The Broadband Technology Opportunity Program

While Finland has mandated internet access for all of its citizens, broadband access in the United States is still primarily commercially driven, and not classified as a ‘right.’ However, the U.S. has inadvertently recognized the importance of providing internet access to as many of its citizens as possible. In 2009, the Departments of Agriculture and Commerce invited rural districts to submit applications to receive grants for the installation of broadband services to underserved areas, in the hopes of spurring job creation. The program, known as the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program, was launched as a result of the economic recovery effort.

As previously discussed in this blog, the political landscape of the U.S. makes it a less suitable candidate for the kind of sweeping broadband reform enacted in Finland. What is cheering about the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program is that the economic vitality of the internet, and its inherent ability to connect people to one another, has been recognized in an official capacity.

This act signifies that the U.S. government, which has struggled to keep the nation from experiencing a second economic depression, understands that to leave out a portion of the population is to create a kind of economic microclimate. As entire portions of the economy such as manufacturing have left local regions, those local regions have been struggling to re-engineer themselves in a global marketplace, creating pockets of severely depressed regions without any long-term strategic economic goals. By virtue of having insufficient communication and connection to the internet, these regions have been stagnating in a seemingly vicious cycle.

The U.S. should more aggressively pursue the installation of broadband technologies in public areas. Much as many townships in the 18th century declared that every 16 square miles had to have at least one educational facility, a similar technology density should be enacted to alleviate the formation of these severely depressed economic microclimates. The Broadband Technology Opportunity Program is a good start, but it is by no means the complete solution.