The United States – the country that invented the Internet – has fallen to 16th in the world in high-speed Internet penetration, behind Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany and Sweden. The deployment of advanced networks is uneven, leaving some parts of the country and population unable to participate in the information economy.
The U.S. must act now to implement policies that will guarantee every American access to all the promises of the information age.
Universal, affordable access to high-speed communications networks is as essential today as access to voice communications. New, high-speed Internet applications create jobs and opportunities for innovation, growth, and e-commerce. Technology allows businesses based in rural and remote communities to compete in the global economy.
Two-way high-speed communication and videoconferencing allow distance learning through simultaneous voice, data, and video sharing. Advanced communications networks create opportunities to improve public service delivery, civic participation, and public safety.
High-speed Internet allows instantaneous, interactive contact between health professionals and patients. Broadband technology can help senior citizens and people with disabilities live independently, improve their quality of life, and reduce costs of care.
Speed determines what is possible on the Internet. Speed determines the amount of information that can be transmitted in a given time, and the quality and timeliness of the transmission.
In Japan, almost 80 percent of households has access to networks at speeds of 100 megabits (mbps) per second. In contrast, where "high-speed" connections are available in the U.S., speeds often range from 1 to 3 mbps download and less than 384 kbps upload. At those speeds, downloading a movie would take an hour; in Japan, it would take 5 minutes. Yet, people in Japan pay less for more capacity than Americans pay for Internet access.
The U.S. Must Establish a National High-Speed Broadband Policy.
Japan and almost every other developed country have a national strategy to stimulate the deployment of high-speed networks. But the United States has no systematic plan. This policy vacuum threatens America's economic strength and ability to maintain global leadership.
CWA supports Congressional action to stimulate the creation of universal, affordable high-speed broadband networks through the following policies:
Enact H.R. 3919, the Broadband Census of America Act/S. 1492, the Broadband Data Improvement Act. Good data is the foundation of good policy, yet today we do not have reliable information about where high-speed networks are deployed, how many households and businesses connect to the Internet, at what speeds and at what price. H.R. 3919/S. 1492 would require the Federal Government to improve its broadband data collection, and to make this information available to the public with an online, consumer-friendly broadband map of America. The legislation would also provide grants to states to produce their own interactive county-by-county broadband maps. Finally, the bill would provide funding to states to create ConnectAmerica public-private partnerships at the community level for the purpose of technology planning. These local technology planning teams would identify areas with and without high-speed broadband and work together to stimulate investment and demand.
The broadband mapping and ConnectAmerica program in the bill is modeled after the highly-successful ConnectKentucky program. That program created the first broadband map in the nation and established community technology teams in every county to accelerate high-speed Internet investment and demand. As a result of ConnectKentucky’s efforts, access to residential broadband increased over three years in Kentucky from 60 percent to near universal deployment, and more than 18,000 high-tech jobs were created.
The House of Representatives unanimously passed H.R. 3919 in 2007, but S.1492 has not yet been taken to the floor of the Senate for a vote. CWA urges the Senate to pass S.1492 as the first component of the Speed Matters agenda for universal, high-speed Internet.
Establish a National High-Speed Internet for All Policy with Realistic Goals. The U.S. should set specific timetables to ensure that an infrastructure with adequate capacity is deployed to everyone. A reasonable national goal would be networks with capacity for 10 mbps download and 1 mbps upload speeds by 2010, with benchmarks increased periodically to reflect technological progress and the public's need for greater capacity.
Adopt a More Realistic Definition of High-Speed Broadband. In response to CWA’s Speed Matters campaign, the FCC in March 2008 finally adjusted upward its outdated definition of “basic” broadband to include transmission at speeds between 768 kilobits per second (kbps) to 1.5 megabits per second (mbps) in one direction. At the same time, the FCC announced that it would begin collecting better, more detailed data on the number of actual broadband subscribers by technology type and upload and download speeds. However, such data will not be available until 2009.
Require Public Reporting of Actual Speed and Reliability. Currently, consumers do not know exactly what broadband speed they are getting. The Government should develop a standard and a reporting mechanism that consumers can use to evaluate the speed and reliability of the broadband services provided in the market. One model is the online consumer speed test that CWA sponsors at http://www.speedmatters.org. The government could promote a speed test web site, and aggregate the information on a public web site. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated mileage standards represent a similar effort to inform customers.
Stimulate Investment. Japan built its high-speed network by providing companies with accelerated depreciation, low-interest loans, and subsidies on those loans. Congress should create a temporary tax incentive program of accelerated depreciation and/or tax credits for investment in high-speed infrastructure and equipment capable of delivering at least 6 mbps upstream and 1 downstream. Congress could also provide a "bonus" credit for investment in high-speed networks serving rural or low-income underserved communities. Since high-speed networks are the critical infrastructure of the 21st century, such a program would be appropriate as part of an economic stimulus package. Congress should also continue low-interest loans and subsidies for rural broadband deployment through the Rural Utilities Service.
Universal Service Reform. Congress created the Universal Service Fund (USF) to make sure that all communities and households could afford telephone service. It is now time to upgrade that program to support high-speed broadband service. To ensure USF funding is adequate, all providers should contribute based on phone numbers, connections, and capacity.
The USF distribution mechanism must be changed. Under current FCC rules, the "non-rural" carriers such as AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest serve twice as many rural customers as the smaller "rural" carriers, yet receive only one-sixth the support. These rules can create perverse incentives. All carriers should be eligible to receive universal service support based on the cost of serving its high-cost customers, not the type of carrier.
Ensure Affordable Access. Increased broadband deployment will create scale economies to reduce prices. In addition, the low-income universal service program should be expanded so that consumers can obtain assistance in purchasing broadband in addition to voice service.
Stimulate Demand by subsidizing computer and high-speed broadband for schools, libraries, rural health care, and community centers through the E-rate program. Congress should fund demonstration grants for innovative uses of network technologies, similar to the Technologies Opportunity Program (TOP) which provided 610 matching grants to state, local, and tribal governments, health care providers, schools, libraries, police departments, and community-based organizations. Efforts should be made to include the provision of high-speed broadband in publicly funded health care, education, housing, and job training programs.
Preserve an Open Internet and Require Cable a la Carte. Government policies should enable the widest possible dissemination of information from a multiplicity of sources over the Internet as the foundation of a democratic society. Consumers should be able to go where they want, upload what they want, when they want on the Internet. There should be no degrading or blocking of access to any websites. Consumers should be able to reach, and service providers to offer, lawful content, applications, and services of their choosing, subject to reasonable network management. Consumers should also be able to connect their choice of legal devices, as long as such devices do not harm the network. Since higher bandwidth speeds facilitate openness on the Internet, open Internet policies must encourage network investment. Finally, consumers should have freedom of choice to purchase only the cable programs that they want to purchase in their video contract.
Safeguard Consumer and Workers Protections. All residential and business customers should receive basic consumer and service quality protections. Quality service depends primarily on sufficient investment in telecommunications infrastructure and adequate staffing provided by trained, well-compensated career employees. Public policies should support growth of good career, union jobs as a key to quality service and strong communities.
Media Ownership. Because a diverse media is essential to a vibrant democracy and quality journalism, CWA has long supported strong protections against media consolidation. Yet, in December 2007, the FCC opened the door to even greater concentration by eliminating the 30-year-old rule that prevented the same company from owning the major newspaper and TV and radio station in the same city. The weakening of the newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership ban will lead to even greater concentration of local newsgathering and more job cuts in the media industry. Congress has 60 days (expiring May 5, 2008) to adopt a resolution of disapproval of the FCC’s disastrous decision. CWA supports SJ Res. 28 and HJ Res. 79, resolutions that would overturn the FCC’s wrong-headed opening of the doors to further media consolidation.
For additional information, contact:
Debbie Goldman, CWA Speed Matters Campaign Coordinator
(202) 434-1194
dgoldman@cwa-union.org
Lou Gerber, Legislative Director
(202) 434-1315
lgerber@cwa-union.org
www.cwa-governmentaffairs.org
© March 7, 2008 Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO
