Broadband for America

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.

Broadband for America has posted a new video, “40 Ways the Internet Has Changed Our Lives.” The new footage looks at Hudson, a 20-year-old college student who thought she would have to drop out of school because of travel and tuition costs. High-speed Internet access allowed Hudson to not only stay in school but to gain scholarship opportunities as well:

Hudson: “I know that the scholarship I got, because I stayed in school and because I took the online courses, is going to help my family out so much and is going to take such a weight off my parents and my shoulders to make enough money to pay for tuition.”

“I think for a lot of families taking online courses will be a good option. Without the Internet I wouldn’t have been able to do all of these things and to get the credits that I’ve gotten that I can now transfer to school. So, I didn’t waste any time and the Internet helped me basically, just kind of get ahead.”

You can watch the full video here.

Four more states have announced plans to bring broadband access to underserved areas. The projects are designed to create new jobs, improve educational opportunities and close the digital divide. Here is a look at some of the projects getting underway:

In Georgia: The state has received $15 million to expand high-speed Internet access to underserved areas between Atlanta and Savannah. “Georgia has long recognized that broadband is the dial tone of the 21st century,” Gov. Sonny Perdue said in a statement. “These projects will help our state grow economically and compete on the global market.”

In Idaho: The state will receive nearly $12 million in grants and loans to expand broadband access to 3,770 underserved homes across the state.

In Louisiana: An $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce will provide high-speed Internet access for 100,000 households, 15,000 businesses and 1,200 “anchor institutions,” including public libraries. “What we’re doing is almost like building a highway,” said Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. “The private sector can tap into it or connect to it and directly provide internet service to hundreds of thousand of homes.”

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 A new Los Angeles Times editorial looks at the ongoing efforts to increase broadband access and adoption across the United States:

“With the Internet becoming the backbone for the 21st century American economy, broadband is as vital to workers, students and families as a car or a bus pass. Yet despite widespread availability, only two-thirds of U.S. homes have broadband service. Seventeen million Californians had no broadband at home in early 2009, and 13 million had no Internet access at all. The gaps in access threaten the nation's competitiveness by restraining productivity growth. Large segments of the population -- particularly minorities, rural communities and the disabled -- are being left behind in the race to develop Information Age skills.”

Broadband for America couldn’t agree more that increasing adoption rates of high-speed Internet is critical to creating jobs and ensuring our nation stays at the forefront of an innovation-driven global economy.  As the FCC prepares the National Broadband Plan policy makers should focus on promoting digital literacy to maximize adoption.   

You can read the full editorial here.