White paper calls on next president to form National Broadband Strategy Commission

When it comes to the proliferation of robust broadband access, the United States has relied too heavily on the private sector and has gotten less than impressive results, asserts the Benton Foundation in a white paper calling for increased public involvement by the federal government.

The paper urges the incoming administration to create a National Broadband Strategy Commission composed of members from the public, private, academic, nonprofit, and other sectors to produce "an ambitious, yet achievable, comprehensive National Broadband Strategy to deploy robust, affordable broadband to every household in America," by Jan. 1, 2010.

The commission should lay out a "roadmap and timetable" to provide all U.S. households access to "robust and affordable broadband" by the end of 2010 and "affordable access to modernized broadband networks that are as robust as those of any other nation" by the end of 2015, the foundation advises.

The foundation's recommendations are likely to be well received by President-elect Barack Obama, who said in an address last weekend that it's unacceptable that the United States ranks 15th in the world in broadband adoption.

U.S. at "critical juncture," in danger of becoming second class broadband state

Yet another organization is sounding the alarm over the pathetic state of U.S. broadband telecommunications infrastructure. This time it's the National Association of Telecommunications Officers & Advisors (NATOA), which today adopted and released formal Broadband Principles encouraging the immediate development of a national broadband strategy.

"Today, the United States is at a critical juncture," the organization states. "Economic and social development increasingly depend on advanced communications infrastructure. However, there is no strategy in place for widespread deployment of next-generation broadband networks. Our failure to take immediate action threatens to relegate our country to second-class status in the broadband age."

Forget about studies, broadband demand aggregation surveys and pretty maps of broadband black holes and other delaying tactics, well meaning or otherwise. The situation is so dire, NATOA asserts, it requires urgent action rather than contemplation: the immediate deployment of advanced broadband infrastructure -- preferably over open access fiber optic cable systems -- providing synchronous connections.

The NATOA's statement also shuns a search for magic bullets to speed broadband deployment. "Different methods may be preferable in different communities," it reads. "For example, networks may be financed by private investment, by government investment, by public-private partnerships, by tax incentives, or by other means. None of these approaches should be prohibited by law or burdened by special restrictions (such as laws that forbid cross-subsidy by governments but allow it for private entities)."

Aside from the need for immediate action, another theme strongly emerges from the NATOA's statement: that local government play a key role and the current model of that concentrates ownership of telecommunications infrastructure in the hands of just a few private owners is part of the problem.

That makes sense given that the U.S. broadband crisis is really a local crisis over the so-called last mile connection. Consider roads and highways to which the telecommunications system has often been compared. The big telecom players may own and operate the interstates and major highways. Local governments have traditionally had responsibilty for providing roads and streets and NATOA argues they should also play a critical role in upgrading the nation's inadequate broadband infrastructure.

Dot com coalition calls on Congress for federal broadband policy

The Open Internet Coalition, in a letter to Congress sent Thursday, said the U.S. government needs to adopt new measures to ensure universal affordable access to broadband, net neutrality and increased competition in the broadband market. The letter is the first step in a concerted effort coalition members will make to push broadband legislation in Congress, members said.

The U.S. lacks "any stated policy" to bring affordable broadband to more residents, added Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge, a digital rights advocacy group and member of the coalition. "The government doesn't have an overarching vision on how to address these problems," she added.

San Jose Mercury News: Time for action on national broadband policy

The federal government’s lack of leadership in this area is a disgrace. Despite a 2004 promise by President Bush to deliver “universal, affordable access to broadband technology by the year 2007,” his administration has done nothing to advance that goal.

Last month, the Federal Communications Commission, chaired by Bush appointee Kevin Martin, launched yet another study of the sorry state of broadband service in this country.

The U.S. needs action, not another study.