The Future of Broadband: Why Fix It if It's Not Broken

[Commentary] The Internet policy prescription outlined by the Clinton Administration has been working. Unlike so many points of debate today, Democrats and Republicans have continued this concept that continues to provide the right prescriptions today.

The Progressive Policy Institute and economist Ev Erlich, former Undersecretary of Commerce in the Clinton administration, outline an agenda that would return broadband policy to its progressive roots by: "(F)inishing the job of creating a truly national high-speed network, using the remarkable capabilities of broadband to improve education, health care, government, and other social sectors, creating the terms on which more connectivity can be created (for example, liberating spectrum), and protecting the individual right to privacy using both legal means and market forces." What do all of these policies have in common? They will deliver real benefits to Americans in both urban to rural America. Expanding broadband availability and improving adoption rates should be at the heart of any progressive broadband policy agenda.

Ehrlich also advises progressives to keep their eye on the ball and not let debates over divisive issues like "net neutrality" distract from more important goals, as this issue "does nothing to address the leading obstacles to a ubiquitous broadband Internet: Indifference and the absence of computers."

[Eva Clayton is a former member of Congress who represented eastern North Carolina (1992-2003), and former Assistant Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization]