Speaking at the OECD Ministerial Meeting on the Future of Internet Economy taking place in Seoul, Martin highlighted how broadband penetration is being encouraged in the U.S.
“As you know well, the communications industry is in a time of unprecedented change. Technological advances, converging business models and the digitalization of services create unparalleled opportunities and considerable challenges,” he said.
Martin said that it is difficult to predict what the communications landscape will look like twenty-five, ten or even five years from now – as nobody could have predicted where we would be today.
“People want access to all kinds of information – the Internet, e-mail, photos, music and videos – at any time and from any location. In this fast-paced technological environment, regulations struggle to keep up,” he said.
Faster Broadband Connections
Martin said that consumers need faster broadband connections are needed as an underlying infrastructure to implement advances in how people communicate, work, and provide education.
“My experience has been that the competitive marketplace, not regulation, promotes the greatest investment and most sustainable access to broadband,” he said. “I have made and continue to make decisions at the FCC based on a fundamental belief that a robust, competitive marketplace, not regulation, is the best method of delivering the benefits of choice, innovation, and affordability for American consumers.”
Competition Leads to Innovation and Affordability
Martin explained that competition drives prices down and spurs innovation and affordability for consumers.
“In the United States, we have developed a number of policies to encourage the deployment of broadband. For example, we have removed regulatory obstacles that discouraged infrastructure investment and slowed deployment,” he said.
“We removed legacy regulation such as tariffs and price controls.We encouraged carriers to invest in infrastructure in an environment free of economic regulation, and placed all forms of broadband on an equal footing. We streamlined the state and local franchise process for new entrants. And we have banned exclusive contracts in apartment buildings to spur competition.”
Martin noted that nearly 100 percent of all public schools have Internet connection and that the government has initiated a nationwide pilot to connect every hospital and rural health care clinic.
Internet Growth in the U.S.
According to Martin, Since 2000, the number of high speed lines has grown from just over 4 million lines to over 100 million lines. During the first half of 2007 alone, high speed lines increased by 22 percent, from over 82 million to over 100 million lines.
In the year 2000, the United States had 121 million users online, representing 60% of the population. As of last year, there are nearly 178million online users, representing almost 80% of the U.S. population.
Free Broadband Model
The U.S. has the largest broadband market in the world, but there are people who are unable to subscribe today because of the cost,” Martin said. “I believe a free broadband model holds great promise for the public interest.”
The FCC recently completed an auction of 60 megahertz, raising nearly $20 billion."We hope that build-out of wireless broadband networks in this spectrum will provide the United States with a significant opportunity to facilitate the deployment of a third wireless broadband pipe," Martin said.
D. Yvette Wohn - Specializing in science and technology but with a personal love of architecture and the arts, I have an ten-year journalism background, ...
