National Broadband Policy and Broadband Access and Pricing

The United States has fallen behind its international competitors in broadband deployment, price, and openness in part because it has no national broadband policy. In contrast, most other countries adopted proactive programs to address the broadband needs of their citizens at the beginning of the decade that are now proving successful. Several U.S. states are now developing their own broadband plans because of the void at the national level. This session will propose an action plan for the nation based on the lessons learned from Europe, Asia, and some U.S. states and discuss what it will take to get such a plan through Congress.

The economic and social future of the United States depends on answering the growing demand for very high-speed broadband connectivity, a capability termed “big broadband.” Failure to take on the challenge could lead to a decline in global competitiveness and an inability to educate students.

A worldwide tussle over Internet access policy is playing out right now, and many countries are closely watching what the United States does. This talk will provide a brief overview of the U.S. regulatory structure for high-speed Internet access.

The United States has fallen behind its international competitors in broadband deployment, price, and openness in part because it has no national broadband policy. In contrast, most other countries adopted proactive programs to address the broadband needs of their citizens at the beginning of the decade that are now proving successful. Several states are now developing their own broadband plans because of the void at the national level. This session will propose an action plan for the nation based on the lessons learned from Europe, Asia, and some U.S. states. The broadband blueprint is intended to stimulate investment in big broadband networks while advancing the kind of competition and openness that has been shown to serve the needs of consumers and Internet entrepreneurs.

This report proposes bringing the federal government, state governments, and the private sector together as part of a new approach to making high-speed Internet services available across the country. The report also contains a detailed analysis of broadband deployment in the United States and in key countries around the world.

The Net Neutrality Squad will keep an eye out for ISPs that interfere with the free flow of Internet traffic.

Comcast has been blocking the sharing of certain files on their users network as a means of managing its network to keep file-sharing traffic from swallowing too much bandwidth and affecting the Internet speeds of other subscribers.