President Bush on Friday called for affordable high-speed Internet access for all Americans by 2007 in a speech that left many Washington insiders curious as to what prompted the comment.
Campaigning in Albuquerque, Bush also said that once universal broadband is a reality, “we ought to make sure that as soon as possible thereafter consumers have plenty of choices.”
But while the specifics of the proposal were vague and the topic hardly controversial, it was the first time in nearly two years the president talked about broadband.
“It’s important that we stay on the cutting edge of technological change, and one way to do so is to have a bold plan for broadband,” Bush said. He did not say how the 2007 goal would be met.
Executives in the telecom and electronics industries have urged Bush to publicly support broadband as a way of boosting the economy and generating jobs. They thought he would promote broadband in his 2003 State of the Union address, but it never happened.
“It’s probably an election-year ploy,” said Van Cullens, chief of Westell Technologies Inc. “But I’ll take it. It could be helpful if the administration follows up with … tax credits for research and development.”
Cullens’ Aurora firm makes broadband equipment and has been working for years with groups seeking to enlist Washington’s support.
“We’re probably the only industrial nation in the world that doesn’t have a communications policy,” he said.
Shortly after President Bush’s speech, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry also mentioned the high-speed Internet technology during a speech in Detroit.
“I will focus on raising American competitiveness by spurring the growth of new industries like the broadband technology that will dominate the future,” Kerry said.
While it is unclear why the president broke his silence on the issue Friday, some speculate it is related to the heated battle among phone giants over the wholesale rates they can charge rivals.
Since a federal appeals court ruled earlier this month that the current rate system should be scrapped, long-distance carriers AT&T and MCI have been lobbying hard for a Supreme Court appeal. They are opposed by SBC Communications Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and other local phone giants who applauded the court ruling.
The lobbying has included appeals to Bush from economists on both sides of the fight.
Bush’s administration is split on the rate issue: Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, sides with SBC, while commissioner Kevin Martin, also a Republican, sides with AT&T.
In a statement Friday, Powell said he looked “forward to working with my commission colleagues, Congress and the administration to deliver on this vision for the American people.”
The fight over wholesale phone rates ultimately raises the bigger question of what the Bush administration’s communications policy will look like, said Raymond Gifford, president of the Washington-based Progress & Freedom Foundation.
Rather than formulate policies to address thorny telecom issues, Gifford said the Bush administration “acts is if it wishes these issues would just go away.”
While Bush’s broadband pronouncement surprised the telecom industry, it was welcome.
“We look forward to working further with the Bush administration on realizing these broadband deployment goals,” said H. Russell Frisby Jr., chief of the CompTel/ASCENT Alliance, a trade group representing competitive telecom carriers such as AT&T.
Walter B. McCormick Jr., president of the United States Telecom Association–a trade group representing incumbent carriers, including SBC and Verizon–also praised Bush’s statement.
But while Mark Cooper, telecom policy director of the Consumer Federation of America, said he was pleased to hear Bush address the topic, he doubted the comments would lead to anything constructive.
“What he probably means is he wants to let the phone companies and the cable operators lock up broadband and squeeze all the money they can out of consumers,” he said.
