Increased access to broadband vital to growth

[Commentary] Think about what was possible online in 1995. Internet adoption in the United States stood at just over 10 percent, and most surfed the Web over a slow dial-up connection.

Flash forward to today. Adoption now stands at 74 percent, and broadband speeds are slowly improving. Harvard Business School professors John Deighton and John Quelch estimate that the Internet is responsible for 3.1 million American jobs and $300 billion in economic activity spread throughout the United States. Entrepreneurs and small businesses are able to connect with customers worldwide, content creators and developers can reach an audience of billions, and consumers can access unparalleled amounts of information. The burgeoning "app economy," built by small businesses that create applications for smart phones, social networks, and other new platforms, is already a multibillion-dollar industry. Now imagine the possibilities 15 years from now.

The United States does not have a monopoly on innovation. As we fall behind in broadband, we're falling behind in our global competitiveness and our ability to grow our economy. It does not have to be this way.

Here are three things we can do:

• Set a national goal to make high-speed Internet access available to each and every American household. Universal connectivity and faster broadband speeds will allow thousands of new startups, new applications and new platforms to succeed and grow.
• Wire every library, school, hospital and public housing facility in the United States with a high-speed broadband connection. The immense promise of the Internet remains unfulfilled for tens of millions of Americans who lack high-speed broadband access to the Internet. Connecting community institutions as broadband "hubs" where people can connect to the Net will help drive universal Internet adoption and improve access to knowledge.
• We should encourage greater access to wireless broadband. The future of the Internet will be mobile, and we should take steps today to improve broadband Internet access over the airwaves. Wireless spectrum is a natural resource that we can ill afford to waste or use inefficiently. The government should develop and publish a detailed inventory of our nation's airwaves, and take steps to better allocate and use spectrum efficiently for the needs of the public.