National Broadband Deployment And The Digital Divide

Contents: Introduction; Status of Broadband Deployment in the U.S.; Broadband in Rural Areas; Is Broadband Deployment Data Adequate?; Broadband and the Federal Role: The National Broadband Plan; Current Federal Broadband Programs: Rural Utilities Service Programs; The Universal Service Concept and the FCC: Universal Service and the Telecommunications Act of 1996; Universal Service and Broadband; Legislation in the 110th Congress; Legislation in the 111th Congress: P.L. 111-5: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; Other Broadband Legislation in the 111th Congress; Legislation in the 112th Congress; Concluding Observations. Tables. This is a print on demand edition of an important, hard-to-find report.

This is the report of a task force formed to map out a strategy for achieving the federal government goal of ensuring that broadband services are available to businesses & residents in every Canadian community by 2004. In this report, broadband is defined as a high-capacity two-way link between an end user & access network suppliers capable of supporting full-motion, interactive video applications. The first part reviews the benefits of broadband communication; the physical, economic, and social distance that separate communities (such as urban versus rural, Aboriginal versus non-Aboriginal) and the possibility of using broadband communications to help bridge that distance; and the state of broadband communication in Canada today. The second part begins with an overview of the work, guiding principles, and strategic approach of the task force. It then presents an action plan for achieving basic broadband access for all Canadians by 2004, including the priority elements of a broadband access strategy. Finally, it discusses the deployment of broadband technology in areas of Canada that the market is unlikely to serve by 2004. Recommendations are made regarding equitable & affordable access, raising awareness & encouraging use, innovation in content & applications, government leadership, and investment in innovation & use. The appendix includes information on a number of models of broadband deployment.

When one considers broadband, the Internet immediately springs to mind. However, broadband is impacting society in many ways. For instance, broadband networks can be used to deliver healthcare or community related services to individuals who don't have computers, have distance as an issue to contend with, or don't use the internet. Broadband can support better management of scarce energy resources with the advent of smart grids, enables improved teleworking capacity and opens up a world of new entertainment possibilities. Yet scholarly examinations of broadband technology have so far examined adoption, usage, or diffusion but missed exploring the capacity of broadband networks to enable new applications, the management aspects of funding and developing broadband-enabled services, or the policy environment in which such networks are developed. This book explores a wide range of issues associated with the deployment and use of broadband including its impacts on individuals, organizations, and society, and offers a generalist understanding of the technical aspects of broadband. Management of Broadband Technology and Innovation offers insights on broadband from the perspectives of Information Systems, Management, Strategy, and Communications Policy scholars, drawing on research from these disciplines to inform diverse aspects of broadband deployment, policy, and use. Issues associated with a subject technical in nature, but now researched in many ways, are emphasised. This book explains various softer aspects of broadband deployment and use, focusing on the benefits of broadband rather than on details of the technology.

An analysis of the failure of U.S. broadband policy to solve the rural–urban digital divide, with a proposal for a new national rural broadband plan. As much of daily life migrates online, broadband—high-speed internet connectivity—has become a necessity. The widespread lack of broadband in rural America has created a stark urban–rural digital divide. In Farm Fresh Broadband, Christopher Ali analyzes the promise and the failure of national rural broadband policy in the United States and proposes a new national broadband plan. He examines how broadband policies are enacted and implemented, explores business models for broadband providers, surveys the technologies of rural broadband, and offers case studies of broadband use in the rural Midwest. Ali argues that rural broadband policy is both broken and incomplete: broken because it lacks coordinated federal leadership and incomplete because it fails to recognize the important roles of communities, cooperatives, and local providers in broadband access. For example, existing policies favor large telecommunication companies, crowding out smaller, nimbler providers. Lack of competition drives prices up—rural broadband can cost 37 percent more than urban broadband. The federal government subsidizes rural broadband by approximately $6 billion. Where does the money go? Ali proposes democratizing policy architecture for rural broadband, modeling it after the wiring of rural America for electricity and telephony. Subsidies should be equalized, not just going to big companies. The result would be a multistakeholder system, guided by thoughtful public policy and funded by public and private support.

Broadbandâwhether delivered via fiber, cable modem, mobile or fixed wireless, copper wire, or satelliteâis increasingly the technology underlying telecommunications services such as voice, video, and data. Chapter 1 focuses on the gaps specifically related to broadband availability and adoption. How broadband is defined and characterized in statute and in regulation can have a significant impact on federal broadband policies and how federal resources are allocated to promote broadband deployment in unserved and underserved areas as discussed in chapter 2. The move to place restrictions on the owners of the networks that comprise and provide access to the internet, to ensure equal access and nondiscriminatory treatment, is referred to as "net neutrality." While there is no single accepted definition of net neutrality most agree that any such definition should include the general principles that owners of the networks that comprise and provide access to the internet should not control how consumers lawfully use that network; and should not be able to discriminate against content provider access to that network as reported in chapters 3 and 4. The "digital divide" is a term that has been used to characterize a gap between "information haves and have-nots," or in other words, between those Americans who use or have access to telecommunications and information technologies and those who do not. Chapter 5 focuses on the one important subset of the digital divide debate which concerns high-speed internet access and advanced telecommunications services, also known as broadband. While there are many examples of rural communities with state-of-the-art telecommunications facilities, recent surveys and studies have indicated that, in general, rural areas tend to lag behind urban and suburban areas in broadband deployment. The Rural Utilities Service (RUS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) houses three ongoing assistance programs exclusively created and dedicated to financing broadband deployment: the Rural Broadband Access Loan and Loan Guarantee Program, the Community Connect Grant Program, and the ReConnect Program. Chapter 6 discusses each of these programs. Tribal lands are generally in remote and rugged areas and broadband access can help residents develop online businesses, access telemedicine services, and use online educational tools. However, residents of tribal lands have lower levels of broadband access than residents of non-tribal lands. Chapters 7 through 11 report on the status of broadband on tribal lands.

The "digital divide" is a term that has been used to characterize a gap between "information haves and have-nots," or in other words, between those Americans who use or have access to telecommunications technologies (e.g., telephones, computers, the Internet) and those who do not. One important subset of the digital divide debate concerns high-speed Internet access, also known as broadband. Broadband is provided by a series of technologies (e.g. cable, telephone wire, fiber, satellite, wireless) that give users the ability to send and receive data at volumes and speeds far greater than current "dial-up" Internet access over traditional telephone lines. Broadband technologies are currently being deployed primarily by the private sector throughout the United States. While the numbers of new broadband subscribers continue to grow, studies conducted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Department of Commerce (DOC), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggest that the rate of broadband deployment in urban and high income areas may be outpacing deployment in rural and low-income areas. Some policymakers, believing that disparities in broadband access across American society could have adverse economic and social consequences on those left behind, assert that the federal government should play a more active role to avoid a "digital divide" in broadband access. One approach is for the federal government to provide financial assistance to support broadband deployment in underserved areas. Others, however, believe that federal assistance for broadband deployment is not appropriate. Some opponents question the reality of the "digital divide," and argue that federal intervention in the broadband marketplace would be premature and, in some cases, counterproductive. Legislation introduced (but not enacted) in the 109th Congress sought to provide federal financial assistance for broadband deployment in the form of grants, loans, subsidies, and tax credits. many of these legislative proposals are likely to be reintroduced in the 110th Congress. Of particular note is the likely reauthorization of the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) broadband program, which is expected to be considered as part of the farm bill. Legislation to reform universal service -- which could have a significant impact on the amount of financial assistance available for broadband deployment in rural and underserved areas -- is also likely to be considered by the 110th Congress. In assessing this legislation several policy issues arise. For example, is the current status of broadband deployment data an adequate basis on which to base policy decisions? Is federal assistance premature, or do the risks of delaying assistance to underserved areas outweigh the benefits of avoiding federal intervention in the marketplace? And finally, if one assumes that governmental action is necessary to spur broadband deployment in underserved areas, which specific approaches, either separately or in combination, are likely to be the most effective?