INTERNET UPGRADE FOR ECONOMIC STIMULUS

As a sustainable investment in the American people, the infrastructure rebuilding aspect of the Economic Stimulus Plan must include an upgrade of our countries existing internet infrastructure. It is well documented that the average broadband speed in the U.S. suffers greatly in comparison to that of other countries. In 2008, the U.S. was ranked 15th in the world by the Information Technology and Information Foundation (http://www.itif.com) in its broadband ranking. The rankings report can be found at: http://www.itif.org/index.php?id=143.

It is investing in human resources that will bring the country back around. This investment, through individual empowerment, is a primary tenant in the present and future successes of the Obama-Biden campaign and administration. As the campaign proved readily aware, the internet is a most effective tool for such empowerment. This efficacy is evident not only in the web's networking power, but in it's availability as an information source that circumvents commercial media sources and provides individuals with a device for self-publish and self-promotion. The ITIF rankings show that the US average broadband speed (4.9 Mbps) is almost half the average of developed countries (9.2), while the leader, South Korea, provides ten times the US speed. The US government must work to reduce these discrepancies in order to educate and empower its people in this new century and to successfully compete in future global markets. This is the moment for us to benefit from such an upgrade as part of the plan to reemerge from economic crisis.