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U.S. Broadband Policy: Myth vs. Reality
The OECD released its semi-annual broadband penetration rankings (Broadband Statistics to December 2006), which show that the United States has fallen further to 15th among the 30 members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. There has been some criticism of the report and attempts have been made to discredit it. (See for example today's Wall Street Journal Broadband Baloney by Robert M. McDowell. Wall Street Journal. (Eastern edition). Jul 24, 2007. pg. A.15; [WSJ subscription required]. Another copy here [Proquest subscription required]). A report by freepress directly addresses the criticisms of the OECD report.
- 'Shooting the Messenger' Myth vs. Reality: U.S. Broadband Policy and International Broadband Rankings by S. Derek Turner, Research Director, Free Press, July 2007
Release of the latest OECD report – unlike previous studies -- was met with a fierce response by incumbent providers and the think tanks they support, as well as prominent public attacks by several members of the executive branch. Free Press found that the major critiques leveled at the OECD data simply fall apart upon closer examination. The coordinated attempt to “shoot the messenger†cannot hide critical failures in the U.S. broadband market. These failures are chiefly due to poor policy decisions that have fostered an anti-competitive marketplace. Our European and Asian counterparts are outperforming us because they have policies that foster vigorous competition in the broadband marketplace, offering consumers more choice, faster speeds and lower prices. ...In 2004, President Bush set a clear goal for high-speed Internet access in the United States... The president clearly called for not only universal access by 2007, but more importantly he wanted broadband to be affordable. The president correctly pointed out that marketplace competition and consumer choice would spawn greater consumer broadband adoption, ultimately benefiting the entire American economy. This was his policy goal. In reality, the United States has not met either the goal of universal availability or achieved the level of competition necessary to spur adoption rates and achieve the economic and social benefits the president desired. But that hasn't stopped administration officials from declaring victory anyway.Continue reading
Not so fast: US broadband lags behind world
As GPO pushes forward with it's Digital Future System and as the well connected (Internet-wise) Congress moves away from print and towards an exclusively online government information world, they might want to consider this new report published by the Communications Workers of America: Speed Matters: A Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States http://www.speedmatters.org/document-library/sourcematerials/sm_report.pdf According to this report:
The median download speed for the 50 states and the District of Columbia was 1.9 megabits per second (mbps). In Japan, the median download speed is 61 mbps, or 30 times faster than the U.S. The U.S. also trails South Korea at 45 mbps, Finland at 21 mbps, Sweden at 18 mbps, and Canada at 7.6 mbps. The median upload speed from the Speedmatters.org test was just 371 kilobits per second (kbps), far too slow for patient monitoring or too transmit large files such as medical records. Most people who went to Speedmatters.org to take the speed test used either a DSL connection or cable modem. Very few people with dial-up took the test because it took too long. According to surveys, somewhere between 30 to 40 percent of Americans still connect to the Internet with a dial-up connection. So the median speeds in this report are actually higher than if dial-up Internet users had chosen to participate in the survey. In other words, even these dismal statistics paint a rosier picture than the reality.The report was compiled by people visiting a speed test site and providing their zip codes, so it isn't truly a random sample. Still makes for interesting reading for broadband advocates. And it should make interesting reading for policymakers who desire to eliminate print. And for people interested in constructing a geographically distributed system of electronic federal publications which could be more easily accessed over urban networks than all users dragging every publication from Washington. Continue reading
Local Broadband and Wireless initiatives
As citizens increasingly need access to broadband and wireless Internet connections to fully participate in democracy, it become increasingly important for government information specialists to be aware of changes in local policies and initiatives in this area. Two sites that help are the Municipal broadband map from News.com and the MuniWireless site. Municipal broadband nationwide. News.com. "Government-sponsored projects to provide fiber-optic or wireless networks are taking off across the United States, as are efforts to legislate the issue in state capitols." Notice that the above site says "Last updated: April 25, 2005." I don't know if they are keeping this up to date or not, but another site, MuniWireless, tracks similar information and seems to be updating its information daily. See, the Initiatives page for some of the same information tracked on the News.com map. MuniWireless describes itself this way:
"This site is devoted to municipal broadband projects worldwide that are funded or supported by cities and towns, especially those projects that incorporate wireless technologies. These range from downtown hot-zones & city- and county-wide wireless broadband networks, to country-wide deployments. Although we often use the word “city," rural municipalities receive equal coverage, because they are leading the fight for affordable, fast, universal access to the Internet. We also cover the products, technologies, and standards that comprise public broadband networks, and the organizations that design, install, and maintain them.Continue reading
State of the Broadband Nation
A 2005 report by the FCC on broadband network access is back in the news this week.
- Federal Communications Commission Releases Data On High-Speed Services For Internet Access, FCC, July 7, 2005
An opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal quotes it ( Broadband Breakout [subscription required], also available from ProQuest [subscription required] Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition) New York, N.Y.: Feb 16, 2007. pg. A.14). It uses the (evidently inflated -- see article below) figures in the report as a reason for opposing network neutrality and regulation.
An article in Information Week examines it critically (When It Comes To Broadband, U.S. Plays Follow The Leader By Richard Hoffman, InformationWeek, Feb. 15, 2007). Hoffman is thorough and objective and his piece could be called a "State of the Broadband Nation." Hoffman describes the state of broadband access in the U.S., compares it to other nations, and puts current debates of telecommunications regulation in this context. I recommend it as essential reading for anyone interested in access to networked government information.
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