The Role of the State in Broadband Policy for Rural Areas: A Comparative Analysis of Canada and the

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The Role of the State in Broadband Policy for
Rural Areas A Comparative Analysis of Canada and
the United States

• Rural Telecon October 23, 2006
• Penn State Rural Telecommunications Working Group
• Sheila S. Sager, Theodore R. Alter William C.
  Shuffstall
• Presented by Sheila S. Sager

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Objectives

• Role of the State in broadband provision for the
  rural United States
• Comparative analysis of government policy in the
  rural US and Canada
• Open access
• Human and organizational capacity
• Demand aggregation
• Implications and conclusions

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(No Transcript)
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Broadband Penetration Population Densities
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Federal Broadband Policies Programs

• United States
• Universal Service Funds, 1996
• Rural Health Care Support Mechanism
• Schools and Libraries Program
• E-rate
• Rural Broadband Access Loans, 2002

• Canada
• Connecting Canadians, 1998
• National Broadband Taskforce, 2001
• Broadband for Rural and Northern Development
  (BRAND), 2002
• Rural and Remote Broadband Access Program (RRBA),
  2002
• National Satellite Initiative (NSI), 2003

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Open Access

• United States
• Abolished open access in August 2005

• Canada
• Supports and encourages open access

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Human and Organizational Capacity

• United States

• Canada
• National Broadband Taskforce identifies ways to
  build capacity
• National Satellite Initiative

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Demand Aggregation

• United States
• Decided at the local level
• No federal support
• Not eligible for e-rate

• Canada
• Aggregation is one of the two key strategies
  identified by the National Broadband Taskforce

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Comparative Analysis
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Implications Conclusions

• Assumption Access and use of broadband is a
  necessary condition for economic and social
  development.
• The lack of accessibility and capacity in rural
  areas will hinder their development.
• Compared to Canada, US broadband policy is not
  designed to enhance accessibility and capacity
  for those people living in rural areas.

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Implications Conclusions

• Assumption Economic and social well being and
  quality of life in rural places is important
• Relative to Canadian policy, US policy does not
  appear to serve this social value and goal
• Assumption Development, enfranchisement and
  quality of life of rural people and places is a
  strongly held value
• US policy needs to be radically reformed to
  incorporate a larger role of the State where the
  market does not provide adequate access

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Implications Conclusions

• Rewrite of the United States Telecommunications
  Act of 1996
• Carrier class services need to be the focus of
  policy, in addition to residential services
• Provides an opportunity to recast policy that is
  more supportive of rural populations and places

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Rural Telecommunications Working Group (RTWG)

• A multidisciplinary team of researchers,
  educators and practitioners, at Penn State, are
  focusing on the adoption and impact of digital
  technologies on the economic, political and
  social development of rural communities

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RTWG Members

• Ted Alter
• Jeff Bridger
• Sheila Sager
• Kai Schafft
• Jorge Schement
• Bill Shuffstall
• Marsha Tate

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Comments, Questions, Suggestions
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The Role of the State in Broadband Policy for
Rural Areas A Comparative Analysis of Canada
and the United States

• Presented by
• Sheila S. Sager
• sss2_at_psu.edu
• 814-863-6816