A Short Ride on the Information Superhighway and Politics.

• HISTORIC: 1991: 'Information Superhighway" or the National Infrastructure Initiative (NII) - the rewiring of America with fiber optics, (We link to a discussion from 1991 by Electronic Frontier Foundation, which almost sounds like it could be written in 2008.)
• http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:9xm5nd97HmgJ:www.faqs.org/ftp/rfc/pdf/rfc1259.txt.pdf+Gore+InformationSuperhighway+fiber+optic+1991+NII&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=64&gl=us
• President George W. Bush, Broadband statement, -- Full deployment by 2007. March 26, 2 2004 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040326-9.html
• "Networked Nation: Broadband in America, 2007, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, (NTIA) - "Broadband Success" story.
• http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2008/NetworkedNation_013108.html
• America's Failure to Upgrade Critical Infrastructure links: AT&T, Qwest and Verizon made commitments state by state to upgrade to fiber optics. None of the commitments were completed, though estimated $240 billion collected.
• http://www.newnetworks.com/fiberopticstates.htm

CURRENT:

• Organization for Co-operative Economic Development (OCED), which shows that America has been hovering around 15th in the world in broadband.
• http://www.oecd.org/document/54/0,3343,en_2649_33703_38690102_1_1_1_1,00.html
• French N9UEF Cegetel, offers 100 mbps services for 30 to 60 Euros.
• http://harmonica.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/15/french_ftth_table.jpg
• Hong Kong, symmetrical 100mbps services for $48.50, offer residential customers Gigabit services.
• http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/100Mbps-Symmetrical-4850-87851

Federal Plans:

• "Connected Nation" formerly "Connect Kentucky",
• EDUCAUSE
• Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) Universal Service for the 21st Century Act (S 711).
• FCC' Federal State Joint Board

State Plans

• California
• New York
• Massachusetts

• CONNECT KENTUCKY: CONNECTED NATION
• Public Knowledge outlines just how co-opted the process has become where Democrats and Republicans who should know better are taken in by the hype.
• http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1334
• CONGRESS: Universal Service for the 21st Century Act (S 711); proposal by Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR) "Universal Service for the 21st Century Act (S 711)". $500 million increase to the current Universal Service Fund tax.
• http://www.benton.org/node/5028
• FCC' Federal State Joint Board Raise Universal Service by $300 million.
• Benton Foundation, September 2007)
• http://www.benton.org/node/8969
• EDUCAUSE "A Blueprint for Big Broadband" by EDUCAUSE
• http://www.educause.edu/PressReleases/1176&ID=1544

State Actions

• New York. Governor Spitzer's of New York state plan:
• http://www.oft.state.ny.us/oft/UniversalBroadband/overview.htm
• California: Governor Schwarzenegger of California released a new report . "The State of Connectivity Final Report of the California Broadband Task Force", January 2008
• http://www.calink.ca.gov/taskforcereport/
• Massachusetts Governor Patrick unveils plan for $25 million Broadband Incentive
• http://www.mtpc.org/broadband/index.html