Why Speed Matters, FCC Chairman Genachowski on Broadband Report

Speaking at the release event for the fourth annual Communications Workers of America Speed Matters Report on Internet Speeds in all 50 States, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski highlighted the role of the report in bringing awareness to critical broadband issues and praised the role of the CWA in highlighting these issues.

Genachowski outlined the need for increased broadband access in America, stressing its global economic impact:

I agree with CWA that the great infrastructure challenge of our generation is high-speed broadband Internet.

Broadband enables businesses to start and grow, and jobs to be created, anywhere in America, from the biggest urban city to the smallest rural town. Broadband opens new markets, allowing businesses—small and large—to reach customers in the next neighborhood, the next city, the next state, and even overseas. And broadband allows the smallest business to have cutting edge products and services that increase productivity and efficiency, reduce costs, and boost revenue.

Using the findings of the report, Genachowski acknowledged the shortcomings of America's own broadband capabilities. To become a global leader, the US will need to focus its efforts on laying more broadband and connecting millions of new homes to high-speed Internet connections. Genachowski explained:

Today's report reveals cracks in our innovation infrastructure. For one, other countries have faster wired networks. We're used to hearing about fast networks in South Korea, Japan and Sweden, but according to CWA's numbers, broadband subscribers in Romania enjoy broadband speeds significantly faster than the average American. Speed matters, because if we want the job-creating Internet services and applications of the future developed in America, we are going to have to do better.

Genachowski noted that the roadmap laid out by the National Broadband Plan would address some of the most glaring holes in current broadband access. The Plan calls for increasing broadband speeds to "100 megabits per second broadband to 100 million homes" by 2020, ensuring that each community has at least one anchor institution providing 1 gigabit-per-second service, and reforming the Universal Service Fund to support broadband build-out to high-cost rural areas and subsidies for low-income households.

The annual Speed Matters Report on Internet Speeds details broadband performance state-by-state and serves as a resource for policymakers and consumers alike.

CWA and Speed Matters release 2010 Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States (Speed Matters)

Prepared Remarks of Chairman Julius Genachowski Federal Communications Commission: Release of Communications Workers of America's "Speed Matters" Report

2010 Report on Internet Speeds in all 50 States (Speed Matters)