Bush calls for faster broadband rollout

NEWS

Technology is a crucial component in America's war against terrorism, President George W. Bush said Thursday, in his first major address to technology industry leaders since the 11 September terrorist attacks. In a 30-minute speech, Bush praised the technology industry in broad strokes and offered encouraging remarks for companies in the business of high-speed Internet access. "The country must be aggressive with the expansion of broadband," he said, winning a loud round of applause from some 100 technology chief executives and luminaries gathered at the White House for the address. Bush also commented on the government's $53bn technology spending budget -- the largest such appropriation in history. "If you're a recipient, make sure the product actually works," he said, half-jokingly. The speech offered something of a change of pace at the White House: Technology has not been a top priority with the Bush administration, which has focused on the threat of terrorism since 11 September and, before that, on energy policy following the collapse of Enron. AOL Time Warner chairman Steve Case introduced President Bush, who delivered his speech flanked by a who's who of technology leaders, including Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina, Netscape co-founder Jim Barksdale, Symantec chief executive John Thompson, AT&T chief executive Michael Armstrong and Intel co-founder Gordon Moore. In addition to the speech, attendees took part in three panels addressing technology policy: homeland security, the economic recovery and education. formation Representing the government in the discussions were Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, and the heads of the Commerce, Education, Labor and Health and Human Services departments. According to one person who attended the panels, the discussions were useful, but there were "no epiphanies." Another attendee said the event was, for many, a good sales opportunity. "There were a lot of computer salesmen drooling in the audience" over the government's IT budget, Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff said. While limited, Bush's remarks about broadband drew the greatest response. The hot-button issue has sparked a wave of lobbying for new rules -- and even subsidies -- to help bolster an industry struggling with uneven regulation, high costs and unrealistically low pricing. A series of competing broadband bills have been introduced in Congress with the intention of sorting out competition and speeding consumer adoption of high-speed Internet service. Broadband providers have been fighting for additional regulation to address competition in their industry. "Open access," or the ability of broadband providers to share lines into a consumers' home, has been a contentious issue. Although both cable and digital subscriber line (DSL) providers offer broadband access to the Internet, DSL technology has been treated differently because it uses telephone lines to transmit data. As a result, DSL companies have been required to share their lines with competitors (as dictated by older telecommunications regulations), while cable companies have not. DSL providers have complained the situation has put them at a competitive disadvantage, pointing to adoption statistics as evidence to support their claims. Although Bush's remarks did little to clarify the many vexing policy issues plaguing the high-speed Net access business, some attendees said they were encouraged. "For my taste, they're focusing on the right issues," said Napster chief executive Konrad Hilbers. "Broadband is very high on our agenda. I'm glad broadband was brought up with a very high priority." Senate leaders have also called on the Bush administration to better define the nation's broadband strategy. On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt sent Bush a letter outlining concerns over the accessibility of high-speed Net access. "The nation must have a plan to ensure that consumers have affordable broadband Internet access at the maximum speeds, enabling them to experience the full potential of the Internet and the information technology revolution," the legislators wrote. Daschle and Gephardt pointed out that $750m has already been earmarked to help underwrite the costs of deploying rural broadband, a provision approved as part of the Farm Bill that is expected to provide high-speed Net access to some 6 million homes. Industry groups have proposed several national broadband goals to be used as benchmarks, including one from technology lobby group TechNet that would see 100 million homes and small businesses connected to the Internet at a speed of 100 megabits per second by 2010. TechNet Executive Vice President Connie Correll admitted the plan is ambitious, but said it was meant to encourage "big thinking" on the topic. ZDNet.com's Dan Farber contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.

See the Broadband News Section for the latest on cable modems, ADSL, satellite and other high-speed access technologies, including a comprehensive guide to the best deals out there. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the Telecoms forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

Well it seems there is something a number of us agree on. Why is the Ubuntu Unity launcher so ugly? I thought perhaps it was something to do with...

2 hours ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Duplicate comments are not made intentionally. Its very good to know that now you are keeping check on this problem because sometimes a commenter...

11 hours ago by Freebies202 on Microsoft fixes blog comments, speeds up blogs with open source

"the very significant number of users" and "many (most) of us" - you have no evidence for these statements. It is a fact that most users are saying...

19 hours ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Another grammar faux pas is the improper use of "you". When sitting down down in a restaurant, for example, I get cringe when the waitress...

21 hours ago by Marg Menzies Harrison via Facebook on 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid

And NOW, folks, for Canonical's next trick... Kubuntu is late. Here's a pencil. Draw your own conclusions. cf.:...

21 hours ago by zdnetukuser on Linux Minterface

@kevinmchapman. The discussion here reflects the very significant number of users who really do like the traditional menu system and who wish to...

23 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Er, no... It is an efficient means of finding the application/file/setting you need in one place. The icons are a simply a fallback for when you...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Isn't the provision of a text based search an admission by the developers that the mass of icons approach does not work? I don't need to use a...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

"Unity and GNOME 3 both abandon the old text-based cascading menus in favour of a graphical icon-driven system." Point truly missed. Both use a...

1 day ago by kevinmchapman on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

whs001 - Thank you, I'm glad you liked the article. I absolutely agree with you on your first point. I should perhaps have made it clearer that...

1 day ago by TerryRK on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

If we allow corporate interest to dictate the way our government circumvents due process against foreign entities then we should accept the same...

1 day ago by Dennis Nilsson via Facebook on ACTA stumbles in Germany

I totally dislike pirating of works, I fear that artists will be deterred from creating works if they think that they are going to get ripped off....

1 day ago by GHar123 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

How dare film makers, artists or anybody that invests in creativity stop us pirating their works for free. I want to be able to walk into my local...

1 day ago by JCB33 on ACTA stumbles in Germany

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 days ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 days ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

2 days ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 days ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

2 days ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

2 days ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Bush calls for faster broadband rollout

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

AOL fights MPs over rural broadband

UK broadband reaches two-thirds of population

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

PHP Web Developer - html, css, javascript

Java Developer, Online Gaming, London

Quant Dev, Hedge Fund, FX, Excel VBA

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Make faster, smarter decisions using BI

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

Bush calls for faster broadband rollout

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in IT Strategy

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features