海角大神

This week, the Obama administration took its first step toward making high-speed Internet service available to everyone in America. It announced millions of dollars in grants and loans for broadband service in underserved communities across the country. But it didn鈥檛 act alone and that鈥檚 an important point. States kicked in. So did the private sector.聽

The Internet is as fundamental to US economic growth and productivity in this century as the telephone, electric power, and the National Highway System were in the last. The Web is both the dial tone and transport system of the modern age 鈥� connecting people and ideas and opening a path to markets and services around the world.

Until this year, though, the federal government has been largely absent from the delivery of fast Internet service. That鈥檚 been the work of the private sector 鈥� the cable, satellite, and telecom companies. They鈥檝e done a good job. Some studies show that nearly 90 percent of US households now have access to broadband.聽

But the private sector can鈥檛 do it all. Companies only go where there鈥檚 profit, which means that many poor neighborhoods, and rural and tribal areas don鈥檛 have access to a high-speed Internet connection. Once a leader in the Internet, the US ranks 15th in broadband market penetration. And compared with a country such as Japan, the average Internet speed in the US is a tenth as fast.聽

It鈥檚 time for the federal government to get involved, and this year, it did. Congress provided $7.2 billion of Recovery Act money to help reach the goal of universal, affordable broadband access. Wisely, it also required matching funds from states to augment this assistance.

This week, Vice President Biden announced the first recipients of the stimulus funds: $183 million to poor and underserved areas in 17 states, from Appalachian Georgia and rural Maine to native American areas in southwest Alaska. Other public funds and the private sector are contributing $46 million.聽

Congress has also required the Federal Communications Commission to come up with a National Broadband Plan, due in February. From a preliminary report released this week, the FCC looks to be on the right path. It says competition should be a 鈥済uiding principle鈥� of any plan, because competition drives innovation and provides consumer choice. It also recognizes limited government funding and says federal help will have to be 鈥渓everaged with private sector investment.鈥�

That seems to be the reality of the 21st century. The federal government simply doesn鈥檛 have the money to expand the Internet in the way it built Interstate highways or electrified rural areas. And government can鈥檛 always know which Internet technology to support. But there鈥檚 also no denying that universal, high-speed Internet service is as essential to American competitiveness as universal phone service has been.聽

Broadband for all will have to be a public-private partnership for now. 聽