A New Twist on Technological Neutrality

The Federal Communications Commission's rural broadband report includes this: "[E]very technology has inherent capabilities and limitations. Those characteristics vary greatly among technologies. Similarly, every rural area presents its own special challenges, and a particular technological solution may be well-suited to one situation and poorly-suited to another. Therefore, decision makers should proceed on a technology-neutral basis -- by considering the attributes of all potential technologies -- in selecting the technology or technologies to be deployed in a particular rural area."No longer will the consideration of broadband technologies be boiled down to just speed. Now it appears as though we're going to have more well-reasoned, multi-faceted examinations of the full range of characteristics that make up world-class broadband networks. And in so doing, we'll be able to ensure that all Americans get equal access to the best broadband while simultaneously avoiding wasting money on lesser technologies that can't deliver the connectivity our country needs.