The way the
FCC is examining, re-classifying and inquirying broadband, has it become a utility now?
There are many studies that show that cities with broadband do better economically than cities without broadband. The Iowa City study done about 5 years ago (that I read in Broadband Properties magazine) was one of the first studies that showed the economic benefit of FTTX. But it wasn't the last.
The American economy is in a slump (to put it mildly). We are competing globally against everyone in the world for a job. ODesk, Rent-a-Coder, eLance.com -- and so many more sites -- mean that more and more jobs will be outsourced to whoever. Anyone with a computer and broadband is your competitor in thie new Era of the Freelancer. So, in my opinion, Broadband in the US is a Utility.
It is as important as electricity or water to a business.
And like the electric grid and the water supply, we have neglected this utility as well. How can America compete globally when the infrastructure for business growth has been stagnant?
DSL was rolled out by the DLEC's in 1998. It's been over 10 years and consumers are lucky if they can get 6MB DSL, which according to the new FCC definition of broadband (4MB x 1MB), is the only real broadband option for DSL providers.
As a technology driven society, we've given up on NASA and lots of research, which means we will be behind the world in the future. neglecting our electric grid and our broadband infrastructure becuase of short-term profits has not helped us out either. But broadband is a utility now.
