Bill:S 1492

Outlook: The House Energy and Commerce Committee plans to take up legislation that would change the way the government defines and measures high-speed Internet access, also known as broadband. The measure, which is intended to produce better data that Congress and regulators can use to set broadband policy, stands a good chance of House passage before the end of the year. But it remains to be seen whether Senate leaders will find floor time for a companion bill that the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has already approved.

Synopsis: Democrats have made universal, affordable broadband one of their top telecommunications priorities amid growing concern that the United States is lagging behind many other developed countries not only in the adoption of broadband but also in the speed and price of such services.

The international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development helped fuel these concerns last spring when it reported that among the group’s 30 member-countries at the end of 2006, the United States had fallen to 15th in broadband penetration, a measure of the number of broadband subscribers for every 100 inhabitants. That was down from fourth place in 2001.

The digital divide is particularly stark in rural areas of the United States because phone and cable companies have little incentive to provide digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable-modem access in places where there are not enough customers to justify the necessary network investments.

But even in urban and suburban areas, U.S. broadband speeds trail those in countries such as Korea and Japan. Many Japanese customers, for instance, have access to 100-megabit-per-second fiber-optic connections. Typical U.S. broadband connections, in contrast, move data at speeds ranging from 1.5 to 7 megabits per second.

Yet broadband is not cheaper in the United States. In Korea, 100-megabit Internet access costs slightly less than $45 per month, according to the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation. By comparison, Verizon charges about $40 a month for 5-megabit service.

Democrats say the first step in improving the U.S. broadband market is to get a more accurate, detailed picture of it than the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) currently provides.

In July, the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved legislation (S 1492) that would direct the FCC to decide whether to revise its current definition of broadband, which was adopted in 1999 and assumes far slower data transmission rates than are available with many high-speed services now on the market.

The bill, sponsored by Chairman Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawaii, would also direct the FCC to revise its broadband reporting requirements to produce a better picture of where high-speed Internet access is available. The FCC currently collects data on broadband connections by five-digit ZIP codes. Such areas can include concentrated pockets of high-speed access, making broadband appear more widely available than it actually is.

In addition, Inouye’s proposal would authorize a $40 million-a-year grant program over five years to fund state-based, nonprofit, public-private partnerships to map broadband availability and identify barriers to broadband adoption. Kentucky has already significantly boosted broadband availability and usage through such a program.

Inouye’s bill has won the support of the cable industry, which currently has a larger share of the broadband market and generally offers faster connections than the big phone companies. The U.S. Telecom Association, which represents the phone industry, said it supports at least some parts of the bill, including the grant program.

Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, is planning to introduce companion legislation in September. If the subcommittee and committee markups of that bill proceed with little controversy, as expected, the measure will be a likely candidate for consideration on the House floor this fall. The bigger question is whether Senate leaders with higher priorities will bring Inouye’s measure to the floor before the end of the year.

Legislative Action:

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee approved S 1492 by voice vote July 19.

Related Stories: Broadband policy, CQ Weekly, p. 2258; Senate committee approval, p. 2205.