Universal Broadband Plan Calls for $44 billion in Spending - December 2008 Bandwidth Report

Website Optimization is announcing that President-elect Obama is calling for a massive $850 billion or more economic stimulus package to jump start the US economy and rebuild neglected infrastructure. As part of this plan the Obama administration has pledged to deploy next-generation broadband to every community in America. What the new administration has not offered is more specifics on their plan to achieve broadband for all. The Free Press has put forth a $44 billion plan to achieve universal broadband availability for the United States.

According to change.gov, the Obama administration pledges to:

"Deploy next-generation broadband: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe we can get broadband to 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."

The Free Press Broadband Deployment Plan

Using a series of coordinated tax credits, incentives, grants, and appropriations the Free Press plan urges the new administration to "future proof" the new broadband infrastructure. They cite 5 Mbps as a bare minimum speed to deploy video and 100Mbps speeds to future-proof the network for next-generation applications. Some of the programs that the Free Press recommends include:

* Bonds for broadband
* Every child online
* E-rate@home program
* Lifeline/Linkup Broadband Pilot Program
* Broadband Data Improvement Act
* Rural Development Community Connect Grant Program
* Health Care and Public Service Digital Modernization Program

The spread of high-speed broadband could be a major factor in the economic salvation of the US. A 2007 study by the Brookings Institute and MIT found that for every one-digit increase in the U.S. per-capita broadband penetration rate an additional 300,000 American jobs would be created. A modest 10 point boost in US broadband penetration would mean 3 million additional jobs.

For the full "December 2008 Bandwidth Report" visit
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0812/

About The Bandwidth Report

The Bandwidth Report is a monthly roundup of connectivity trends in the US and elsewhere compiled by Website Optimization Each month's bandwidth report offers the latest statistics in Internet connectivity and broadband trends, including:

* Home Connectivity in the US
* Broadband Growth in the US
* Work Connectivity
* Broadband Trends in the US, Canada, and other countries