Bush: Broadband key to health care, education advances

President George Bush today reiterated his goal that broadband should be accessible in "every corner of our country by the year 2007" to enhance educational and health-care services, particularly in rural areas.

Ubiquitous broadband would let colleges offer education to students in their homes, Bush noted in a speech delivered at the American Association of Community Colleges Annual Convention in Minneapolis, Minn. With universal broadband, rural doctors can send X-rays in seconds to an urban hospital and receive a consultation in minutes, while encouraging health care providers to maintain accurate, secure medical records electronically that can be accessed quickly, he said.

"You hear us talk about making sure health care is accessible and affordable," Bush said. "One way to do so is to hook up communities and homes to broadband. It's going to be a really good way for us to make sure the health care system works better and the education system works better."

To make broadband more affordable and accessible, Bush said, "Congress must ban taxes on access"—a particularly timely statement as the Senate prepares to debate a bill that would permanently prohibit taxes on Internet access.

Bush expressed support for FCC Chairman Michael Powell’s efforts to "eliminate burdensome regulations on new broadband networks." In addition, he proposed making it easier for carriers to use federal lands to lay fiber and build transmission towers necessary to deploy broadband, as well as auctioning more spectrum available to wireless providers. He also encouraged the adoption of technical standards for broadband-over-powerline technology, which may be used to deliver broadband to rural locations.

When Bush announced his broadband goal a month ago, critics noted a lack of specifics. While this speech included more detail, Bush again did not define what he meant by "broadband" or whether his use of the word "universal" means he believes some deployments should be subsidized through the universal service fund. Finally, while Bush again said consumers should be able to choose from multiple broadband providers, he did not address whether he believes CLECs are part of the equation.

Bush also failed to address the policy of cable-modem providers to require customers to pay extra fees if they want to choose an Internet service provider other than the cable company, according to Gene Kimmelman, public policy director of Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.

"This policy of allowing cable operators to force consumers to buy their services is absolutely contrary to the president's goal of offering consumers affordable Internet access," Kimmelman said in a prepared statement. "This administration policy produces neither genuine consumer choice nor dynamic innovation, both of which are necessary to ensure affordable access to the Internet for all Americans."

United States Telecom Association President and CEO Walter McCormick expressed support for Bush’s statements, particularly those regarding a ban on taxes of broadband access.

"Permanently shielding Internet access from traditional telecom taxation, which ranks right up there with cigarettes, alcohol and gas taxes, is a bold position with historic implications for the nation and its broadband competitiveness," McCormick said in a prepared statement. "We appreciate the president’s unequivocal stance as the Senate takes up this important debate about the affordability, and thus the accessibility, of broadband services to all Americans."

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who is expected to run against Bush as the Democratic nominee for president, likely will release his broadband policy in the near future, according to several reports.