[Oh!] High-Speed Internet Access Unavailable to Millions of Americans, Report Says
WASHINGTON, D.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 1999--Millions of Americans are missing the benefits of the emerging digital economy because regulations have slowed deployment of the high-speed Internet backbone -- sometimes called the information superhighway -- according to a report released Tuesday.
The report shows that not enough backbone hubs -- high-speed on-ramps where users connect to the Internet -- are being built to provide access to consumers and businesses outside major population and financial centers. The report, prepared for iAdvance and released at a news conference with U.S. Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Rick Boucher (D-Va.), also lists a ''Disconnected Dozen'' -- twelve states at the highest risk of being left behind.
''The vast majority of Americans in inner cities and rural areas simply do not have access to the high-speed Internet and are unable to reap the full benefits of the digital economy. While people and businesses in the 'Disconnected Dozen' states are at the most serious risk, without a significant increase in backbone deployment, this shortage is going to affect nearly every corner of the country,'' said co-author Erik Olbeter, formerly with the Economic Strategy Institute in Washington, D.C.
Those who do not have access to backbone hubs must connect to the Internet through slower telecommunications networks that cannot support high-speed applications used in ecommerce, telemedicine, and distance learning, according to the report.
Olbeter and co-author Matt Robison measured the effect of regulation on the deployment of Internet backbone hubs and found that government-imposed restrictions on the transmission of data are discouraging the installation of hubs. They reported that without such restrictions there would be more than twice as many hubs in the 46 states included in the study, 2,149 rather than the current 984.
In the ''Disconnected Dozen'' states, the disparity between the number of actual hubs and the number of potential hubs is even larger. Arkansas for example, currently has two hubs; the report predicts that it would have 28 if data transmission was not regulated. New Hampshire, which has three hubs, would have 42 if there were no data restrictions.
''While people in Silicon Valley and New York City can access the Internet through advanced networks that deliver broadband applications at tremendous speeds, people in Arkansas, New Hampshire, and the other states in the 'Disconnected Dozen' must access the Internet through the digital equivalent of dirt roads,'' said Olbeter.
''American consumers and businesses are clamoring for high-speed Internet access that allows them to easily buy and sell over the net, reduce inventory expenses, and take educational courses anywhere in the world from their own communities. Unless we change the regulations that impede investment in Internet facilities, only those who live in our largest cities will enjoy those benefits,'' said Rep. Goodlatte.
Reps. Goodlatte and Boucher are sponsoring legislation that would lift the restrictions on transmission of data traffic and increase consumer choice in accessing the Internet.
''This study underscores the need for Congress to pass legislation that strongly encourages investment in the Internet backbone and promotes the competitive market entry that will ensure broad access to advanced Internet capabilities for all Americans both urban and rural,'' said Boucher.
In addition to Arkansas and New Hampshire, the states in the ''Disconnected Dozen'' are Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wyoming.
iAdvance is a coalition of public interest groups and telecommunications, computer, Internet and technology companies that supports affordable access to the high-speed Internet for all Americans. Its co-chairs are former White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry and former U.S. Rep. Susan Molinari.
The full report is available on the iAdvance web site at www.iAdvance.org. |
