Arizona Telecommunications & Information Council (ATIC) Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study PREVIOUS CONTENTS APPENDIX 5
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U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and TransportationAppendix 5: Excerpts from Selected Resource Documents
United States Congress Internet Caucus Advisory Committee
Broadband Overview
As the Internet moves into the 21st Century, it is beginning to undergo a dramatic transformation from a predominantly "narrowband" world of dial-up modems and slow connections, to a high-speed "broadband" world using an emerging array of new technologies. Although today many corporations and educational institutions access the Internet through fast dedicated phone lines, the Internet has become the dynamic and democratic medium that it is through widely-available and competitive dial-up connections provided by thousand of Internet Service Providers around the country.
At least four technologies are emerging as broadband alternatives to the dial-up modems. Operators of cable television systems have undertaken major overhauls of their coax-cable networks to enable the use of high-speed cable modems. Local telephone companies are rolling out the Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology that allows the transmission of high-speed digital data over ordinary copper telephone wires. Although less developed than cable modem or DSL service, terrestrial wireless and satellite technologies also offer the potential for high-speed Internet access.
A number of legal and policy debates are swirling around the emergence of broadband technologies and the transformation of the Internet to a high-speed medium. Foremost among the issues is the contention by some market participants and advocacy groups that some governmental action is necessary to force cable operators to allow more than one Internet Service Provider (ISP) to offer Internet services over each cable network. Proponents of governmental action contend, among other points, that consumers and vibrancy of the Internet itself would be harmed if one or two ISPs can dominate the provision of Internet service over cable networks. Cable operators and other opponents of governmental action contend, among other points, that there are financial and technological reasons why the cable companies cannot connect to multiple ISPs, and that in any event sufficient competition is provided by other advanced services such as DSL technology.
A separate, but related, issue is how widely access to broadband services will be available. Some are concerned that the broadband market may not reach into inner city or rural locales. Moreover, certain of the broadband technologies have technical constraints that may prevent their wide deployment in rural communities. The Internet has been hailed by the Supreme Court as a uniquely democratic medium, and some assert that urban and rural communities might be left behind as the Internet moves to broadband.
-- (http://www.netcaucus.org/issues/broadbandoverview.shtml)
Multitenant Building Telecommunications Access Study PREVIOUS CONTENTS APPENDIX 5
returnNEXT Selected Resource Documents:
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation