and 2008 alone, the state’s e-NC Authority gave out over $2 million in
grants, resulting in educational advancement by connecting 15 school systems to
broadband, progression in medical technology by improving Internet and network
speeds in 10 regional hospitals, and the expansion of high-speed access to 10
of the most underserved counties in the state. These results are a testament to
the efforts of local officials and what that can mean for online access and economic
growth. And now, while the government continues to distribute $7.2 billion worth of stimulus funds in
support of universal broadband, the ball is in the states’ court.
The FCC’s proposed rules to protect non-discriminatory access to the Internet for households and small businesses are needed to ensure no Internet Access Provider regulates the Internet, said Computer & Communications Industry Association Vice President Cathy Sloan on a C-SPAN program this weekend.
“The Communicators” program on the proposal to reclassify the transmission of high speed broadband as a telecommunications service aired on C-SPAN this weekend. It also airs Monday at 8pm on C-SPAN 2.
(Watch the video on
Youtube)
Sloan appeared on the show along with USTelecom President Walter McCormick. She said that CCIA generally opposes government regulation, but that this light touch approach by FCC Chairman Genachowski is critical to preserving open Internet access following a court ruling that invalidated the former FCC's approach to protecting Internet users.
Both Sloan and McCormick said they support Congress rewriting the Telecommunications Act, but Sloan said that given Congressional legislation will likely take a couple years, this FCC action would help preserve how the Internet operates in the interim.
Internet users and the tech industry are responding to news reports that the Obama administration may be weakening in its resolve to protect the neutrality of Internet access for households and small businesses. News reports indicate FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski may decide not to treat broadband as telecom services, which are clearly subject to FCC jurisdiction.
Some say the FCC needs to take action to clarify their jurisdiction after a recent appeals court ruling that overturned the way the FCC tried to enforce net neutrality rules. Because the Comcast case invalidated the Bush administration’s theory of FCC authority over Internet Access Providers, the Commission must rely on authority found in the telecommunications act to preserve open Internet access for all Americans.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association
filed comments with the FCC last week in response to the Commission’s request for comments on its net neutrality rules. CCIA pointed out the FCC does and should have authority to make rules on broadband access for households, students and small businesses under its Title II telecommunications authority.
The court ruling showed the failure of the previous Commission to maintain enforceable, basic rights to nondiscriminatory Internet access. But in the same breath the court didn't disapprove of what the FCC was trying to do -- preserve nondiscriminatory Internet access.
As senator Obama promised several pro consumer and pro technology positions during his campaign. Failure to invoke fundamental jurisdiction to implement those promises would be a serious retreat from what was thought to be his core commitment to positive change and economic growth through technology empowerment. Real change does not mean further entrenching dominant power.
Internet users need nondiscriminatory access to websites and the FCC is tasked with being the public interest watchdog, looking out for household and small business broadband Internet connection rights. We hope Obama administration officials are able to withstand the overly intense corporate political pressure and uphold their duty to protect the public interest in the open Internet.
U.S. diplomats are fighting overseas to ensure citizens in countries like China and Iran have open Internet access. They know all too well the cost of information suppression and we would do well to fight that battle on the homefront too so that no government and no commercial access provider controls access to information on the Internet. Given the recent court ruling that has put a big hole in the previous FCC’s ‘safety net’ that needs to be fixed immediately and cannot await a multi-year legislative process in Congress.
by Ed Black, President & CEO, CCIA
