IP Transition Requires Smart, Fact-Based Strategy to Boost Broadband Opportunity

[Commentary] Just as the light bulb replaced the kerosene lamp and steam engines replaced sails, IP-based networks that carry video, voice phone calls, and data are taking over for the voice-only phone lines of the past century. Copper phones lines, organized into the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) met the challenges of the 20th century; and fiber technology and IP-based networks are needed for the 21st century. The only question is whether this change, which is complex and will affect every American in some way, will be haphazard or carefully managed — in a fact-based and data-driven process to ensure that consumers are better off and that nobody is left behind.

A smart, managed transition means best-in-the-world broadband services for all consumers. It means continued private investment of tens of billions annually for the next three years by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile alone) and the jobs that come with it. For people of color and other minority communities, a well-managed transition promises expanded opportunity for high-quality and affordable Internet service so they can fully experience the benefits – in health care, education, jobs, and civic empowerment – that are possible in the digital age. While African Americans and Latinos have been early and enthusiastic adopters of mobile technologies, they run far behind whites in home-based broadband. African Americans trail whites by about 16 percentage points and Latinos trail whites by about 19 points, in large part because many African Americans and Latinos can’t afford broadband at home. Managed properly, in a process that includes affordability, pricing, and adoption rates in its analysis, a move to all-IP networks should provide additional competitive choices and affordable options for advanced home-based and mobile broadband.