Broadband is a rapidly growing industry. Roughly 75% of Americans who connect to the internet do so via broadband. (Source Note #14) Americans are subscribing to broadband at an ever- increasing rate. (Source Note #22) Five years ago Americans were paying a much higher fee for broadband usage and man had problems getting coverage in their area. In 2009, while costs have dropped and much of America can receive broadband coverage, there is still a sizable number of Americans who don’t receive broadband service.
In many rural areas of the country, broadband service simply isn’t available. The infrastructure isn’t laid out in these places, and internet companies don’t have any financial incentive to expand to areas with a limited customer base. With many people today considering broadband an everyday necessity for purposes of work, school, and communication, areas that can’t get coverage face a technological handicap. (Source notes #3, #20, and #30)

Many people view broadband access an option every American should be presented with in this technologically savvy day and age. One fervent supporter of nationwide broadband expansion is President Barack Obama. When he addressed the nation on December 6th, 2008, a key part of his vision for the country included a plan for increasing broadband’s availability and affordability. (Source Note #2 Also, on Whitehouse.Gov, the official Obama Administration towards broadband technology is:

Deploy Next-Generation Broadband: Work towards true broadband in every community in America through a combination of reform of the Universal Service Fund, better use of the nation’s wireless spectrum, promotion of next-generation facilities, technologies and applications, and new tax and loan incentives. America should lead the world in broadband penetration and Internet access.

(Source Note #7, from Whitehouse.Gov)

It is clear from the Administration’s stance, as well as other statements made by President Obama, that Obama deeply values America’s technological standing in the world. He has taken an active role in pursing initiatives that would increase America’s technological standing in the world. (Source note #10)

The World Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ranked the United States 13th in the world in terms of broadband penetration. (Source note #28) This is a statistic that Obama calls “Unacceptable.” ((Source Note #2)

In response to this technological gap, President Obama included $7.2 billion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, an economic stimulus bill totaling $237 billion that is geared towards restarting a faltering American economy. According to David Crowe, broadband expert at the University of Oregon, the amount of money allocated towards broadband in the Recovery Act is “about right,” when considering the importance of broadband access. (Source Note #1) One thing that is important to recognize, is that by including this sizable amount of funds for broadband in the Recovery act, is that President Obama is actively taking action of an issue he has been actively talking about since the campaign. (Source note #9)

From this funding, and the stances Obama has taken, it is clear that his answer to my “should question,” would be “yes.” When explaining why broadband expansion is so important, Obama also frequently mentions the economic growth that the possible job creation that comes with broadband should bring. (Source note #2) Countering the “13th in the world,” statistic, keeping America technological competitive and superior is a position Obama believes the country should be in. News jobs that could come with broadband would be environmentally clean and efficient. Green job creation is a priority of the Obama Administration; therefore, broadband expansion as a means of creating jobs is an easy step forward.

Other arguments have been made for broadband expansion. As mentioned earlier, many people depend upon broadband as a means to their livelihood. And, if the market wouldn’t necessarily fuel expansion to all parts of the nation, it would only be natural for people to see the problem as a gap for the government to fill.

However, nationwide broadband expansion is a major initiative. Would the government be able to handle such a task? Some examples on a smaller scale would be ConnectKentucky and the MassTech initiative. (Source notes #19, and #18). These are state-wide initiatives for broadband expansion that are going extremely well. If programs like this are issues for a basis for the national expansion, the results could be very positive. ConnectedNation, the parent group behind ConnectKentucky, is in bidding for a portion of the stimulus funds, which some see as reassuring evidence about the success of the nationwide expansion.

However, as with any major government initiative, there is a counter viewpoint to the Obama Administration’s funding of broadband expansion. In the world of the tech savvy, you won’t find anyone arguing against all Americans having access to broadband. What you will find are claims of governmental waste and excess.

While some don’t believe the market will necessarily form it’s over nationwide broadband coverage anytime soon, many people do. Because broadband is becoming such a necessity, some find it hard to believe that the demand for broadband won’t drive the market nationwide. (Source note #17) Also, while Obama views broadband connectivity as essential as mass transportation (Source note #2), other don’t believe that broadband access falls under the government’s jurisdiction.
In reality, while there are a great deal of Americans who aren’t online. 27% of Americans are not internet users. 43% of those people are over age 65, and 43% have household incomes of less than $30,000 annually. The two major reasons for those Americans who are offline for not having internet access are necessity and availability. Many simply say that they don’t need it, and 35% of Americans without internet access say that it is simply too expensive for them to afford. (Source note #23)

Nearly 40% of rural Americans already have broadband in their homes, and this percentage is rapidly growing every year. Also, the growth rate of broadband in rural communities is one of the fastest in any demographic. The market is expanding, and those who want it and can afford it, will purchase it. When asked why they were not connected to the internet, less than 20% of rural Americans said that service was not available in their area. Instead most said that they didn’t need the internet, or know how to use it. (Source Note #14) Also, even though it is often very expensive and often not as fast as broadband, satellite internet and related technologies provide coverage to nearly the entire continental united states. (Source notes #24 and #29) Therefore, lack of availability isn’t the main issue as to why so many Americans aren’t online.

With these facts in mind, I would answer “no,” to the question of “Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?” However, I don’t think they should ignore the issue of broadband in America. Yet, instead of focusing so strongly on expansion, a “problem” that isn’t really the cause of lack of access, I believe the Obama Administration should focus its efforts more on making broadband access more affordable for all Americans. Since the infrastructure is already present in most communities, and those boundaries are constantly growing, the issue of lack of service isn’t as pressing. Even without satellite internet (Which is in a very impractical phase for many Americans), te number of Americans who simply can’t purchase internet service is an ever decreasing minority. Therefore, decreasing broadband costs would be the most efficient way to get offline citizens online.

Some would argue against my answer, claiming that no matter how healthy the broadband network is, it would never truly reach every American. They might claim that it is necessary for every America to have the opportunity to get online in order to be a competitive member of society, and that if the government doesn’t present them with that opportunity, it might not come at all. However, I don’t think that allocating federal funds for such a small group of people, who could access satellite internet anyway, is wise or responsible. Yes, I agree that everyone needs the opportunity to get online, but that opportunity is there either via satellite or will be there very soon. The most pressing factors in getting people online are making braodband access affordable to every American, and educating those who are unaware of how to use it.

#1 – David Crowe Interview (Citizen, Expert, Interview)

#2 – Obama Lays Out Economic Recovery Plan (Institutional, Government, Multimedia)

#3 - Amanda Morriera Interview (Citizen, Stakeholder, Interview)

#4 - Even if Obama Builds Broadband... (Journalistic)

#5 – Is Obama’s Broadband Plan Anything More Than A Free Gift to Incumbents? (Citizen, Blog)

#6 – Obama’s Broadband Roadmap (Citizen, Blog)

#7 – Whitehouse.Gov Overview of Broadband Expansion (Institutional, Government)

#8 – Benton Delivers Broadband Action Plan to Obama Administration (Institutional, Non-profit)

#9 – Senate Passes Broadband Stimulus (Free Press, 2-10-09) – (Journalistic)

#10 – Obama lauds Intel plan to invest $7B in chip plants (Journalistic)

#11 – Broadband Program Oversight Questioned (Washington Post 2/12/09) (Journalistic, Legacy Media)

#12 – BROADBAND: Help for rural areas (USA Today, 2-13-09) (Journalistic, Legacy Media)

#13 - Hector Ruiz: The power to connect the world (TED June 2007) (Academic Research, Multimedia)

#14 – Broadband Now: Rural Broadband VideoBlog (UsTelecom 3-4-09) (Institutional, Multimedia, Blog,Vlog)

#15 – Technology’s Fingerprints on the Stimulus Package (The New York Times, 2-10-09) (Journalistic, Legacy Media)

#16 - How Will the $7.2 Billion Allotted for Broadband Stimulus Be Spent? (PC World) (Journalistic, Alternative)

#17 – Skepticism arises over rural broadband stimulus (AP) – (Journalistic, Mainstream)

#18 – Massachusetts Broadband Initiative (Masstech) – (Institutional, Governmental)

#19 – Kentucky a model for broadband expansion (Chicago Tribune) (Journalistic, Mainstream)

#20 – Jonathan Budzinski Interview – (Citizen, Stakeholder, Interview)

#21 – USA Broadband Map (AP Images) - (Journalistic, Mainstream, Still Image)

#22 – AP Images Home Broadband Connections Double – (Journalistic, Mainstream, Still Image)

#23 – Some Fear Web Push Won’t help Urban Poor (Washington Post, 2-28-09) – (Journalistic, Mainstream)

#24 – Satellite Internet (Graph, AP Images) – (Journalistic, Mainstream, Still Image)

#25 – EDUCAUSE and Internet2 Support Economic Stimulus Bill ( Academic Research)

#26 – Tech group hails $100 billion stimulus spending on IT (Netgov 3-6-09) (Institutional, Government)

#27 – Rural Broadband (Image, OECD Observer) (Academic Research, Still Image)

#28 – Broadband Platform Penetration (Image, Science Direct) (Academic Research, Still Images)

#29 – Internet for Rural Areas (Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Youtube, Multimedia) (Academic Research, Multimedia)

#30 – “My Kids Needs Internet Access to Do Their Homework!” (Youtube, Citizen opinion) – (Citizen, Stakeholder, Multimedia)

Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?

Category: Interview, Citizen, Expert

What is it? An interview with David Crowe
Publication Information: Unpublished, however the audio from my interview can be downloaded HERE.
Author: A Jeremy Cabalona interview of David Crowe
Location: http://rapidshare.com/files/208569487/DavidCroweInterview.m4a.html (for download)
Accessed: March 12, 2009

Support: No support other than committees and legislation Crowe mentions.

Audience and Agenda:
David Crowe is the most knowledgeable source on broadband in the Eugene area. He works for the University of Oregon’s computer department as a broadband engineer. He runs the statewide Nero internet network, a state-wide broadband network for 17 years. Nero services the University of Oregon as well as K-12 schools all across Oregon.

Usefulness:
Crowe is the most useful source I found. He made me look at my topic in a completely different way. Instead of a simple “yes,” or “no,” answer, he urged me to look into the practicality of the issue. He doesn’t believe broadband will expand naturally to all rural areas without government stimulation because the market simply won’t drive it there. He doesn’t view broadband access as a necessity on the level of food or shelter, but he realizes that people are becoming increasingly dependent on it. His answer to my question would be “yes;” however, he makes it clear that the Administration allocating the funds won’t do anything on its own. Companies and states engage in a “feeding frenzy,” over the funds, especially in the sickly economy. He says that the way the funds will be spent aren’t completely decided, but if properly spent, they would effectively bring broadband to rural areas.

Works cited:
Mr. Macbook
Mr. Garabgeband
rapidshare.com (as a a file-hosting service)

Summary: This is a video of a woman explaining why she believes the government should provide internet for everyone. She believes it is a necessity, and says that her children cannot accomplish their homework without internet access. Her husband lost his job, and their family can’t afford to pay for internet any longer.
Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?
Category: Citizen, Multimedia, Stakeholder

What is it? A youtube video
Publication Information: January 28th, 2009
Author: Kimberly Bryant (She shares her story on camera. The video is from InternetForEveryone.org)
Location:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0aMAwNp0AA
Accessed: March 12, 2009

Support: This video is Kimberly Bryant telling her personal experiences with the lack of affordable broadband in her life. She strongly believes the government should not only expand broadband everywhere, but also subsidize broadband so it can be inexpensive, or even free, for all.

Audience and Agenda: This seems like a very manipulative video. Kimberly Bryant invokes a sob story to petition for free/affordable broadband everywhere. This makes sense, since her story is told on behalf of InternetForEveryone.org, an interest group that wants universal broadband access at the government’s expense. There are only 361 views of this video on youtube, but the InternetForEveryone coalition contains many large groups, such as the ACLU and Ebay.com.

Usefulness:
This video gives a personal face and reason for broadband expansion. Bryant gives the extreme position that government should not only expand broadband, but provide it for its citizens. Obama’s current plans for broadband aren’t geared towards Bryant’s wishes, and hers had socialistic tenancies that many would consider unnecessary.

Works cited:

http://www.internetforeveryone.org/principles

http://www.ebay.com/

Summary: This is a youtube video explaining an alternative method for providing broadband for rural areas. This particular method uses short range satellites to provide broadband access to a rural community.
Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?
Category: Academic Research, Multimedia, Video

What is it? A youtube video from el Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Publication Information: October 16, 2008
Author: Juan Carlos Romero Santin
Location: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3lW2CaLHcU
Accessed: March 12, 2009

Support: No support is really included or required, because it is an overview video.

Audience and Agenda: This is a demonstration video from el Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. On youtube, the video only has 83 views. However, I get the impression that this video had a larger platform in Spain than it did on American youtube. It’s purpose it to give a demonstration of how broadband could be brought to rural areas without having to enact a major expansion.

Usefulness:
This video shows an alternative to the massive broadband expansion proposed by the Obama Administration. The alternative of satellites that cover a small rural area is quicker and more rapid than a complete expansion. It gives another option to be considered, which is important when answering the question of whether the government should fund a massive broadband expansion.

Works cited:

http://www.uab.cat/english/

Title: Broadband Platform Penetration

Summary: This is a graph portraying the statistic of the United States ranking 13th in broadband penetration. It also includes the ranking of many other countries regarding broadband and internet access.

Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?
Category: Academic Research, Image

What is it? A graph from ScienceDirect
Publication Information: Telecommunications Policy, Volume 32, Issues 3-4, April-May 2008, Pages 212-233
Author: OECD, 2006
Location: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MiamiCaptionURL&_method=retrieve&_udi=B6VCC-4RTKMWM-1&_image=fig1&_ba=1&_user=2148430&_rdoc=1&_fmt=full&_orig=search&_cdi=5951&view=c&_acct=C000056308&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=2148430&md5=617f73d5e1ac551ea528e1bad315e4cf (image url)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VCC-4RTKMWM-1&_user=2148430&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000056308&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=2148430&md5=969e847cbfae29a3d525334813633794 (article url)
(Accessed through the UO Illumina database)
Accessed: 3-11-09

Support: This graph support the information found in this article from ScienceDirect. There isn’t any real support in the image itself, but it is a reflection of broadband statistics. (Found in that article)

Audience and Agenda:
ScienceDirect is an online collection of published scientific research. It contains over 8.5 million articles from over 2,500 journals and 6,000 e-books. ScienceDirect.com receives over 5.5 million unique monthly visitors, and is read by over 14 million in professional health, government and science organizations.

Usefulness:
Over the course of my research, I kept coming across the statistic explaining that the United States ranked 13th in broadband penetration. This graphic is useful because it clearly shows just how far behind the United States is in comparison to other countries.

Works cited:

http://9003-breeze.uoregon.edu.janus.uoregon.edu/findtext

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VCC-4RTKMWM-1&_user=2148430&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000056308&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=2148430&md5=969e847cbfae29a3d525334813633794

http://www.sciencedirect.com/

http://info.sciencedirect.com/

http://www.elsevierscitech.com/forms/sd/form.html

Title: Widening Broadband’s Reach (Image included with article)

Summary: An image by David Rooney of the OECD Observer that is spot-on for my topic, rural broadband expansion. It is an image of a lifeless computer with cattle instead of connectivity.
Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?
Category: Academic Research, Images

What is it? An image (illustration) that ran with an online article from the OECD Observer
Publication Information:
Author: David Rooney
Location:
http://www.oecdobserver.org/images//2663.photo.2.jpg (image url)
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2663/Widening_broadband’s_reach.html (article url)
(Accessed through the UO library Illumina system)

Accessed:
3-11-09
Support: This image is just a cute little illustration, there isn’t really any support for it.

Audience and Agenda:
The OECD Observer is an academic journal that has a circulation of 20,000 readers. Its emphasis is on the analysis of “world economic, social, and environmental issues.”

Usefulness:
This is a cool image, and it just went really well with my topic. It isn’t particularly profound or useful, but it communicated a simple point well.

Works cited:
http://www.oecdobserver.org/images//2663.photo.2.jpg (image url)
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2663/Widening_broadband’s_reach.html (article url)

http://www.oecdobserver.org/info/about_us.php

Summary: This is one of Obama’s weekly addressed to the country. In this video address, he specifically talks about his goal of broadband expansion, and how it will help the economy and the healthcare industry.

Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?

Category: Institutional, Multimedia, Government

What is it? An official youtube address to the nation from President-Elect Obama
Publication Information: December 6th, 2009
Author: Address given by President-Elect Obama, entry posted on whitehouse.gov by Dave Rochelson
Location: http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/the_key_parts_of_the_jobs_plan/
Accessed: 3-10-09

Support: Obama doesn’t reference any outside sources for his plan. He states the current state of the economy and the way many policies are currently run, and he then compares them to what he believes needs to be done to fix it. He references campaign promises and explains how he plans to fulfill them.
List of sources

Audience and Agenda:
This weekly address is geared to the entirely of the American people. It is a general report to the status of the economy, and an overview of what Obama intends to do to improve it. The purpose of this address isn’t to provide detailed plans, rather Obama simply wants to give a general idea to a large group of people. On youtube, the video currently has over 505,000 views (as of March, 10, 2009). However, the video can also be watched on yahoo, the audio can be listened to on whitehouse.gov, and the text is available online. Therefore, more than the 505,000 youtube viewers have heard this address, but the numbers of the rest of those viewers can’t be tracked.

Usefulness:
This is a very useful video, because it provides Obama’s direct answer to my “should” question. Obama believes the government must fund broadband expansion in order to improve the economy, create jobs, and keep the US competitive. He doesn’t go into details in this video about how he will do all of this, instead he gives an overview as to why we must do this. When the “Recovery Act,” is passed later on, more details are given into how Obama will achieve these goals. ( Source Note #16 provides these details)

Works cited:

http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/the_key_parts_of_the_jobs_plan/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2336349,00.asp

Summary: A Netgov posting giving the insider’s perspective from those in the technology industry towards the stimulus plan and the sizable amount of money allocated to tech-issues. It states that in order to be the “Best and brightest,” America needs to be on the cutting edge of technology, and make the funding of new technologies (it specifically mentions broadband expansion) a priority.

Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?
Category: Institutional, Government

What is it? An online posting on the netgov site.
Publication Information: March 6th, 2009
Author: Gautham Nagesh
Location: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090306_4227.php
Accessed: March 7th, 2009

Support:
- Chris Hansen, chief executive officer of TechAmerica
- Josh Lamel, head of federal government affairs at TechAmerica
- Roxanne Gould, head of TechAmerica’s state governmental affairs

These three representatives from TechAmerica each express their approval of the funds allocated towards technology in the stimulus package. TechAmerica is a strong pro-technology group and these three people speak on its behalf.

Audience and Agenda:
Netgov is part of the National Journal Group Inc. and the Atlantic Media Company. (It provides the governmental perspective of technological issues. Netgov has over 400,000 unique monthly visitors, 160,000 subscribers to their eNewsletter, and 77,000 print subscribers. The Netgov panel consists of the “top minds,” in the federal community, including “CIOs and senior OMB and OPM officials – the top executives in government – as well as respected federal consultants.”

Usefulness:
This source is useful because it is a technological source (Netgov) examining the response of the pro-tech group TechAmerica. It includes quotes from TechAmerica executives about technology keeping America competitive on a world scale, and it provides the seven states which have broadband maps. It claims that those seven states will most likely be the ones to receive the expansion funds because their progress can be measured.

Works cited:

http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090306_4227.php

http://www.nextgov.com/site_services/about_us.php

http://www.techamerica.org/default.htm

http://www.govexec.com/mediakit/

http://www.govexec.com/mediakit/docs/ngoverview2008.pdf

Summary: This is a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate from EDUCAUSE and Internet2, pro-technology groups consisting of hundreds of universities. It applauds these leaders’ decision to include funding for broadband in the stimulus package.

Topic: Should the Obama administration make it a priority to increase broadband access nationwide?
Category: Academic Research, Association of Academic Sources

What is it? The actual letter sent to U.S. Senate leaders from the CEO’s of EDUCAUSE and Internet2.
Publication Information: January 30th, 2009
Author: Diana Oblinger (President and CEO of EDUCAUSE), Douglas E. Van Houweling (President and CEO of Internet 2)

Location: (Internet2 page with a link to the letter) https://wiki.internet2.edu/confluence/display/realtime/2009/02/02/EDUCAUSE+and+Internet2+Support+Economic+Stimulus+Bill
pdf file of the actual letter: https://wiki.internet2.edu/confluence/download/attachments/2426929/EDUCAUSE+I2+letter+to+Senate+1+30+2009.pdf?version=1
Accessed: March 6th, 2009

Support: The letter references specific areas of the “Recovery Act,“.

Audience and Agenda:
This letter is written on behalf of EDUCAUSE and Internet2. Both of these groups are highly in favor of the expansion of technology. EDUCAUSE is an association of over 2,200 universities and colleges that have an active pursuit of technology. Internet2 is a coalition of 200 universities that work with 70 leading U.S. corporations, 45 government agencies. Both groups actively support the development and implementation of new technologies.

Usefulness:
The groups behind this letter would give an enthusiastic “YES!” as an answer to my “should question.” Their whole existence is devoted to getting support for technologies such as broadband. They represent the point of view that government should absolutely fund broadband expansion.

Works cited:

https://wiki.internet2.edu/confluence/display/realtime/2009/02/02/EDUCAUSE+and+Internet2+Support+Economic+Stimulus+Bill

http://www.internet2.edu/about/

https://wiki.internet2.edu/confluence/download/attachments/2426929/EDUCAUSE+I2+letter+to+Senate+1+30+2009.pdf?version=1