The U.S. Needs A Cohesive National Strategy

"Peter Morici, an economist and a business professor at the University of Maryland, agreed the regulatory environment in the United States needs to be improved. He cited as an example how U.S. communications companies face stifling layers of federal and state regulations." “But he also said the network providers need to get the Internet infrastructure to operate faster instead of worrying about protecting their businesses from competitors.”

“We haven’t gone backward, we’re just not moving forward,” said Morici. “We haven’t adequately built out our competitive technologies, and other countries are moving ahead. Unfortunately, it’s in the hands of cable and telecom companies. They’re not always forward-looking companies.”

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/03/29/BUG41OTHE71.DTL&a amp;type=tech

Almost every other developed country has a cohesive and comprehensive national strategy to stimulate the deployment of high speed broadband by establishing specific goals and policies. In the U.S. there isn’t a systematic or organized plan. The U.S. should develop a systematic plan, because the current policy vacuum threatens America’s ability to maintain leadership in high technology and applications.

The United States, which topped the World Economic Forum’s “networked readiness index” in 2006, slipped to seventh. The study, out Wednesday, largely blamed increased political and corporate interference in the judicial system.

http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8O58PMG0.html

How can the U.S. remain competitive with other economies that have already adopted policies that facilitate job growth, business advancement, and individual achievement through access to information and markets?

www.speedmatters.org.