Broadband for all need not be impossible At the Broadband Summit in October in Washington I felt a seething coming on. No one had a clue as to how/where we should go. Many questions were asked and turf defended. FCC Chairman Powell and the commissioners will go along with any reasonable solution. For the people The defined goal of Government (the people) is to enable broadband to/from every person in America. Broadband is defined by a few as more than 56k. The FCC says it's more than 200k. Others say it's got to be 10 or 100 times that. Information at the summit compared costs. Full-plate, do-it-right was estimated at $100 billion to convert the existing telephone system to be broadband-capable. Competition would continue by selling bandwidth on demand. Few wanted to accept the concept. Too expensive! Why? Consider there are 280 million people in America. Is the cost rational? Yes. We have the technology to modernize our country. For those who have difficulty doing math with nine zeros, it's about $356 per person. Say $400. This means glass to every NID or dwelling in the country. Additional revenue from old copper to power demux. There should be no obligation to continue DC to the end. All plants not retained would be retired. Hindsight is 20/20 In 1909 there was a marriage between the people (Government) and Ma Bell. In 1982 came the divorce. Child support followed with NECA's creation to manage the pool. Complaints to other judges are ongoing. Now more drastic measures are called for. We must junk the existing telephone system and go broadband. $100 billion. A pittance. We spent more to create the railroad and interstate highway system. Competition exists over it. More to create the Federal Aviation Administration control and guidance system and way more for National Defense! Any solution must incorporate voice. Goodbye conventional telephones. Voice delay (from satellites) is not acceptable. The mandate is fiber to the home. Consider reality Voice is data is data. It could be charged "xx" per megabyte. By the MAC or IP. Lesser charges for bandwidth would result from completive providers. Where voice is demanded on international, per minute charges for hand off would be established. A fixed monthly fee approved jointly by the Congressional and Regulatory branches for each device down linked from a server could be a major revenue return for the local investment. This would enable payment for roaming and distant access to the new Web. A temporary waiver of taxes to enable accumulation of funds prior to construction should also be considered. Plus a state PSC approved monthly fees. NECA might be a good vehicle to disperse funds for high cost areas to any and all providers within the realm of the network. Sufficient funds to carry that pool would continue with revenues from the fee per terminal connected to the network. Every computer with potential access (even if not used) would be required to pay a fee to support the network, even those dedicated to private systems. This money might be derived from a tax on any device with functions capable of IP broadband. Funds would continue to NECA for distribution to the network. RUS and existing loan programs would fund their piece of the network. Existing market sources can handle the balance. Absent availability, dual peering would be mandated. Quality voice requires minimum relays so premium routing codes may be needed. SS7 would go away. The goal of broadband is not easy. It may appear to gore a herd of oxen. But they need not die - just graze on different grass. The national goal demands no less. America has buckled down and done similar - and this is Chairman Powell's goal of merit and character that makes us American. Just do it! Let the work groups commence.   Copyright 2001 by A. W. Brothers and Americas Network magazine. All rights reserved.   © Beehive Telephone Co.