New federal report calls for greatly increased broadband, education investments

"It's the broadband networks beneath us and the wireless signals around us, the local networks in our schools and hospitals and businesses, and the massive grids that power our nation. It's the classified military and intelligence networks that keep us safe, and the World Wide Web that has made us more interconnected than at any time in human history."

That's the quote, from Barack Obama, that opens the recently released Commerce Department report, "The Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States." This report was mandated by the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 which called for an examination of U.S. technological strengths and weaknesses, including the capacity of America's broadband networks.

The report followed the input of an diverse advisory committee, which included Communications Workers President Larry Cohen. The findings in general called for increased investment in STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, which the report authors found was badly neglected.

Investment is one way to remedy the problem of falling wages. As the report says, "The middle class in the United States has struggled as incomes and wages have generally stagnated... Since that peak [1999], real median household income has stalled, and even before the Great Recession, real median household income fell from $53,252 in 1999 to $52,823 in 2007 (in 2010 dollars)."

The report minced no words about the causes for falling income:

"Reasons offered for these wage trends include the decline in the fraction of workers covered by collective bargaining, increased international competition, technological change, immigration, and minimum wages, among others."

The competitiveness report cites a bright spot in the economy, though:

"The Internet is also a critical element of growth; in a study of mature economies, the Internet accounted for 10 percent of GDP growth over the past 15 years, and this contribution has been increasing over time; the Internet's contribution to GDP growth was 21 percent in the last five years."

However, as the report also notes, the Internet and its benefits are unequally distributed:

"... the use of broadband continues to vary substantially across different demographic groups and geographic areas. People with lower household incomes, people with less education, those with disabilities, as well as Blacks, Hispanics, and rural residents generally lag in broadband use."

To address the problem the report emphasized "the importance of federal government investment in an expansive modern electrical grid that provides robust broadband Internet access in both urban and rural communities."

In addition, the report found that "demand driven by the high data consumption of smart phones and other mobile devices could result in a 'spectrum crunch' in three to five years..." In response, the authors urge that "Congress authorize the FCC to use auctions to reallocate spectrum from TV broadcasters to wireless broadband providers. This can also involve further research and development of technologies that enable more efficient use of spectrum."

Speed Matters believes that government support in these areas is essential. As Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) said, "Sustained federal investment in these sectors will not just help grow today's economy, but it will also lay the groundwork for generations to come."

The Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity of the United States (U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Jan., 2012)

Report calls for investments in STEM education, broadband (The Hill, Jan. 6, 2012)