Report details high cost of less than high speed Internet

A new report is making the case for universal high speed Internet, outlining the benefits of breaking the digital divide – and the consequences of lagging behind.

Released by the non-profit group Center for Creative Voices in Media, The Case for Universal Broadband in America: Now! recalls President Bush's 2004 vow of high speed Internet "in every corner of America by the year 2007." The promise has not been fulfilled, and the United States has sacrificed over a million new jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars in economic development by relying on slow, unreliable Internet connections.

"Despite the President's 2004 call for 'Full Speed Ahead' deployment of universal broadband in America by 2007, Washington has moved at 'No Speed Nowhere,'" said Jonathan Rintels, Executive Director of the Center for Creative Voices in Media. "Since 2004, America has actually fallen in the global rankings in per capita use of broadband technology from 10th to 15th. The economic, social and cultural costs of this failure to deploy broadband to all Americans are staggering."

Universal high speed Internet in America can make a difference – if we do something about it now. In areas which have invested in high speed Internet access, amazing transformations have taken place. Examples given in the Creative Minds report include a rural farmer who uses his high speed connection to work as a major red onion supplier for Subway restaurants and an area in southern Virginia with so many new information technology jobs following a connection to high speed Internet that its towns are pleading for more people to move there.

While it may seem like an expensive investment, the Creative Minds report points out:

The economic, social and cultural benefits to all Americans of this investment will vastly outweigh its costs. Our nation will stop falling farther behind our international competitors, secure our leadership in global technology, enhance our homeland security and public safety, and provide all of our citizens with the opportunity to participate in the new, global, networked 21st Century world.

But all of these opportunities could be lost if we don't act now. If we continue to put off implementing nationwide high speed Internet, we could lose another 1.2 million new jobs and $500 billion per year in economic development – a loss which, in today's competitive, technology-based market, will further deepen the digital divide between the United States and the rest of the world.

Costs of Failure to Achieve President's Goal of Universal Broadband by 2007 are "Staggering," Says New Report (Center for Creative Voices in Media)

The Case for Universal Broadband in America: Now! (Center for Creative Voices in Media)

A Clear Case for a National High Speed Internet Policy (Speed Matters)