CWA and allies urge Congress to include broadband in economic stimulus

The Communications Workers of America sent a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in early December urging them to "stimulate investment in broadband infrastructure as part of a comprehensive economic recovery and job creation program."

The letter argues that new high-speed Internet connections will create jobs in the near-term -- 100,000 jobs for every $5 billion invested in broadband infrastructure.

Similarly, broadband build-out will return the United States to a competitive international position in terms of connectivity, instead of its current ranking that places the U.S. 15th in the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development rankings.

Other benefits highlighted in the letter to Congressional leadership include reduced health care costs, reducing energy consumption and the delivery of government services.

At the end of the letter, CWA proposes four policy initiatives to "create jobs, jumpstart the economy and improve our global competitiveness":

1. Fund S. 1492 the broadband mapping bill
2. Targetted, temporary incentives for new investment in high-speed networks in underserved areas
3. Grants for investment in high-cost unserved rural areas
4. Funding for subsidized computers and broadband access to low-income households and community-based digital literacy programs.

Two leading trade assocations, the Fiber-to-the-Home Council (FTTC) and the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), have sent follow up letters to Congress supporting CWA's broadband policy proposal.

Grant Seiffert, president of TIA, said:

"The deployment and use of broadband will significantly increase and maintain job growth well beyond the initial investment in the infrastructure, laptops and computing devices themselves. Broadband incentives are a necessary component of a 21st century stimulus package. To that end, TIA commends [the] proposal by the Communications Workers of America."

The FTTC, TIA and CWA represent just three members of a growing coalition of industry, thought, and issue advocacy leaders from across the United States. As of December 1, 57 organizations signed a call to Action for a National Broadband Strategy. Other organizations include AT&T, Google, Alliance for Public Techonology, Cisco Systems, Inc., New America Foundation and Verizon.

Free Press, a broadband think-tank that is also part of the coalition recently released its own proposals that are consistent with CWA's, called "Down Payment on Our Digital Future: Stimulus Policies for the 21st-Century Economy."

Similar to CWA, Free Press is calling for "next-generation networks capable of delivering speeds of 100 Megabits per second," "help low-income Americans get connected by using stimulus funds to extend universal service programs to support broadband," and "bring health care and public services into the digital age and provide technology training to senior citizens and families with children."

CWA letter

United States still lags behind in international broadband penetration (Speed Matters)

Call to action for a broadband strategy (Speed Matters)

FTTC Letter

TIA Letter

New Report Details Broadband Policies to Turn Around the Economy (Free Press)