Tech Buzz 06/02

A chicken in every pot. Broadband for every home and business.If the Technology Network (TechNet), a group of senior technologyexecutives, gets its way, that's what we'll be looking atin the not-too-distant future. TechNet is pushing the federalgovernment to adopt a national broadband policy with the goal ofhooking 100 million consumers and growing businesses up to 100Mbpsconnections by 2010. The proposal suggests implementing taxincentives and deregulation to encourage investment in thehigh-speed broadband infrastructure.

But Mark Cooper, director of research at the Consumer Federationof America (CFA), says TechNet is taking the wrong approach."The private sector guys have a failure of creativity,"he says. "They want to spend a lot of tax payers' dollarsto roll this technology out." He suggests that the problem isa lack of compelling applications rather than a lack of broadbandsupply. According to Cooper, 80 percent of U.S. residents haveaccess to broadband, but only 10 percent actually use it.