GOVT. AND INDUSTRY URGED TO SET NATIONAL INTERNET POLICY

Federal govt. working closely with high-tech industry should commit to “10-year vision” for next generation of Internet infrastructure, Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP) said Thurs. Group, composed of CEOs of major U.S. information technology companies, proposed that by end of decade 100 million homes and small businesses be able to receive 100 Mbps affordable broadband capacity. It also urged that 200 MHz of spectrum be allocated for broadband and that both wireline and wireless networks be interconnected. In report, Building the Foundation of the Networked World: A Vision for 21st Century Wired and Wireless Broadband, CSPP was very specific on its goals but said little about policy and technical decisions needed to build network.

Group didn’t take position on pending legislation such as Bell-friendly bill sponsored by House Commerce Committee Chmn. Tauzin (R-La.) and ranking Democrat Dingell (Mich.), for example. “The discussion today does not get into specific competition policy,” Motorola CEO Christopher Galvin said. “We are attempting to define a broad national policy - - a stake in the ground for what needs to be done by the end of the decade.” Other CEOs participating in press event included Dell’s Michael Dell, Intel’s Craig Barret and NCR CEO Lars Nyberg.

CEOs are pursuing self-interest in part because widespread high-speed Internet access would encourage new applications that could revive flagging computer industry. Galvin compared current PC doldrums to period in early 1990s when market last stagnated. “PCs were bogged down with a few applications such as word processing and Visicalc. Then came the Internet and Netscape and with it a whole new growth spurt,” he said. Barrett said “the Internet’s first lap brought the prosperity of the 1990s. The 2nd lap is broadband.” Nyberg said benefit of next-generation broadband infrastructure extended beyond information technology companies and universal broadband “gives every industry the ability to fundamentally change the way they operate and to create new industries.” It’s a message he said was well received this week by Administration and Congress.

In report, group made 4 recommendations toward goal of next-generation Internet: (1) Administration should work with President’s Council of Advisers on Science & Technology to develop recommendations by end of 2002 for 10-year policy for U.S. wired and wireless infrastructure. Toward its 100 Mbps goal at decade end, CSPP specifically recommended that by end of 2003 80% of U.S. homes be able to receive at least 1.5 Mbps capacity and 50% receive 6 Mbps from at least 2 providers. It said U.S. should make available to marketplace 120 MHz of spectrum by 2004 followed by another 80 MHz by 2010, “to be harmonized with global spectrum to maximum extent possible.”

(2) Regulatory reform should include FCC review of current unbundling and price regulations for last-mile broadband facilities and service. State and local govt. should review building and road codes to allow new “trenching” techniques where possible to reduce cost of fiber installations. Galvin said “new methods of laying fiber that are allowed in Europe are not allowed here.” CSPP recommended Administration in next 6 months establish interagency spectrum policy group with authority to coordinate among agencies that manage spectrum and set long- term goals. New policy group would work with NTIA, FCC and Dept. of Defense to inventory all spectrum bands and “evaluate the current intensity of spectrum usage” within respective jurisdictions. Spectrum management plan would be developed by end of 2003, report said.

(3) Support for R&D should come from both public and private sectors with investments in applications that would “lead to increased demand for next-generation products, necessitating a robust infrastructure.” R&D spending also should boost speed, mobility and security of new networks. (4) CSPP tasked private industry with large role in driving development of next-generation networks. It said PC and data service industries must make their products easier to use, develop richer content “that exceeds consumer expectations and drives demand,” be responsive to govt. partnerships. Industry must strengthen security of networks to boost customer confidence and motivate “marketplace to more quickly adopt new technologies,” report said.

In response to “chicken-and-egg” question that bedevils most broadband discussions, CSPP said it believed new higher speed network would create new types of applications that would draw users to network. “When the national highway system was proposed in the 1950s, the application we know as Holiday Inn was unimagined,” Galvin said. Nyberg said that in today’s Internet where most users have 56 kbps connection, task of downloading entire DVD movie would take 13 days: “With the proposed next-generation network that would take 10 minutes. This is a difference a consumer can understand.” Report said that with ability to download, and possibly pirate, entire movie in minutes “high-tech industry leaders must commit to resolving copyright issues.” It recommended continued efforts of Copyright Protection Working Group to develop digital right management strategy.

In question later, CSPP acknowledged its report closely resembled recommendations last week by Silicon Valley advocacy group TechNet and said it had met with that group. Barrett said reports were well-aligned and ideas had “growing momentum and consensus.” Major difference in recommendations is that CSPP spent “more time on wireless,” he said: “The wireless and wired world need to be an integrated whole in the next-generation network.”