Obama adviser looks at U.S.-built broadband network

May 26, 2009

A senior adviser to President Obama is touting the idea of spending tens of billions of dollars in public funds to build a nationwide, state-of-the-art broadband network featuring speeds 100 times faster than today's technology.

While there has been no formal Obama administration commitment to such infrastructure investment, Susan Crawford, special assistant to the president for science, technology and innovation policy, has said she is "personally intrigued" by an ambitious plan by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd...