November 2009 - Informing Communities: Sustaining democracy in the Digital Age
“In the area of communications today, there is no greater role for public bodies, whether White House, Congress or state and local legislatures, than to invest in the creation of universal broadband access for all Americans - regardless of wealth or age, no matter that they live in rural or urban communities.” That’s a main takeaway of “Informing Communities: Sustaining democracy in the Digital Age,” a report by The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy. In addition to showing how broadband is necessary to promote thorough civic participation in government, the report provides an outstanding perspective on how “information is as vital to the healthy functioning of communities as clean air, safe streets, good schools and public health.”
October 2009 - Broadband Quality Score
A study conducted by the Saïd Business School at Oxford and the University of Oviedo in Spain (and sponsored by Cisco) has ranked South Korea, Japan and Sweden as the countries with the highest quality broadband connections. With more people viewing high-definition video on the Internet, broadband connections need to be faster and better. Read “Broadband Quality Score,” which takes into account the download and upload speeds of Internet connections, along with the latency, or delay, in the hookup.
September 2009 - The Internet and the Recession
It’s no secret the recession has affected the better portion of our nation. And if we haven’t been directly affected, we probably know someone who has been – in a very dramatic way. How are Americans trying to get back on track? A recent Pew Internet & American Life Project study (“The Internet and the Recession”) Pew study shows that the Internet is becoming a necessary, multi-functional tool for people looking to ease their recession burdens.
August 2009 - Ruder Finn Internet Index
In addition to keeping readers up-to-date on the latest stimulus funding news, we’ve been looking at the “so whats” of broadband Internet in order to help communities close the perception gap among non-adopter citizens. The Ruder Finn “Internet Index” sheds new light on exactly why people go online. It’s a more interactive answer to the question, “Broadband - so what?”
July 2009 - Open Access Makes Economic Sense
Once you sit down and try to work out the economics of Fiber-to-the-Home deployment, as Yankee Group Principal Analyst Benoit Felten and Senior Vice President Wally Swain have done, you quickly realize the costs are certainly not trivial and the only assured revenues are in the network. Their analysis shows it makes economic sense to open the network, that acquiring customers (direct or indirect) is a lot more crucial to a network business than reaping high revenues from a subset of customers. Take a look at “Open Access Makes Economic Sense” and read Felten’s guest viewpoint on the topic in the July 2009 issue of the Knight Center of Digital Excellence’s Community Connection.
June 2009 - Dismantling Digital Deregulation: Toward a National Broadband Strategy
We all know the score: When it comes to broadband expansion, the U.S. is being blown out by other nations. Now, a recent Free Press report examining the current state of broadband in the U.S. has come along to show us how deep the deficit really is. Exactly how bad is it now for the nation that invented the Internet? Check out a few numbers from the worldwide “box score” here.
May 2009 - Rural Utilities Service Slammed By Government
Is a key stimulus program meant to bring Internet service to rural America up to the task of spending its $2.5 billion in extra funding effectively? Not according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s inspector general. Rural Utilities Service once took a heavy dose of criticism in 2005 for spotty spending. The government recently gave it another. View the government report here.
April 2009 - The Mobile Difference
According to a Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project study, “The Mobile Difference,” nearly 40 percent Americans have positive and improving attitudes about their mobile communication devices, thereby further immersing themselves into a more robust digital lifestyle. View the study here to discover how mobile Internet access is impacting you.
March 2009 - Rural Broadband at a glance
A new federal study, Rural Broadband at a Glance, suggests broadband Internet access may become a common necessity on par with cars, electricity and cell phones. Yet those in rural America typically have slow dial-up services - which for them, is akin to being left behind in a jalopy on a dirt road. Click here to read more.
February 2009 - Benton Report
The thought of a child being left behind is bad enough. But America being left behind in a flat global economy could have devastating long-term effects on the entire nation.
A landmark report from the Benton Foundation raises that notion with startling findings about how far America is falling behind other industrialized nations in Internet access, capacity and speed. For the Knight Center of Digital Excellence, that is, unfortunately, old news.
The question is: What do we do about it? We urge you to read the full Benton report.
