President Bush’s goal of “universal, affordable” broadband access for all Americans by 2007 is becoming a flagging notion, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
In the report, the GAO determined only 28 percent of Americans had a
broadband connection in 2005. In addition, 30 percent of the surveyed
households use a dial-up connection to access the Internet, leaving 41
percent of U.S. homes without any Internet connection.
The GAO report also found that rural Americans are much less likely to
subscribe to broadband than those living in cities. In all, only 17 percent
of rural households have broadband service.
The report also questions Federal Communications Commission (FCC) numbers
showing that 99 percent of Americans live in the 95 percent of ZIP codes
that have at least one broadband provider reporting to be serving at least
one subscriber.
“For its ZIP-code level data, FCC collects data based on where subscribers
are served, not where providers have deployed broadband infrastructure,” the
report states.
Although it is clear that the deployment of broadband networks is
extensive, the data may not provide an accurate depiction of local
deployment of broadband infrastructures for residential service, especially
in rural areas.
The GAO concluded the price of broadband service remains a barrier for some
consumers, but the availability of broadband applications and services also
influences whether consumers purchase high-speed connections.
According to the GAO, even when cost-and-demand factors are favorable,
“technical factors can limit the deployment of broadband service in certain
contexts.”
For instance, the GAO notes, copper DSL connections can generally extend
only three miles from the central office, precluding many U.S. households
from obtaining DSL.
The GAO also found that broadband deployment can stumble at the local level,
with disputes over rights-of-way, pole attachments and wireless tower sites.
U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was quick to embrace the GAO report as
further proof of the need for telecom reform.
Last week, Stevens released a
135-page draft bill calling for a wide range of measures to pump in
broadband deployment.
“The disparity of broadband deployment between rural and urban America cited
in the GAO report raises serious concerns,” Stevens, chairman of the Senate
Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “High-speed Internet access is
absolutely essential to all Americans, whether you live in Manhattan or a
remote village in Alaska.”
The legislation would permit national video franchises, allow municipalities
to offer their own broadband services, authorize the use of white space
spectrum between broadcast channels for wireless use and dedicate $1 billion
for emergency network interoperability.
More controversially, the bill would rewrite Universal Service Fund (USF)
rules to extend payments to “communications providers,” including broadband
and Voice over IP providers.
Currently, consumers pay USF fees on phone
service only.
The new USF fees would be used for broadband deployment in rural and
high-cost areas of the country.
