FREE REPORT:
The History, Financial Commitments and Outcomes of Fiber Optic Broadband
Deployment in America: 1990-2004
The Wiring of Homes, Businesses, Schools, Libraries, Hospitals and
Government Agencies
READ THE REPORT: http://www.newnetworks.com/FCCCITIbroadband.pdf
The FCC tasked the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI) to do “an
analysis of the public statements of companies as to their future plans to
deploy and upgrade broadband networks as well as an historical evaluation of
the relationship between previous such announcements and actual deployment”.
The FCC adds that the focus is on data analysis of “investment plans and
deployment figures of upgraded broadband infrastructure in this century.”
CITI’s historical evaluation only goes back to 2004. After talking to CITI
we decided to create a separate report to cover fiber optic promises for
the period of 1990-2004 because, in many states, the changes in state laws
are still on the books for deployments and there have been current rate
increases based on the previous fiber optic based-broadband deregulation.
It is clear that billions of dollars have already been collected in most
states for broadband upgrades of the Public Switched Telephone Networks, the
utilities. If it didn’t go into the ground in the form of fiber, where did
it all go?
Besides the raising of local rates now being diverted to other lines of
business, from FIOS and U-Verse to even wireless, there are the various
taxes and surcharges, including the state and federal Universal Service
funding or state based funds, such as the California Advanced Services Fund.
None of these funds have been examined as a group, much less in specifics.
If customers are still paying through local rates and tax perks to upgrade
the essential facilities, shouldn’t the FCC be investigating ALL funding
sources and then determining whether the issues, such as cross-subsidization
of the ‘interstate information products’ or giving USF funding to companies
who do not ‘need’ the money to be profitable, be examined before the FCC
determines it needs to raise the Universal Service fund or give other
financial incentives to pay for broadband?
The FCC claims it wants a data-driven policy. We supplied the data — It’s
now the FCC’s turn.
Report filed with the FCC: Docket Nos. 09-47, 09-51, 09-137
Contact: Bruce Kushnick, bruce@newnetworks.com
http://www.newnetworks.com
As part of the FCC’s development of the National Broadband Plan, the Commission requested two independent studies, one from Harvard’s Berkman Center on the existing studies about broadband deployment throughout the world, and the other from CITI on projected deployment of new and upgraded broadband networks. The CITI report, “Broadband in America: Where It Is and Where It is Going,” is authored by Bob Atkinson, Director of Policy Research, and Ivy Schultz, Manager of Research.
On December 10, the FCC will hold a workshop in the Commission Meeting Room where the authors of the two studies will provide an overview of their findings. The review of the Berkman report will start at 1:00pm, and CITI’s report start at about 1:45pm.
More information and registration details can be found here.
The Berkman Report
Download here
The CITI report
Download: report | appendices