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For the Web, Change All Sides Can Believe In
A Verizon technician installs an optical network terminal for FiOS Internet and TV service.
(Associated Press)
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Obama is considering a variety of options for achieving his broadband vision, including tax incentives, grants and bidding on contracts to build the networks, according to a transition adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The source said Obama thinks the United States needs better broadband infrastructure to compete globally in the same way it needs physical infrastructure like roads and airports.
"Here, in the country that invented the Internet, every child should have the chance to get online," Obama said in a recent address, "because that's how we'll strengthen America's competitiveness in the world,"
Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, said there are no specific plans for broadband yet in an economic stimulus package that lawmakers want to vote on in January and have ready for Obama soon after he is sworn in as president.
But Markey said any incentive should be distributed with conditions that prevent network operators from stalling or blocking traffic, a contentious issue known as net neutrality that the network firms argue would drive up costs as Web traffic increases.
"In subsidizing a commercial enterprise, it should not be to enhance their ability to run a closed network that walls out other applications and devices," Markey said in an interview.
Recent history suggests other obstacles could arise as well. For example, projects to bring free wireless broadband, or WiFi, in cities such as Philadelphia and Arlington failed after proving more expensive than expected.
And a much smaller and slower-growing economy means money for broadband deployment will be an issue even with financial aid. Already, AT&T, the nation's largest telephone company, has had to cut 12,000 jobs and said it would cut back on capital expenses.
"For the last eight years we've had an administration that hasn't cared about broadband, and that's why we're where we are today," said Gigi Sohn, executive director of Public Knowledge.
