Building a Positive, Competitive Broadband Agenda

In October 2001, the Information Technology Association of America issued a call to government and business to spur the growth of broadband. Following is an edited excerpt of its white paper on how best to accomplish that goal. Broadband Internet access is available to a majority of American households, yet consumers are hesitant to use it. Part of the problem is cost. Many people think broadband is just too expensive. Part of the problem is service. Stories of woe about customers attempting to add Digital Subscriber Line and other broadband services abound. The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) believes most of the problem is really about content. Broadband content and applications are simply not rich and varied enough today to attract a mass market of consumers. To shift the public discourse about broadband from supply-side infrastructure build out to the steps necessary for demand-side broadband market development, ITAA has launched the Positively Broadband campaign. ITAA views broadband technology as the next important high tech "change agent" for U.S. economic growth and expansion. The U.S. embrace of the Internet for business-to-business and business-to-consumer commerce has been a model for the world to follow. Moreover, the Internet has played a major role in helping companies gain highly cost effective control over enterprise-wide legacy data and applications. This phenomenon has driven productivity, job growth, new business development, lower prices, greater convenience, supplier competition, choice and many other market and consumer benefits. In short, the Internet has been an incredible boon to the overall strength of the U.S. economy. Many small and mid-sized companies as well as consumers, however, connect to the Internet with slow-speed, dial-up connections. This type of connection operates at speeds too low to take practical advantage of many online options. Even so, consumers seem willing to make do. A September 2001 ITAA survey of 1000 American voters found roughly half of Americans households with Internet access and a high-speed alternative stick to their dial-up modems. If broadband services are widely available but not yet popular, one must ask why this is so. Broadband speeds make transmission of multiple communications signals available over a single circuit or frequency. The additional bandwidth means networks can deliver a wide array of digital services over the same lines, make data intensive applications not just possible but practical, provide this service on an "always on" basis, and all this while allowing multiple family members or business colleagues to operate from the same network connection at the same time. With broadband, the opportunity is now to move America’s online community and the overall economy to the next level of economic growth. This will not be today’s typical uses of broadband—most of which consist of zippier web surfing and faster e-mail. The power of broadband will be achieved by the rich content and sector-by-sector innovations that only high-speed networks make possible. A better balance of value and cost will no doubt move more consumers to purchase broadband service. Federal, state and local governments can serve as early adopters in the delivery of highly innovate services to the citizen. Lawmakers should consider demand-focused tax incentives in areas like e-work, e-health and e-education. Targeted tax credits and federal loan guarantees, along with pilot programs, could help build consumer demand within rural areas. Governments should continue support of public education and life long learning through the adaptation of broadband technology. Shifting the public discourse from a supply- to demand-side agenda represents many challenges but offers consumers many rewards. The Positively Broadband campaign is intended to help stakeholders move beyond the current deployment impasse and accelerate market acceptance of this technology.

Building a Positive, Competitive Broadband Agenda

Broadcast | January 23, 2002

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