Don't Invest in Our Country's Future

Somebody has his or her head in the sand:

American companies in each of these various platforms are investing substantially in new high-speed residential technology. As a result, over the coming decade, American consumers are likely to benefit from greater broadband competition and greater technological diversity than consumers in most other countries.

...Little would frighten investors, slow investment, and harm consumers more than adoption of a new federal broadband policy. Our broadband policy should be the same whether we are ranked 1st, 15th, or 115th: Willing investors should be able to offer services to willing customers all under full protection of predictable laws with prices set by supply and demand. That, in a nutshell, is current American broadband policy, and it does not need to be changed.

That's right, according to one telecom consulting firm, Americans should settle for 16^th in the world in broadband penetration. The sort of competitive, entrepreneurial spirit that took us to the moon should not be used to give high speed internet to rural America.

We agree that different countries need different solutions and that policy changes need to be carefully considered.  But ensuring that every American has access to the life-altering potential of high speed Internet will not kill our economy - it is this sort of resistance to change that will.