Broadband Plan Goals Track Steps Taken in Other Countries, GAO Finds

A new GAO report found that broadband availability is similar across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries, including the U.S., but adoption varies more and is influenced by cost, income, computer ownership and other demographic factors. Increasing adoption in the U.S. won’t be easy, but recommendations in the FCC National Broadband Plan are consistent with the approach adopted in a number of other OECD countries, GAO found. The report was prepared at the direction of the leaders of the House Commerce Committee.

OECD countries face very different challenges, GAO said. “For example, in Denmark, which is one of the smallest and most densely populated OECD countries, with an average of 128 people per square kilometer, broadband has been deployed to 99 percent of households,” it said. “Yet in the United States, which is 228 times larger geographically, and 56 times more populous, and which has an average of 32 people per square kilometer, broadband has been deployed to more than 95 percent of households.” For the U.S. to increase its adoption rate just one percent would requiring adding 3 million subscribers, versus 160,000 subscribers in the Netherlands, GAO noted. Geography is an important factor and 7 of the 10 countries with the highest adoption rates are also among the 10 countries with the smallest populations, the report found.

Average broadband speeds vary widely, from 1.352 Mbps in Mexico to 11.717 Mbps in South Korea, the report said. U.S. costs are below the OECD average, GAO said. In the U.S., the average user of high-speed service pays $60.13 a month, compared to the OECD average of $67.43. GAO looked at seven of the 30 countries that form the OECD with an eye on the actions the countries have taken to increase broadband deployment and adoption: Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Sweden, and the U.K.

"All seven selected countries have instituted broadband plans,” GAO said. “Generally, these plans include some mix of short- and long-term goals, action plans, and performance metrics.” All seven have also provided funding for public-private partnerships to deploy broadband infrastructure. Government officials in all seven countries say actions to increase competition “have helped to increase broadband adoption by increasing consumer choice and reducing prices,” GAO said.

Steps taken in the seven countries are consistent with the more than 200 recommendations in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan, GAO said. It warned that implementing the plan will be difficult. “Action will be required by governments at all levels and the private sector to deploy broadband infrastructure to the last 5 percent of households at a reasonable cost and to promote broadband usage and adoption by increasing digital literacy and making broadband services more affordable for certain populations, especially the elderly and the economically disadvantaged,” the report said. “Furthermore, as the Chairman, FCC, has acknowledged, implementing the plan will require obtaining sufficient funding and coordinating the work of multiple federal, state, local, and private entities, among other actions.” It remains to be seen, GAO said, “whether and how effectively federal agencies will be able address these challenges and implement the plan’s recommendations, as well as what the private sector will do to further deployment and adoption."

The GAO report emphasizes the importance of the National Broadband Plan, said committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. “I am encouraged that the FCC’s National Broadband Plan recommendations are consistent with proven initiatives and policies utilized by other countries that, like the United States, strive to be leaders in broadband deployment and usage.” Communications Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher, D-Va., said, “The GAO’s report confirms what the National Broadband Plan suggested: Achieving universal broadband availability and encouraging adoption is a challenge best met by the government and private sector joining forces.”

The report shows that the FCC’s plan doesn’t go far enough, said Derek Turner, Free Press research director. “Unfortunately, as the GAO report illustrates, the pro-competition policies adopted by other countries are far more aggressive than those contained in the FCC’s National Broadband Plan,” he said. “If the FCC wants to get serious about solving our broadband problem, then it must be willing to stand up to the powerful phone and cable broadband duopoly by implementing policies that bring meaningful competition to consumers -- competition that will drive down prices, promote investment and ultimately lead to universal broadband adoption.”

"The GAO report confirms that the National Broadband Plan is not some radical plan for needless government intrusion as some have alleged,” said Public Knowledge Legal Director Harold Feld. “To the contrary, the report underscores that, if anything, the plan was too timid in its failure to address the failure of competition in the United States as compared to actions taken in other developed countries.” The GAO also confirmed the importance of funding government programs such as the Commerce Department’s Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program and the Agriculture Department’s Broadband Initiatives Program, Feld said. “Given the success of similar programs in promoting broadband deployment and adoption in other countries, we would find ourselves at a serious disadvantage globally by failing to re-fund these programs.”

"The U.S. stacks up against other OECD countries quite nicely,” countered Randolph May, president of the Free State Foundation. “What really comes to mind is how the focus of the present FCC on adopting net neutrality mandates -- restrictions that would be much more strict than in Europe -- has been a diversion from tackling the more important matters at hand, such as reforming universal service and implementing spectrum reform.” The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Commerce “has just said it is premature to impose net neutrality regulations because there have been very few incidents,” he said. “If we want to look to Europe, look at BEREC’s statement.”