Next Generation Connectivity: A review of broadband Internet transitions and policy from around the world, The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. (February 2010).

On July 14, 2009, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University would conduct an independent expert review of existing literature and studies about broadband deployment and usage throughout the world and that this project would help inform the FCC's efforts in developing the National Broadband Plan. The Berkman Center's Final Report was submitted to the FCC on February 16, 2010.

...
Our most prominent initial findings, confirmed and extended in this final draft, were that U.S. broadband performance in the past decade has declined relative to other countries and is no better than middling. Our study expanded the well known observation with regard to penetration per 100 inhabitants, and examined and found the same to be true of penetration per household; subscriptions for mobile broadband; availability of nomadic access; as well as advertised speeds and actually measured speeds; and pricing at most tiers of service.

The Center has made the full datasets behind their research available for download.

Yochai Benkler (long-time commons defender and writer of "Wealth of Networks") and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard have produced for the FCC a report on broadband around the world. The report (PDF) is now open for public comment (FCC directions for public comment are here). Comments look to be due by November 16, 2009.

In an interview on the Berkman site, Benkler stated:

I think there are two pieces of news that will be most salient for people as they look at this report. The first is a response to the question: 'how are we [the U.S.] doing?', and the answer is that we're overall middle-of-the-pack, no better. The second responds to the question: 'What policies and practices worked for countries that have done well?', and the answer to that is: there is good evidence to support the proposition that a family of policies called 'open access,' that encourage competition, played an important role.

Here's the FCC's public notice:

On July 14, the Commission announced in a press release that Harvard University’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society would conduct an expert review of existing literature and studies about broadband deployment and usage throughout the world to inform the Commission’s development of a National Broadband Plan.

A draft of the study has now been completed. The Commission is seeking public comment on the study, and has posted the draft for public review at the following Internet address:

http://www.fcc.gov/stage/pdf/Berkman_Center_Broadband_Study_13Oct09.pdf.

Specifically, the Commission seeks comment on the following:

1. Does the study accomplish its intended purposes?
2. Does the study provide a complete and objective survey of the subject matter?
3. How accurately and comprehensively does the study summarize the broadband experiences of other countries?
4. How much weight should the Commission give to this study as it develops a National Broadband Plan?
5. Are additional studies needed along the lines of the Berkman study?
6. Please provide any other comments on the Berkman study that you deem relevant.

Comments look to be due by November 16, 2009.

[Thanks BoingBoing!]

The Pew Research Center report on wireless internet use has some interesting findings regarding broadband access to the Internet.

• Wireless Internet Use, by John Horrigan, Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project (Jul 22, 2009)
• Pew: minorities embrace internet via handheld devices, By Matthew Lasar, ars technica (July 26, 2009).

  It says that African-Americans access the Internet via handheld devices more often than whites, for whom an online connection is more likely to come from an ISP-connected computer. "This means the digital divide between African Americans and white Americans diminishes when mobile use is taken into account," Pew says.

This is a development that should be of interest to those who design web sites for libraries. If you need a reason to persuade yourself or your management that your site needs a mobile-friendly interface, this is it. OCLC announced a mobile interface this year.

Almost two weeks gone since Liberation Day. I got to say the signs are still thumbs up for the optimists who believe government, and its information infrastructure, can be a positive force in our country. Obama talks of upgrading the digital aspects of the health care system; parts of the economic recovery legislation moving through Congress want to throw billions of dollars at securing broadband access to areas and communities now without any easy access to the web. And the debacle regarding the switch to digital television by February 17 might be mitigated by a four month extension.

So librarians, and their allies, still have reason to hope -- but there are some cautionary tales out there. In Slate magazine there is an article about the digital poverty in the National Archives. And the New York Times throws cold cautionary water on the hot possibilities the stimulus package would level the digital playing field. It is the old "if we build it they will come" debate. What I find more interesting is the intersection between this story and the delay in digital television switch over. The ostensible reason the broadcast TV grid is going digital is provide more of the public's broadcast spectrum to other information streams, like accessing the internet. So where are the dots connected here? Here is an interesting article that touches upon these nuances -- Broadband access for all: The economic and political implications of municipal wireless networks.

See you on Day 14.