Unlikely coalition ponders US broadband strategy
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- Barack Obama, “famously used the Internet for outreach during his campaign and received 370,000 donations online,” says the Washington Post.
“He’s proposed using blogs, social networking tools and community Web pages known as wikis to connect citizens to government agencies,” it says. “And Obama has argued for massive upgrades to technology infrastructure such as high-speed, or broadband, Internet.”
But that isn’t all.
He wants an affordable, high-speed Net service in every American home and yesterday, a coalition of technology and telecommunications companies, labor unions and public interest groups, “frequently at odds with one another agreed to provide the next president with a roadmap for how to accomplish this,” the story says.
In another item, US communications regulators, “will consider a controversial spectrum auction plan for free Internet and new rules governing disputes between cable operators and programmers at their December meeting,” the Washington Post had Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin proposing.
He wants the agency to auction off airwaves, with a mandate that 25% be set aside for free internet, but as the story points out, he’s a Republican whose chairmanship could end when Obama becomes the next President of America, next month
Meanwhile, Obama’s roadmap could include, “tax breaks, low-interest loans, subsidies and public-private partnerships to encourage more investments in upgrading and building out high-speed networks, representatives from Google, AT&T and public interest group Free Press said during a panel discussion on broadband policy that also served as a coming-out party for their newly formed coalition,” says the first Post item.
“The details of how to meet those goals still must be worked out by the group, whose aim is to bring more affordable high-speed Internet access to every consumer.”
The coalition, “is a positive in that it demonstrates we agree that we have a broadband problem, which not everyone was willing to admit to two years ago,” the story has Ben Scott, policy director at Free Press and a member of the group, declaring, continuing:
“The key is whether we’ll see this group produce policy solutions that will require difficult choices.”
At stake is America’s ability to compete technologically and economically, according to the group, says the Washington Post, adding:
“The United States has dropped from the top 10 nations for broadband access, speeds and price in the last several years. The coalition is pushing for a federal plan that would provide access to high-speed Internet service, much as the government did with electricity, roads and phone service.”
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Washington Post - New Coalition Drawing Up Nationwide Broadband Access Strategy, December 3, 2008
Washington Post - FCC to consider free Internet, cable issues, December 3, 2008
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December 4th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Internet is one of the very important public infrastructure to be developed while upgrading and repairing the electric grid and the road as well as the public transportation and the airline industry.
Also we need cure fro cancer and others diseases.
And we don’t need all these corporates parasites such as the one in the current recording industry!
December 5th, 2008 at 12:55 am
oh hells yeah.