Another compelling case for high speed internet

Mark Lloyd has written a terrific rundown of universal high speed internet access for the Center for American Progress (CAP). Lloyd, a senior fellow at CAP and a public policy professor at Georgetown, breaks down the need for high speed internet, the lack of access problem, and recommendations for improving access nationwide.

He notes that in the abstract, everyone agrees that more people should have fast internet connections. Troubles arise, though, in the policy details. Right now, for example, we've actually got a solid law--Section 706 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act-- that requires the FCC to report to Congress every two years on the state of high speed internet deployment around the country. But, as Lloyd writes,

"when you look closely at the details, you find that we don’t have a good definition of what broadband is in the United States, we don’t know who has whatever we’re calling broadband, and we don’t really know where advanced telecommunications services are being deployed. We cannot make intelligent public policy in the dark."

Lloyd then notes three pieces of legislation being considered in Congress that would begin to solve these problems: Rep. Rick Boucher's (D-VA) Universal Service Reform Act, which in part would redefine "high speed" at 1 mbps and set a five-year timeline to reach that goal; Rep Ed Markey's (D-MA)'s Broadband Census of America Act, which redefine "high speed" at 2 mbps and require deployment data to be measured down to nine-digit zip codes; and Sen. Daniel Inouye's (D-HI) Broadband Deployment Act, which would peg the "high speed" standard at the rate necessary to transmit and receive high definition video.

The specific recommendations that Lloyd makes include provisions from all these proposals: a better "high speed" definition and more comprehensive data collection from the FCC, encouragement and incentives for public-private partnerships, and the expansion of the universal service program to fund high speed internet in rural areas.

At the conclusion of his piece, Lloyd make an excellent point about how high speed internet provides two-way benefits:

"Connecting all Americans to the most advanced communications service is important for business, health care, and education, and it is fundamental for civic participation. Rural Americans do not represent only a need, they represent a resource. We need the energy and ideas and active engagement of our small towns and rural communities in our national discussion. Our federal policies should ensure not only that rural America sees and hears the world, but that the world has an opportunity to see and hear and benefit from rural America."

High speed internet is certainly about fairness--making sure that no matter where they live, all Americans are plugged into the digital age. But it's also about using technology to get the most productivity out of our chief national resource--the American people.

The Wiring of Rural America (Center for American Progress)

Telecommunications Act of 1996