Balancing Broadband Supply and Demand in Quest to Stoke High-Speed Internet Adoption

Panelists at a Information Technology and Innovation Foundation event on Friday agreed that price and digital literacy have created a barrier to broadband demand that can affect more than just broadband adoption. James Prieger, associate professor of public policy at Pepperdine University's school of public policy, cited another barrier to adoption: the price of broadband service is just too high. Creating subsidization programs for broadband, or lowering taxes that pertain to broadband might be additional possibilities, he said. Prieger said that Canada had used tax credits to subsidize broadband, which could be a possibility for the United States, too. But Prieger cautioned, "Just because you have a plan, doesn't mean that it is going to work." According to panelists, another problem for broadband adoption is that consumers may not recognize that all of the pieces of technology connected to broadband are not - for now - all going to use a single platform. The event included the release a report written by Robert Atkinson, president of ITIF, "Policies to Increase Broadband Adoption at Home." The report says that although 92 to 94 percent of Americans have the opportunity to subscribe to broadband, only 65 percent have chosen to do so. (The broadband penetration number comes from random-digit-dial surveys of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.)

The report includes nine recommendations to improve broadband adoption:

1. Fund a competition for ISPs to attract new subscribers in low-income communities.
2. Support innovative pricing plans by ISPs.
3. Allow Lifeline to be used for broadband.
4. Use E-rate funds to help defray the costs of low income families owning a computer.
5. Extend and expand the moratorium on Internet taxes.
6. Fund digital literacy programs.
7. Create a digital literacy and broadband adoption clearinghouse.
8. Establish a reinvented TOP program.
9. Pass along cost savings to citizens that use e-government services.