CIAO DATE: 01/02

Residential Access to Bandwidth: Exploring New Paradigms

Abstract

The enlightenment in the Middle Ages was facilitated by the printing press, which reduced the cost of information and broadened citizens' access to knowledge. Likewise, the success or failure of the twentieth century's digital renaissance largely depends on the ubiquitous deployment of broadband services to the home. Until American households gain widespread access to broadband services at affordable prices, we cannot fully reap the benefits heralded by the information revolution.

In this context, the Aspen Institute convened the Thirteenth Annual Aspen Institute Conference on Telecommunications Policy, August 9-13, 1998, in Aspen, Colorado, to discuss, "Residential Access to Bandwidth." At this conference, participants reached near consensus that the ubiquitous deployment of residential broadband services is both normatively desirable and economically feasible. They identified the current regulatory regime as one of the biggest barriers to the realization of this public policy objective and offered solutions to promote broadband to the home within the current regulatory structure. Likewise, they suggested a new regulatory paradigm. In suggesting regulatory reform, participants offered recommendations to bring the telephone-based universal service tradition into the broadband future.

Residential Access to Bandwidth: Exploring New Paradigms (PDF File)