Isn't it time we all had access to high speed broadband?

How fast is fast? Surprisingly, the United States, isn’t the fastest when it comes to something so many of us now consider vital to our personal and professional lives: internet access. Actually, the United States ranks about 15th of all the industrialized countries. So much for the old ‘wisdom’ that everything is newer, better, brighter and shinier here in America.

I’m always impatient with technology, so here’s my Speed Test results:

click on this widget and test your own speed now!So, how does that rank here in Nevada, and the United States, not to mention the rest of the world? A bit better than the state - largely rural. FYI - I’m on AT&T Uverse service. But it’s obviously not nearly good enough. This isn’t how you communicate in a truly first world, cutting-edge country.

Speed matters on the Internet. U.S policies should promote higher Internet speeds and higher capacity networks. The U.S. should adopt policies to get us to 10 megabits per second downstream, 1 megabit per second upstream by 2010, with new benchmarks for succeeding years.

Just as government policies helped bring affordable telephone service to everyone, our policies should ensure that every individual, family, business, and community has access to and can use high-speed Internet at a price they can afford – regardless of their income or geographic location.

To protect free speech we must build high-capacity networks to ensure that all Americans have fast, open access to content on the Internet. There should be no degradation of service or censoring of any lawful content. Reasonable network management is necessary to preserve an effective and open Internet.

Here’s how my speed compares locally and globally:

I still have friends in communities like Mogul and Arrowcreek - part of the Truckee Meadows - that still can’t get broadband and are using either some half-assed cable hookup or even dial-up. Why should that still be true? Click here to see how Nevada stacks up.

Just a thought, but if Governor-Elect, Brian Sandoval really wants to bring cutting edge industry and technology to the state - he won’t do it on the back of Pony Express speed internet. Hmmm. Just one more thing we could set a great example to the nation on … but gee, that would require money, as in actually applying for federal grants, and oh, gosh … maybe raising some targeted taxes like on gaming and mining who’ve seen their day.

Getting our communications infrastructure ‘up to speed’ is a big part of being successful as an economy and a nation in the 21st century, yet we have already fallen far behind. Throwing tax breaks at the wealthy won’t get this fixed. Yacht purchases don’t repair critical infrastructure.

Dynamic government policy, back up by spending some big bucks to remedy a failing system is the only way to do it. To this end, gorups as diverse as the Communications Workers of America, the NAACP and the Sierra Club are teaming up to try and reverse this trend.

America can do better - if we the people insist. Go to www.speedmatters.org for more information.

CWA, FCC, NAACP and Sierra Club to Urge Action on National Broadband Plan  

2010 Speed Matters Report ranking current state-by-state Internet connection speeds to be released –

Event will be streamed live online at http://www.speedmatters.org/2010reportrelease

 (Washington, D.C.) – On Wednesday, December 15, the President of the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) Washington Office and the Chair Emeritus of the Sierra Club will discuss the current state of Internet connection speeds in the United States. New research from CWA’s Speed Matters Campaign will be released showing how poorly the United States fairs against global peers – reaffirming the urgent need to implement the National Broadband Plan to build infrastructure and support affordable access to high-speed Internet across the nation.

In addition, the Vice Chair of the Charles County, Virginia Board of Supervisors—located only 30 miles from Virginia’s capital—will describe the economic challenges facing rural communities with spotty broadband coverage.