Broadband has other uses than Internet

June 5, 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) aims at building a new economic foundation for the United States by providing, “job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed,” et cetera. As one step towards these goals, the ARRA mandates that the FCC deliver a National Broadband Plan to Congress by February 17, 2010.

The National Broadband Plan mandated in Section 6001(k)(2) of the ARRA makes clear that its objectives are for, “all people of the United States . . . the public . . . [for] advancing consumer welfare, civic participation, public safety and homeland security, community development, health care delivery, energy independence and efficiency, education, worker training, private sector investment, entrepreneurial activity, job creation and economic growth, and other national purposes.” It would be impossible to achieve most of these benefits without the Internet. The most direct, most immediate way to reach these objectives is via broadband connections to the Internet...