FCC Commissioner: Make high speed Internet a national priority

Last month, the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law at University of Colorado hosted a conference on the future of communications policy in the United States. Titled "The Digital Broadband Migration: Information Policy for the Next Administration," the conference featured dozens of presenters from the telecom industry, the government, and academia.

The highlight of the event was FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein's presentation, in which he called on the federal government to make universal high speed Internet service a national priority. Adelstein -- who has been staunch advocate of expanded high speed Internet in the past -- reiterated his previous calls for a national high speed Internet summit that would pave the way for a comprehensive national policy.

The current state of high speed Internet access in the United States is simply not cutting it, according to Adelstein. He said the FCC's current 200 kbps definition of "high speed" is "kind of a joke," and this lack of commitment is costing us on the global playing field:

"The bad news is that the United States has fallen behind other countries that have taken this on as a national priority."

Adelstein praised local efforts at expanding high speed Internet access, but argued that such efforts need to be bolstered by a commitment at the national level. He continued his previous criticism of the Bush Administration's failure to put the necessary commitment and resources into this effort.

That's because recent claims by the Administration and its supporters have presented misleading and inaccurate portrayals of high speed Internet access in the United States. While they say our country has nearly universal high speed access, the reality is millions of people still lack truly high speed Internet simply because of geographic or economic reasons.

According to Adelstein, such problems can only be solved with national commitment -- starting at the very top -- to get high speed Internet to every home and business in the nation.

The Digital Broadband Migration: Information Policy for the Next Administration (University of Colorado)

FCC commissioner: Focus on broadband (Rocky Mountain News)

Congress gets busy on high speed Internet access (Speed Matters)

Commissioner: Make broadband 'a higher priority' (The Daily Camera)

FCC Commissioner criticizes Bush administration's apathetic approach to high speed Internet (Speed Matters)

Universal broadband access: mission accomplished? (Speed Matters)