Finally some common sense on broadband -- courtesy of Nebraska Rep. Lee Terry

Finally, a public policymaker displays some practical common sense and fairness when it comes to filling in America’s many broadband black holes: allow broadband providers to charge customers in areas that cost more to serve higher rates for service.

In addition to ending a federal requirement that high-speed Internet rates be equal regardless of population density, Nebraska Republican Congressman Lee Terry’s draft bill would also require the Universal Service Fund, created to subsidize voice telephone service in higher cost areas, be updated to include broadband, according to this ars technica report.

Terry, a member of the Congressional Rural Caucus, is on the right track policy-wise. Broadband Internet access should be universal and allowing USF funding to help make it so is sound policy. It’s also equitable to allow higher costs to deploy wire line-based broadband to be recovered in the form of higher prices.

Achieving universal broadband access is a high cost proposition and will require multiple funding sources. Terry’s bill strikes a reasonable middle ground that’s vitally needed in finding a way to make broadband universally accessible. Otherwise, everyone living outside of densely populated urban areas will remain stuck in the early 1990s with cheap but impractical dial up Internet access or the costly and undesirable option of satellite, which is best left to television programming.

Australian regulator puts ISPs on notice: honest disclosure of broadband speeds needed

This story is from the land down under. I wouldn't be surprised to see this broadband speed full disclosure sentiment spread to the states. Consumers here aren't likely all that different from their Australian counterparts in not quite understanding that broadband provider speed claims of "Up to X mbs" often mean a connection speed significantly lower than the upper limit.

Cable companies face bandwidth crunch

Cable providers, reluctant to admit their coaxial-based systems that formerly carried only analog television programming, are getting maxed out with the flood of digital and high def TV signals, high speed Internet and most recently, digital telephone service as part of their so-called "triple play" bundles. They're looking for ways to expand their carrying capacity, including following telcos such as Verizon and moving to fiber optic cable. Read about it in Light Reading's Cable Digital News.

Internet 2 spawns customer relations nightmare for telcos, cable companies

Now that the Internet is entering its second stage of popular acceptance and has moved beyond mere email and Web sites to streaming video from the major television networks and amateur video productions via YouTube, it’s likely creating a customer relations nightmare for the big cable and telephone companies.

The reason: In many areas, both still are unable to deliver the Internet at speeds any faster than those that existed in the early to mid-1990s, speeds that are impractical for today’s Internet or even Web surfing. Or in the cable companies’ case, any Internet access whatsoever. Their call center sales representatives are likely getting tired of being asked repeatedly, “When can I get high speed Internet?” and having to tell disappointed would be customers they cannot sell it to them -- and don't know when it will be offered. Ditto repair crews out in the field who find they must double as customer service representatives as well as technicians when they are approached with the same insistent question.

CWA calls for national broadband effort

The Communication Workers of America (CWA) has joined a growing call for a national broadband policy, condemning the status quo as "a hodgepodge of fragmented government programs and uneven private sector responses to changing markets."

The United States should offer all residents and businesses high speed connections of at least 2 mbs down and 1 mbs up by the end of 2007 year and 10 mbs down and 2 mbs uploads by 2010, a CWA policy paper states.

Speed Matters: Affordable High Speed Internet For All calls on the federal government to actively support the creation of public-private partnerships in each state to expand broadband access and a national broadband map to show parts of the nation that remain on the dark side of the digital divide.

All residential and business customers should be protected by basic consumer and service quality protections no matter where they live, which carrier they choose or what technology is used to provide their services. Telecommunications services should meet the highest
standards of quality, reliability, and safety. Quality service depends primarily on sufficient investment in telecommunications infrastructure and adequate staffing provided by trained, well-compensated career employees.

Watchdog group sues FCC to assess broadband competition

After being stonewalled by the Federal Communications Commission, the Center for Public Integrity is going to court to get access to FCC records to determine how much competition for broadband service exists. The CPI wants to know exactly how many broadband land lines the telcos and cable companies provide in a given Zip Code. Under current FCC standards, if they offered a single connection at 200kbs or greater in a given Zip Code, that entire area would be considered being wired for high speed Internet. That standard is highly flawed in most El Dorado County Zip Codes that contain yawning broadband black holes.

Read ars technica reporter Nate Anderson's story on the federal lawsuit. The telco and cable providers are circling the wagons -- most likely because the withheld data would shine a bright light on the dreadful state of poor wireline broadband access that exists across much of the U.S.