Hi,
Can someone explain to me how having broadband (instead of dial-up
internet that EVERYONE can get) is going to create 61,000 jobs per year
for the next 20 years? If it will create jobs from people doing more
online, then it will decrease jobs from the brick and mortar businesses
going out of business. Am I missing something?
Travis
Microserv
John Scrivner wrote:
This is the US Senator in my district in Illinois. It looks like he
has been reading my emails maybe. :-) At least he is getting parts of
what I have been saying.
Scriv
*DURBIN INTRODUCES BILL TO ENCOURAGE HIGH SPEED INTERNET ACCESS IN
RURAL AREAS *
Friday, August 4, 2006
[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) says a national
policy is needed to accelerate the deployment of broadband internet
service to rural areas so that every American can have high-speed
internet access no matter where they live. Today, Durbin introduced
legislation, the Broadband for Rural America Act of 2006, to encourage
the rapid deployment of high-quality, affordable broadband internet
service, especially in rural areas.
“Broadband is an essential component of our lives, at work and at
home. It has become an essential service like water, gas and
electricity. Our homes and businesses need affordable access to high
speed internet connections, in the same way our homes and businesses
need traditional utility services,” said Durbin. “Yet, for too many
people living in small communities today, broadband access is still
not a reality. When I travel in downstate Illinois, people tell me
that they cannot wait to have broadband service, but that there is no
service available to them right now. My bill will change that.”
Two recent reports -- one issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce
and the other by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – found that rural
and farm households have access to broadband internet at approximately
half the level of all U.S. households nationwide. Another respected
research organization, the Pew Internet and American Life Project,
found similar results. In its 2006 report, Pew found that only 18% of
rural adults reported a home broadband connection, compared to 31% of
urban adults. All of these studies point to a consistent conclusion:
Americans living in urban areas are almost twice as likely to have
home broadband access as do their rural counterparts.
Durbin said broadband is critical to community and economic
development, as it encourages investment, creates jobs, improves
productivity, fosters innovation, and increases consumer benefits in
every corner of our nation. A recent study found that adoption of
current generation broadband would increase the gross domestic product
by $179.7 billion, while adding approximately 61,000 jobs per year
over the two decades. The study also projected 1.2 million jobs could
be created if next generation broadband technology were rapidly deployed.
“We need to close the digital divide, ensuring that rural Americans
are not left behind in the 21st Century’s digital economy,” Durbin
noted. “Whether it is through telephone wire, cable, fiber, satellite,
wireless or any other medium, we need every existing and future
broadband service provider to step up to the national challenge.”
Durbin said his bill includes four major provisions. Each is designed
to focus on identifying obstacles that hinder broadband deployment in
rural America today, and to find innovative solutions to address those
concerns.
Creates Broadband Trust Fund: creates a new federal program
specifically targeted at assisting individuals, businesses and co-ops
working at the earliest stages to bring broadband to their
communities. Eligible entities include nonprofits, academic
institutions, local governments and commercial companies that work to
identify broadband access needs in unserved areas of the country.
Projects to be funded through this new program will include
feasibility studies, mapping, economic analysis, and other activities
done to determine the reasons for the current lack of service, and the
scale, scope, and type of broadband services most suitable for the
particular unserved area.
Reforms USDA Rural Broadband Program: the current USDA broadband loan
program provides below-market rate loans and loan guarantees for the
construction and improvement of broadband facilities and equipment in
rural areas. This program expires in 2007. Durbin’s bill does three
things with regard to the broadband loan program -- extends the life
of the program for another five years until 2012; refocuses the
program solely on rural areas where it is most needed; and establishes
a grant program to be administered by the same USDA office that
currently runs the rural broadband loan program.
Wireless Broadband Spectrum: requires the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) to make new spectrum available for wireless broadband
services in rural areas as soon as practicable. The bill also requires
the FCC to evaluate its spectrum auction plans and to divide some of
the frequency allocations into smaller area licenses so that regional
and rural wireless companies can compete in the bidding process.
Making additional spectrum available holds tremendous potential for
wireless broadband to be deployed in rural areas, especially in large
geographic regions where it would be cost prohibitive to build out
wires and cable.
Creates Broadband Task Force: establishes a task force consisting of
experts in federal, state, and local governments, trade associations,
public interest organizations, academic institutions, and other areas
to study best practices for rapid deployment of broadband services in
states, particularly those with large unserved rural areas. The bill
requires the task force, within 6 months, to provide to Congress and
to each governor a report detailing a comprehensive list of specific
measures adopted by state or local governments that helped deploy
broadband services in areas that lacked such services.
The legislation has been referred to the Senate Commerce, Science and
Transportation Committee.
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