Broadband for Everyone
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2010-07-27/broadband-everyone
The FCC is spending billions of dollars to make broadband more available, but last week the agency released a report with a dire conclusion: the information superhighway still isn't going to enough places in the United States. Advocates and the FCC itself are calling for reform, particularly in how broadband is delivered to rural areas. We examine the plan to expand America's broadband map.
Guests
Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Technology Reporter
Walter McCormick, Jr.
President and CEO, US Telecom, The Broadband Association
Rick Kaplan
Chief Counsel to the FCC Chairman
Derek Turner
Research Director, Free Press
Comments
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For Cecilia -
The FCC appears bent on creating problem that doesn't exist. Americans like thier b-band. The key to its explosive growth - all goalpost-changing, FCC 706 Report data aside - is because of something the agency hasn't done - regulate. Now, they think can make it better for Americans through regulation (which will most certainly expand).
Question - does moving back to 19th-Century regulation, which is being pushed in the "Third Way" NOI, really help both the core and edge innovation?
I say "No." Look at Verizon's 10k to get an idea of just the regulatory challenges they face to provide broadband. This adds another layer that will make it harder to invest and innovate.
I'd be curious to hear from Cecilia what her thoughts are (not the FCC's thoughts) on how this will boost innovation in the entire ecosystem.
Thanks,
Mike Wendy
Progress & Freedom Foundation
202-969-2957
My family lives in rural southwestern Virginia and even though I work at a high-tech job, we have no broadband options within 30 miles of our home. I think the recent section 706 report is an honest and helpful assessment in which, as commissioner Copps said, broadband is really broadband (4 Mbps), and we are measuring deployment to all Americans not just looking at zip codes. I hope it can spur Congress to speed up broadband deployment to the 24 million of us who do not have access.
Also satellite is not an option because work requires VPN and satellite has latency issues that can not be overcome.
The broad-reaching statement "Americans like thier b-band" is misused here.
Americans like having Broadband. Americans would love more choices in providers and low prices. Americans hate their providers - witness customer satisfaction rankings of companies like AT&T and Comcast - they are ranked even below banks that recently killed our economy.
Without smart regulations, the US will continue to fall further behind peer nations in broadband rankings and folks in rural areas will have very poor access.
Three years ago I was living on Rt 301 - less than 20 miles outside the Wash DC beltway. Verizon was running FIOS on the west side of Rt 301 - but not to my house as I lived on the east side of Rt 301. And, I was to far from the "CO" for DSL. And no cable available. Wireless and Satellite tecnology was too expensive for me. I've since moved - to rural southern Maryland. Where I moved, there was no cable, no DSL. Eventually, Verizon came through with FIOS.
Again, 20 miles outside the nations capital (Upper Marlboro) and only recently any high-speed access here.
My parents live in rural Upstate NY. No cable, no DSL, very sketchy wireless access and they really can't afford satellite. And, no plans from the utilities to extend service. My mother is the town judge and my brother is the town supervisor (its a small town). The actually do have DSL at the town office building - but that is with a different telephone provider.
Oh, and they are too far away from broadcast TV transmitters to get a good signal since that has switched to digital.
I know first hand that having "high-speed" internet access makes a world of difference for access to information and products that are not available locally. My brother is starting a family (adopting) and his children will be disadvantaged without good internet access.
Dial-up doesn't hack it anymore, with the type of web apps that are being served up. And, as with everything else in the computer world, the faster computers get, the more developers use that speed and the more data you will need to transfer.
I think that affordable high-speed access should be available to everyone.