A Few Digital Lines

By Carl Ford

I want it to be understood from the beginning that this is not an attack on our new president!  President Obama, if you are reading this, I feel for you as you navigate the hopes of our pluralistic society. This is about my little parochial part of the pluralism you face.

I remained quiet this last month and watched as friends started working for the administration transition team. 

The VON Coalition submitted a document about the boost to the economy that VoIP and broadband investment could provide and claims these investments could create 2.4 million jobs. On Gordon Cook's Cook Report mailing list, we were informed we could impact the future commissions thinking on the USF. The USF is considered a feather in the cap of the people who worked on it in the Clinton Administration, I am afraid. The laurel was not well-treated by the group.

So, I listened intently to the inaugural address for indications of where the federal stimulus funds might go within the industry.

I realized that Roosevelt did not speak of the WPA and the TVA when he did his inaugural address, but I was listening for a priority for the Internet. Here is what I heard: "We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together." Fourth on the list!  And what a list! 

A former Russian leader said jokingly, "politicians are the same all over, they promise to build bridges even where there is no river."  Perhaps "the bridge to nowhere" was on his roadmap. It's easy for politicians to fund a bridge that's tangible and allows everyone to feel like Robert Moses.

And the electric grid! With Al Gore and T-Boone Pickens fighting for the cause, who can argue with that? As a matter of fact, it would be anti-American to not be in favor of energy.

So that brings me to our portion of the pie, and I've got to say, it feels pretty slim. When I heard, "that binds us together," I immediately thought of rural initiatives, which put me back into USF. So while I expect an administration that is Internet and VoIP friendly, I do not expect the gold rush of 1996 to bring new carriers into our world. The economy is too sick for a "Field of Dreams," "if you build it, they will come" mentality. I expect VoIP will find its way as part of bigger initiatives.

On Gordon Cook's list, I advocated that E-Rate was the best part of the USF and should be expanded to enable local integration of wireless services from schools and libraries. I believe that High Cost USF can be pitted against E-Rate to enable local community solutions. It would also allow the industry to support education and telemedicine, which fits into the next line of the Presidents speech, "we will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality."

Given what we heard, I believe this is the best we can hope for at this time.  It does not promise a boom, but it's change we can live with.