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Liberty & broadband for all

Entrepreneur, June, 2002 by Amanda C. Kooser

A chicken in every pot. Broadband for every home and business. if the Technology Network (TechNet), a group of senior technology executives, gets its way, that's what we'll be looking at in the not-too-distant future. Tech Net is pushing the federal government to adopt a national broadband policy with the goal of hooking 100 million consumers and growing businesses up to 100Mbps connections by 2010. The proposal suggests implementing tax incentives and deregulation to encourage investment in the high-speed broadband infrastructure.

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But Mark Cooper, director of research at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), says Tech Net is taking the wrong approach. "The private-sector guys have a failure of creativity," he says. "They want to spend a lot of tax payers' dollars to roll this technology out." He suggests that the problem is a lack of compelling applications rather than a lack of broadband supply. According to Cooper, 80 percent of U.S. residents have access to broadband, but only 10 percent actually use it.

Entrepreneurs can expect to see a pitched political battle over how broadband should be rolled out. Resulting policies or deregulation could affect the quality of high-speed Internet access available to your business. Visit TechNet (www.technet.org), the CFA (www.consumerfed.org) and the FCC (www.fcc.gov) to keep an eye on all aspects of these issues.

Business Services Industry

Liberty & broadband for all

Entrepreneur, June, 2002 by Amanda C. Kooser

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