As Matt Stoller has pointed out, the next great fights over the future of the Internet won't be in Congress, but in the 50 states. The fights won't just be over net neutrality, but about broadband access, municipal wireless, and whether the Internet will be a public infrastructure like roads and sewers or a private infrastructure dedicated only to making profits for the telcos who control it.
The upcoming legislative sessions in 2007 will be a key battle over the future of the Internet. And make no mistake, the telecom companies and their rightwing allies are well-prepared for this fight. In state after state, the Telcos have launched campaigns to prohibit municipal wireless. And they're prepared with a mix of industry-funded think tanks, legislators, lobbyists, and astroturf organizations to bring the fight again on issues ranging from muni wi-fi to universal access laws.
Fortunately, progressives also have a great opportunity. Like renewable energy, broadband expansion is an issue that can create new coalitions, provide a positive agenda, and unite our base if tackled properly.
Executed well, expanded broadband increases democracy, grows the economy, and can even help make key advances in energy efficiency.
The sad truth is, when it comes to technology, the U.S. is being left in the dust by our economic competitors. We now rank 16th in terms of broadband penetration among nations of the world. And in terms of speed, the Japanese don't just have faster trains, their home-use broadband is available at speeds up to 10 times faster than that available for residential use in the U.S. They also pay less -- roughly $22 a month -- for access.
Writing for Foreign Affairs, Internet expert Thomas Bleha described American broadband as "the slowest, most expensive and least reliable in the developed world." Other than an intense interest in hanging out on Daily Kos, why does this matter?
It's the environment. It's equality. It's the economy. And it's our democracy.
Broadband Creates Jobs: Like other public infrastructure -- streets, sidewalks, sewers -- widespread broadband access creates jobs. A 2001 Brookings Institution study estimated the widespread adoption of basic broadband could add $500 billion to the U.S. economy and create 1.2 million new jobs per year. Not surprisingly, as a US Commerce Department study released this year details, that economic growth and those jobs are going disproportionately to communities with strong broadband deployment. Looking at growth in zip codes from 1998 to 2002, the availability of broadband kicked growth up a full percentage point and those communities ended up with a larger share of new technology-intensive firms. Locally developed broadband can also have a major impact. A more detailed case study in Florida found that Lake County, which created one of the most extensive municipally-owned fiber optic broadband networks in Florida, experienced double the rate of economic growth compared to similar counties without the same level of broadband deployment.
Smart Buildings, Energy Savings: Broadband networks can power buildings smart enough to temper energy use, especially during critical times -- preventing waste of scarce resources. By moderating usage and increasing stability in usage, the Department of Energy predicted broadband-backed smart building technologies could cut the need for reserve power, saving consumers money while decreasing pollution. Similar technology can also help conserve water, natural gas, and other resources.
Fighting the Digital Divide: Unfortunately, America's broadband network isn't just expensive, antiquated, and slow. It's also unequal. Black and Latino Americans are far less likely to have home computers, Internet access, and broadband connections than white Americans. The digital divide is also a class divide -- low-income families are far less likely to have broadband than high-income families. In some places, this is not simply because they choose to not have it. In Kentucky, for example, 23% of homes simply are not connected to DSL or cable and could not receive service even if willing to pay. The final digital divide is rural/urban -- with rural areas often facing little-to-no broadband penetration. Given the decline and depopulation of much of rural America, exclusion from high-speed Internet is another setback for already hurting regions. Expanding broadband access to cut across racial, class, and geographic lines can create new opportunities for economic growth in the areas where it is needed most.
Fortunately, states and cities have it well within their power to address these issues. Cities and counties can build out their own community broadband systems. By making the web available broadly at low rates (and possibly on a sliding scale) through hard-line and wirless connections, communities ensure equal and widespread access to the web. States have an obligation to -- at the least -- stay out of the way of cities and towns expanding broadband access, rather than siding with telecoms who oppose this new public infrastructure.
States can also help develop the infrastructure themselves, investing directly in telecom infrastructure themselves or in partnership with city, county, and private actors. They can also require that telcos, set to be huge players in the new information economy, make access more broadly available. Telcos want states to remove local franchising agreements -- not necessarily the best of ideas, but as Iowa proves, if states move in this direction, they can also require universal penetration of broadband services.
(This post is based on a recent Stateside Dispatch, Progressive States' twice weekly roundup of forward-looking state policy. Progressive States exists to advance forward-thinking legislation in all fifty states.)