Groups praise U.S. broadband data bill
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(InfoWorld) - A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate this week would require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to reconsider what bandwidth rates qualify as broadband, a move that won praise from some groups that call current broadband penetration statistics misleading. Senator Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat and chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, introduced the Broadband Data Improvement Act Thursday along with five Democratic cosponsors. The bill would require the FCC to re-evaluate whether 200KbpsÂ is sufficient bandwidth to justify being called broadband, and it would require the agency to create a new measurement, known as second-generation broadband, to identify networks' capability of transmitting high-definition video. The bill would also require broadband providers to report availability of broadband and second-generation broadband connections within smaller geography areas than the postal zip codes the FCC now uses to measure the availability of such services. In January, the FCC reported that broadband providers offer service in 99 percent of U.S. ZIP codes, but critics have called the FCC statistics misleading. A broadband provider has to serve only one residence in a zip code for it to be counted by the FCC. The U.S. had 64.6 million broadband lines in mid-2006, up 24 percent from the end of 2005, according to the FCC. Many tech groups argue broadband is a major driver of the U.S. economy. On Thursday, a new group called the Open Internet Coalition, made up of e-commerce businesses and consumer groups,Â called for Congress to develop a national broadband policyÂ aimed at making high-speed, low-cost service available to all U.S. residents. The bill will help Congress where to focus its broadband policies, Inouye said. "The first step in an improved broadband policy is ensuring that we have better data on which to build our efforts," Inouye said in a statement. "In a digital age, the world will not wait for us. It is imperative that we get our broadband house in order and our communications policy right. But we cannot manage what we do not measure." The bill would also direct the U.S. Government Accountability Office to develop broadband metrics on cost and speeds that can be used by consumers. The bill would require the FCC to conduct inquiries into broadband deployment on an annual, rather than periodic, basis. Public Knowledge and Free Press, two advocacy groups that are members of the Open Internet Coalition, praised Inouye's bill. "With this bill, we would finally be able to answer key questions the Federal Communications Commission has ignored for too long," Ben Scott, Free Press policy director, said. "We would have granular data about broadband availability, adoption, cost, and speed at a local level across the country. This information is invaluable." The Telecommunications Industry Association, a trade group representing telecom suppliers, also praised the bill. The legislation will "help to ensure that Americans have access to affordable and reliable broadband services," the group said in a press release.
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Millions signed up to broadband this year as high-speed access finally went mass market.
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Legislation to free hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies for school Internet connections that had been frozen by a change in accounting rules won final approval on Wednesday from the U.S. Congress.
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Intel backs government initiatives for wireless broadband.
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Yesterday consumer groups released a study saying broadband policy in the U.S. was failing. Here's a counterpoint from the conservative Heritage Foundation. [Broadband blog]
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The majority of households in the United Kingdom now have a broadband Internet connection, official statistics out Tuesday showed.
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The Federal Communications Commission has approved rules which it claims will encourage development of broadband access over power lines, a new technology that provides access to high speed broadband services using the nation&#39;s power grid instead of phone
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AUGUST 18, 2004 (IDG NEWS SERVICE) - A majority of US home Internet users now have broadband, according to a survey by NetRatings Inc.
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Comments from groups and individual Internet users were filed with the FCC.
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A proposed law would require companies to keep detailed data about peopleâs Internet and phone use that goes beyond a European Union directive.
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More than 300 communities consider launching local high-speed Internet service.
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Will a new set of FCC rules for broadband over power lines bring the Internet to millions more homes? On Friday, proponents of broadband Internet service over power lines hailed a recent decision by the US
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A senior U.S. lawmaker said on  Wednesday he had introduced legislation designed to prevent  broadband Internet providers from unreasonable interference  with subscribers' access to content.
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InfoWorld - A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate this week would require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to reconsider what bandwidth rates qualify as broadband, a move that won praise from some groups that call current broadband penetration statistics misleading.
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Just over half of US Internet users now connect through broadband, according to a new survey. Nielsen/Netratings reports that in July, 51 percent of Internet users had DSL, cable, or other fast
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By American News, Aberdeen, S.D.  Sep. 17--Giving citizens the ability to search and track federal spending through an Internet Web site is a wonderful idea.   Last week the House of Representatives passed a bill that will do just that.
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A senior lawmaker said on Wednesday  he had introduced legislation designed to prevent broadband  Internet providers from unreasonable interference with  subscribers' access to content.