The U.S. is behind in broadband deployment, and a concerted effort by the federal government, state governments, and the private sector must bring the country up to speed. A proposal for how to accomplish greater broadband deployment and the benefits of such an infrastructure are at the heart of A Blueprint for Big Broadband, recently published by EDUCAUSE. The report also contains a detailed analysis of broadband deployment in the United States and in key countries around the world.

The deregulatory approach has not worked, concludes the report. With a goal of at least 100 Mbps (scalable upwards to 1 Gbps) to every home and business by 2012, the report proposes federal subsidies. The infrastructure investment is expected to cost $100 billion. The report proposes a federal fund of $8 billion per year for four years, to be distributed to the states once they provide their matching amount of funding. Each state would then combine the federal and state funding and award grants to individual entities (public or private) that provide the remaining one?third of the funding to build open, big broadband capacity on a community?by?community basis.

"Failure to take on the challenge," warns the report "could lead to a decline in our global competitiveness and an inability to educate our students and provide needed telemedicine services." Benefits to K-12 education are not discussed directly in the document, with the exception of a mention in a the model provided by California's CENIC broadband deployment program.

Source: EDUCAUSE, A Blueprint for Big Broadband