Educause, the nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of technology in higher education, kicked off the fourth annual State of the Net conference with the presentation of a white paper arguing for federal policy to ensure universal access to high-speed broadband and the improvement of network infrastructure to that end.
State of the Net is a Washington D.C. conference arranged by the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus. The Committee has over 200 member organizations, including Educause. The goal of the conference is to help bring debate over technology policy to the fore on Capitol Hill.
The paper, “A Blueprint for Big Broadband,” pins responsibility for the proliferation of broadband connections on the federal government. It proposes eight steps to achieve the goal of wiring every household and institution with a high-capacity broadband connection, some of which include:
- Encouraging policy makers to set a goal for the future, and to seek total broadband penetration (with 100 Mbps capacity) by 2012.
- Giving businesses tax incentives to upgrade to a fiber-based network, which would significantly increase network capability.
- Instituting a federal Universal Broadband Fund. The plan would be to amass $32-billion over four years, which would cover a third of the cost of building the immense new network. Two-thirds would come from state and business.
John Windhausen, head of Telepoly Consulting and author of the white paper, built the case for broadband policy by highlighting statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. The U.S. ranks 15th out of the 30 nations ranked for broadband subscriptions per capita. He also comparuddy the Gross Domestic Products of other countries to the U.S., noting that European countries with smaller GDPs still have higher broadband penetration than the U.S.
The presentation included a panel discussion, with opening remarks from Commissioner Michael J. Copps from the Federal Communication Commission. Mr. Copps railed against the U.S.’s lack of a strategy to extend broadband capacity. “It’s really kind of mind-boggling,” he says. There’s no other advanced counattempt on this planet with such a carefree attitude toward this critical infrastructure challenge.”—Hurley Goodall