TechNet: The Voice of the Innovation Economy
State Policy: Broadband

Deploying Next-Generation Broadband Networks and Promoting New Technologies

Just as the highway systems transformed our economy in the 1950s and the cell phone revolutionized communications in the 1990s, the widespread deployment of next-generation broadband has the potential to transform state economies, creating not just new jobs but entire new industries, strengthening our competitiveness and creating opportunities for small businesses. The next generation of broadband - a thousand times faster than what is widely available today - will enable virtually instantaneous communication, high-quality video, data, and voice transmission that fundamentally transforms the way we work and live.

Unfortunately, the U.S., which once ranked third among all countries in broadband deployment, has slipped to 25th. Our competitors are now leaders. While Japan used to lag behind the U.S., Japan is dramatically increasing broadband access for its population. 17 million Japanese now enjoy broadband at speeds much higher than those available in the U.S. and at prices per kilobit just a fraction paid by U.S. consumers.

As our states contemplate infrastructure upgrades as part of an economic recovery package, TechNet encourages them to incorporate the use of technology in new state-funded projects. With a small up-front investment, states can save millions by incorporating IT at teh planning phase, rather than tear up completed projects to incorporate technology upgrades as an afterthought. In 2007, TechNet worked with the State of California to bring together policymakers from many states in a broadband summit to compare policies, share perspectives about policies that work, and collaborate to move the ball forward on next-generation broadband deployment.

Based on these discussions, TechNet urges state to link universities and educational institutions with high-speed fiber links and to take other measures to promote the rapid deployment of ultra-high-speed links. TechNet applauds California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's executive order on broadband issued in October 2006 to:

  • simplify and expedite that state permitting process for both fiber and wireless facilities;
  • establish a public database of pending infrastructure builds to encourage companies to share broadband deployment costs and reduce traffic congestion associated with tearing up roadways;
  • deploy conduit in new road and water construction builds, dramatically reducing deployment costs; and
  • establish a Broadband Task Force, to marshal public and private sector coordination, discussion and action.

VoIP. Drives of broadband adoption include on-demand video and voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which is supplementing and even replacing traditional phone service. Deployment of VoIP technology promises consumers enormous benefits. Vastly more affordable and efficient than the traditional phone network because of its reliance on the open architecture of the Internet, VoIP technology is dramatically reducing capital investment requirements and lowering barriers to market entry in telecommunications. The entry of new market players has fostered competition in this market, compelling companies to innovate relentlessly and create a torrent of new products and services. Today, consumers can make phone calls for free or at rates much lower than those that prevailed just a few years ago. And VoIP is making available new services that fundamentally transform voice communications.

TechNet believes this dramatic progress would not have been possible without regulatory restraint of Internet information services like VoIP under the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996. To most effectively foster the continued development of VoIP and other IP-enabled technologies, TechNet continues to support policies of regulatory restraint under the auspices of a consistent, uniform federal policy, as articulated in the FCC's Vonage decision.

911 Service. TechNet is proud of the work that its interconnected VoIP service providers to provide enhanced 911 services. Just a few years after the FCC first required VoIP companies to provide enhanced 911 service, 97% of VoIP customers enjoy E911 service, a percentage higher than for wireline, cellular service or any other technology. TechNet and its members support contributions by interconnected VoIP providers to support the 911 network, provided that such contributions are structured in a way that does not impede continued innovation in products and services. To remain consistent with the Vonage decision, states should not attempt to classify VoIP as an intrastate service. Moreover, non-interconnected technologies (generally those not resembling traditional telephone service or creating an expectation of 911 functionality) must not be taxed and the contributions from interconnected providers must be kept at a reasonable level that is fair to all technologies. Liability protection for VoIP providers should be no less than that afforded incumbent technologies.