Broadband for America

The U.S. House of Representatives announced plans yesterday to install 750 wireless access points throughout member and committee offices over the next three years. More from The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room:

Wireless access is currently available in the Longworth cafeteria and Beard said that he expects it will soon be available in the Rayburn cafeteria as well.

The lack of robust wireless Internet access in congressional office buildings has been frustrating for staffers and groups wanting to host events on campus.

You can read more on the announcement here.

There is some online buzz today following reports that the Internet has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. It’s the first time that a non-person or organization entity has been seriously considered for the international award. More from Mashable:

Championed by Wired magazine in Italy, the nomination has been backed by OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte. Italian Wired suggests that the Internet should receive the highly regarded prize for helping to advance “dialogue, debate and consensus.”

You can read more about the nomination here.

Broadband for America has released the second video in our series looking at “40 Ways the Internet Has Changed Our World,” this time focusing on music. From the video:

"My name is Tony Doggett, I’m a singer/songwriter. I’ve been playing guitar since I was a teenager.  I’ve put out three records, self-produced albums."

"When I recorded my first album, the Internet was really just taking off. People were amazed that you could find different things on the Internet. But it was not actually a force in the music industry as far as I could tell. Now the Internet is what’s driving the whole music industry it seems."

"Now, it doesn’t mean that the big names aren’t still using studios because they are. But the fact is, pretty much anybody can put out an album and gain worldwide popularity overnight if they have the right market, the right demographic."

You can watch the full video here.

Today’s Broadband for America hosted a web chat with Robert W. Crandall and Hal J. Singer, both experts in the economics of the telecommunications industry. Crandall and Singer are the authors of a new study which shows the massive investments made in mobile and wired Internet capacity by the major network providers have created hundreds of thousands of jobs over the past six years.

Here are some highlights from the chat:

Question: Even in the current economic downturn, broadband investment has remained steady. Do you expect those private investments to accelerate as the economy improves and what is the overall future of private investment in broadband technologies?        

Robert W. Crandall: Yes, we expect broadband investment to accelerate as the economy recovers if regulators do not impose onerous new regulations.

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Question: Looks like distance learning was mentioned briefly in the report. What are your thoughts regarding the economic impact of distance learning via broadband?         

Hal J. Singer: Given the cost pressures in education, broadband could allow teachers to lecture more widely and to employ a broader tool kit. This is another really exciting area

You can read their full study here and more highlights from our chat here.

Here is a closer look at three more statewide broadband projects getting underway. They include an unprecedented access project to bring high-speed Internet to tribal areas and plans to upgrade several statewide community centers which provide job training and educational opportunities:

In Arizona: An ambitious 27,000 mile fiber deployment project in the Navajo Nation is getting underway. “The Navajo Nation has traditionally suffered from a lack of connectivity,” said Monroe Keedo, IT manager for NTUA. “The Navajo Nation will benefit from this project in four big ways: economic development, education, public safety and health care.” Read the full story here.

In Nevada: A $4.7 million investment will go toward upgrading broadband access at eight Las Vegas community centers. 29 sites and 100 computer work stations are expected to be equipped with previously unavailable high-speed Internet access. Read the Las Vegas Sun story here.

In North Dakota: The town of Hillsboro will receive nearly half a million dollars in grants and loans to upgrade nearly 800 broadband sites in the Traill County town. You can read the full breakdown here.

Broadband for America member Cisco Systems made major headlines this week with an announcement they promised would provide broadband speeds at up to 12 times the rate of their previous models. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski praised the announcement saying:

"Fast networks will speed our digital economy. That's why I have advocated for the goal of connecting every community to a 1-gigabit network, through anchor institutions like schools and libraries," he said. "New technologies like Cisco's and investments by broadband providers are important steps toward this goal. Ultra high-speed networks will ensure that the jobs and businesses of the future are created in America. Every American should have the opportunity to share in the benefits of broadband." Read The Hill’s full story here.

Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers said the motivation and inspiration for the new high-speed Internet router came in anticipation of the growing demands being placed on service carriers like AT&T and Verizon, who provide the backbone of service for millions of Americans:

"If we don't provide this type of foundation for the future of the Internet, we actually become the constricting factor on the ability for it to grow," Chambers said during a webcast announcing the new routers. Read the full New York Times story on the announcement here.

Here is a look at five new broadband access programs announced yesterday. The projects are primarily designed to increase rural broadband access while simultaneously creating jobs and expanding access to healthcare, education and other community services:

In Louisiana: The state will receive an $80 million investment to install fiber lines and broadband access across 3,488 miles, including 12 impoverished parishes. The funding will be distributed amongst the state’s Louisiana Broadband Alliance, a team drawing on the resources of six state agencies. Read the full story here.

In Minnesota: $13 million has been awarded to the state to help expand broadband access through many of the state’s 50 communities who have sought broadband project funding. "This is going to be a great thing for Jackson, Jackson County, for a long, long time to come," said Mitch Jasper, the mayor of Jackson, a city of about 3,500 in southwest Minnesota. Read the full story here.

In Ohio: The state has received federal grants and matching private sector funds to expand rural broadband access to businesses and homes. Rep. Charlie Wilson said, "Expanding small businesses and creating jobs are the keys to our economic recovery and it's tough to do that without expanding broadband," You can read the full story here.

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Today’s San Francisco Chronicle features an op-ed from Ram Shriram, founder and managing partner of Sherpalo Ventures, on where the FCC’s forthcoming national broadband plan recommendations should be focused. Shriram says the plan should focus on three key areas: Set a national goal to make high-speed Internet access universal; connect every public library, school, hospital and public housing facility and expand wireless access:

With the United States facing tremendous economic challenges, the Internet and technology offer great opportunities - but it all hinges on whether we can deploy a communications infrastructure that can handle the demands of the 21st century.

Access to broadband will be just as vital to economic growth as the interstate highway system and the electric grid were to growth in the previous century. As Washington debates how to grow the economy, the most important link to creating more jobs may be the one that's connected to our routers.

You can read the full piece here.

In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy famously says, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," after being transported to a fantastic new world. Today's Kansas City Star looks at how the town of Buhler, Kansas has found a way to deliver its own residents to a new world of economic and educational opportunities by bringing them high-speed Internet access. Local Internet service provider IdeaTek has helped fill the gap, helping Buhler's businesses compete online and connecting homes to education, healthcare and commercial outlets previously unavailable:

“It allows us to operate as if we’re just down the street from you no matter where you are,” said Gary Wolfer, the company’s director of technical services.

Such is the power of bringing high-speed Internet to rural America — a difference that can dramatically level the playing field between city and countryside, that can deliver specialized medicine to places that can’t recruit medical specialists, that can open university instruction to people who can’t come to a campus.

Read the full story here.

The Christian Science Monitor has published an editorial today on the FCC’s forthcoming national broadband plan recommendations. The editorial highlights the challenge of getting every business and home connected to high-speed Internet access while simultaneously fostering competition in the private sector:

On an issue this critical to America’s economy, the government is right to set a goal. But the job is far too costly for the feds to tackle alone, and not necessarily best handled by Washington.  Multiple roadblocks stand in the way of wider broadband adoption. They illustrate how hard it would be for the federal government to remove them.

Based on a national survey, the FCC reports that 36 percent of Americans who don’t subscribe to broadband cite cost factors. About a fifth don’t understand the technology and have concerns about privacy and content. Another fifth say they have no interest. Only 4 percent said broadband isn’t available.

So what should the FCC’s role be? Primarily, to encourage competition so that prices come down and service and speed improve. And, in a business where wireless connectivity is the rage, to make sure spectrum is available. It must also provide incentives for companies to connect to remote, rural areas.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has said the need is to “unleash investment, promote innovation, promote competition.” His plan must do that.

You can read the full editorial here.