London BBG Communications…

I was recently in London to take a peak at some research work.  London’s research team undertakes a very comprehensive amount of investigative and analytical work with its resources. Most major projects are commissioned from internal resources.  While the larger part of this work develops from the team’s own research agenda, London is always interested in hearing from researchers who feel they can make a contribution to the research programme or from other agencies seeking support for research falling within its broad remit.

 

HIGH SPEED BROADBAND COVERAGE FOR ALL AMERICANS

Two major telecom business groups have urged that CWA’s proposition for increasing high-speed broadband coverage to reach all Americans be a chief ingredient of any economic plan being designed by the succeeding Obama government to rekindle economic growth and overhaul America’s communications systems.

The Fiber-to-Home Council and the Telecommunications Industry Association suggested that Congress adopt CWA’s proposition as a “baseline for the economic recovery package.” The groups are comprised of more than 24 firms as well a non-profit organizations. President-elect Obama has long supported CWA’s campaign to make high-speed Internet accessible to every American.

TheWashington Post published an article on growing advocacies by corporate and public interest groups to establish high-speed networks and improve Internet services in underserviced rural and urban areas.  The article delved into companies’ call for tax break incentives to stimulate Internet infrastructure building which it regards as “the global economic engine for the 21st century”, a significant element of CWA’s proposition.

The CWA’s proposition also include government financing of national broadband mapping required by current legislation, grants for venturing in expensive but underserviced rural areas, and financial assistance for low-wage homes to acquire computers and community-based digital literacy programs.

“We need to aim high with this and public policy needs to catch up with the realities of the global economy,” the Post quoted CWA leader Larry Cohen as saying. Every $5 billion put in broadband expansion would directly translate to 97,500 additional jobs and indirectly produce some 2.5 million more jobs throughout the country, according to estimates by the CWA.

The Post also said that the United States has slid down to 15th place worldwide in terms of broadband connectivity, citing CWA’s research contained in two important reports on the state of America’s Internet infrastructure entitled “Speed Matters”.

The Fiber-to-the-Home Council, which gives public instruction on the prospects and advantages of fiber-to-the-home products, speak for diverse sectors of the broadband industry, including telecommunications, computing, networking, system integration, engineering, and content-provider companies, besides traditional telecommunications service providers. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is the business association of the communications and IT industry.

Broadband Infrastructure and BBG Communications

The financial crisis has badly hit telecom, wireless and cable companies as families spend less on Internet services.  But the government plan to funnel money into rebuilding Internet infrastructure in rural areas as well as cities which are underserved is expected not only to make jobs available to hundreds of thousands Americans but to provide a windfall to phone, cable and Internet companies.

Aggressive telecom lobbyists, often in contention are united in praising Obama’s plans to increase nationwide network coverage, saying this would enhance economic performance by providing labor-intensive jobs needed to lay down fiber lines as well as engineering jobs required for designing complicated systems. However, the different lobby groups disagree on how that goal should be reached, fomenting what one lobbyist christened a “telecom takefest.”

The Telecommunications Industry Association calls for tax breaks and grants for those companies which will build broadband infrastructure in far-flung areas. The trade association wrote House Speaker  Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week saying tax breaks as well as a $25 billion grants package should be prioritized.

An ultra-fast fiber-optic technology supplier Corning wants grants to companies to depend on whether these companies will provide higher speed and better quality services. This means companies will have to employ faster fiber optics.

A public interest group called Free Press advocates supervision of the plan committed to an agency with experience in technology policy such as the Federal Communications Commission or the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the White House’s telecom office. Free Press also wants Internet service to be cheap.  The group urges government to give financial assistance to low-wage families with school-age children so they can acquire laptop computers and have the cost of home Internet access deducted from their taxes.

Ben Scott, Free Press’ policy director cautioned against a corporate bias in crafting the plan.  “The worst-case scenario would be to write a billion-dollar check in tax breaks and funnel money directly to prop up a stock price,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Communications Workers of America supports tax breaks in the form of tax deductions, which they claim will permit companies to spend budgets for broadband deployment more quickly, resulting in more jobs sooner. The CWA estimates that for every $5 billion spent on improving the broadband systems, close to 100,000 jobs are generated.