Stevens Sells Communications Reform Bill as Measure to Speed Broadband Deployment
COMMUNICATIONS REFORM BILL AS MEASURE TO SPEED BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT
[SOURCE: US Senate Commerce Committee press release]
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) on Friday received the Government Accountability Office (GAO)’s report detailing certain shortcomings in broadband deployment and penetration in the United States. In response, Chairman Stevens urged his colleagues to support S. 2686, the Communications, Consumers’ Choice and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006, which, he argues, responds to many of the GAO report’s findings. The GAO report found that only 28 percent of American households subscribe to broadband Internet service, another 30 percent subscribe only to dial-up service, and 41 percent of American households are not connected to the Internet at all. The GAO report also found that rural Americans are much less likely to subscribe to broadband than those living in cities. In all, only 17 percent of rural households have to broadband service. “The disparity of broadband deployment between rural and urban America cited in the GAO report raises serious concerns,†said Chairman Stevens. “High-speed Internet access is absolutely essential to all Americans, whether you live in Manhattan or a remote village in Alaska. Numerous provisions in the Communications, Consumers’ Choice, and Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 focus on addressing this broadband deployment problem.â€
http://commerce.senate.gov/newsroom/printable.cfm?id=255239
* For more on GAO report, see http://www.benton.org/index.php?q=node/2246
http://commerce.senate.gov/newsroom/printable.cfm?id=255239