Obama urged to implement broadband plan

Consumer advocates, technology companies and internet service providers have joined forces in the United States to call for a national strategy to bring affordable broadband connectivity to every American.

The BB4US coalition, which has 55 members including consumer groups Free Press andthe New America Foundation, technology companies such as Google Inc. and Intel Corp., andinternet service providersVerizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., seeks to make affordable broadband available to every individual, business and organization.

The group on Tuesday called on president-elect Barack Obama, who isexpected to be the most technology-savvy U.S. president yet,to make the development and implementation of a national broadband strategy a high priority in light of the country'sslidein international rankings.

"The United States is at a critical juncture.Too many Americans still do not have access to affordable broadband or lack the equipment or knowledge to use it effectively," the group saidin a release on its website.

"If the United States is to remain a leader in the global economy, our broadband networks must also be robust enough to enable our people, businesses, and public and private institutions to take full advantage of emerging and future bandwidth-intensive and quality-sensitive applications."

The group pointed to broadband strategies adopted by other countries, which include a mixture of tax cuts, subsidies, low-interest loans, competition policy, public-private partnerships and other direct and indirect investment incentives to spur high-speed internet adoption.

The United States needs to adopt a similar plan if it is to remain globally competitive in areas such as education, environmental protection, scientific research, medicine, health care, energy efficiency, transportation and overall economic vitality, the group said.

Despite the internet being born in the United States, the country currently sits at 15th out of 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in terms of broadband subscribers per capita.

Competition seen as the problem

Critics have said the reason for the poor U.S. showing is a result of limited competition between ISPs. In most cases, Americans typically have a choice between one cable provider and phone company.

The situation is similar in Canada. While Canada jumped to an early lead in international broadband rankings, it has slipped in recent years. In 2002, Canada was the world leader in broadband subscribers next only toSouth Korea but is now on the verge of falling out of the top 10.

Canada fares poorly in pricing, ranking near the bottom of the OECD in terms of cost per advertised megabit of speed. Canadian cable and phone companies have invested very little in next-generation networks because of the high cost of laying fibre. Internet prices have consequently risen steadily over the past few years while speeds have remained relatively the same.

Despite the U.S. call to action, the United States fares considerably better than Canada in pricing. The average monthly advertised price of broadband per megabit of speed was $12.60 US in the United States, compared to $28.14 US in Canada, according to the most recent OECD statistics.

The United States was also slightly ahead of Canada in average advertised speedsat 8.8 megabits per second compared to 7.7 megabits.

A number of individuals, businesses and groups have called on the Canadian government for a national broadband plan similar to the one proposed by the U.S. coalition, but no action has been taken. The Conservatives promised before the October election to invest $500 million in rolling out broadband to rural communities, but the plan will likely be scrapped if a Liberal-NDP coalition government takes over.

Several provinces have moved to adopt their own broadband plans. Saskatchewan last week announced a $129 million plan to cover 100 per cent of the province in the next three years. Prince Edward Island is spending $8.2 million to provide rural residents with broadband by next year.