USTelecom CEO Outlines What Broadband Means for Consumers, Investment and the U.S. Economy
Release Date: 2008-05-14

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, in an address to The Media Institute, Walter B. McCormick Jr., President and CEO of the United States Telecom Association (USTelecom) outlined the many ways that broadband is changing our lives today. From improved health care, to distance learning, entertainment opportunities and environmental benefits, broadband has made a tremendous impact on consumers, investment and the U.S. economy.

Pointing to the 2008 election, McCormick illustrated how much broadband has changed the debate and participation in the process. “Thanks to broadband, candidates are getting their message out direct and unfiltered and a new generation of Americans is engaging in politics more actively and in greater numbers than we have seen in many years, competing themselves in the marketplace of ideas, participating directly in our democracy in what many are calling the first true 21st century campaign,” McCormick stated. “This greater participation in our democracy is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what broadband makes possible in our lives today. In entertainment, and news, and sports, we see the emergence of a new on-demand environment — content that fits into your individual schedule and your way of life.”

Broadband is also dramatically improving health care monitoring, distance learning, the workplace and the U.S. economy. A recent Connected Nation report found that just a 7% increase in U.S. broadband adoption could create 2.4 million American jobs and generate $134 billion in annual economic stimulus. In addition, today 1 million Americans benefit from remote cardiac monitoring in their homes and in rural Arkansas expectant mothers diagnosed with high-risk pregnancies are connected by broadband with neo-natal specialists hundreds of miles away. In Massachusetts, the broadband-enabled “Be Safe” program connects first-responders with critical information regarding school schematics en route to emergencies.

With nearly 1,400 private companies investing $70 billion dollars this year alone to roll out new and competitive services, McCormick warned against government interference that would chill investment and innovation. “We are just now at the cusp of what broadband can bring into our lives. Rather than regulating broadband, we should work toward expanding it, and the options that consumers have for receiving it.”

“The Internet today is driving tremendous, diverse participation in the democratic process in the absence of government intervention.  By contrast, we are heading into a Summer Olympics in Beijing where we know, as a rule, the government manages the marketplace. It manages the Internet. And there are serious questions of whether journalists and visitors will have unfettered access to the Internet, to unfiltered information, whether the government will allow it.  So, we all appreciate the importance of our country’s commitment to freedom of speech, and our belief that there should be unfettered competition in the marketplace of ideas, and to the approach that the United States has taken with regard to the Internet,” McCormick stated. 

Watch  or  Read  Walter McCormick's speech at the Media Institute