Adelstein: We Can't Build Digital Highways That Are Too Small

Federal Communications Commission members Jonathan Adelstein and Robert McDowell were at the Consumer Electronics Show last week and Daily asked, "Do you believe that a Full Fiber Nation is the endgame of the Internet and the ultimate goal we should have for our country? That we built the greatest economy in the 20th century on our copper telephone infrastructure, and to build the greatest economy in the 21st century we now need fiber?" Commissioner Adelstein answered revolved around an analogy to highways, that we can't afford to build them too small lest they can't keep up with the growing amount of traffic, or bandwidth in network terms. Commissioner McDowell specifically cited the need to make these risky investments more attractive to investors. So while neither Commissioner would out right say that a Full Fiber Nation should be our country's ultimate goal, their answers could not have fit any better into the arguments made for the Rural Fiber Fund.