Former White House Adviser Launches Plan to Bring High Speed Fiber Internet to Entire U.S.
The U.S. urgently needs an Internet that functions well, is accessible to all, and isn’t interfered with by incumbent communications providers, Roosevelt Institute Fellow Susan Crawford said in an interview Thursday. Backed by the institute’s Four Freedoms Center, Crawford, a former ICANN board member and special assistant to President Barack Obama for science, technology and innovation policy, is spearheading a multi-year project to bring high-speed fiber Internet services to the entire country. That means working at the local level to help communities build their own fiber networks, and fighting back on the national level against the major players who control access, she said.
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The Roosevelt Institute has traditionally focused on economic policy, so this is a new direction for it, Crawford said. In addition to the Four Freedoms Center, the institute has a network of independent, student-run think tanks on campuses across the U.S. and a program for post-graduates who want to do policy work, she said. It’s a good place to get the issue of ubiquitous fiber access on the local and national radar screens, she said. The project aims for the “electrification of the 21st century,” she said.
Locally, with the help of the student chapters, the project will push back against the deregulation sought by incumbents, Crawford said. It will help chief information officers, citizens, mayors and others affected by those policies understand that they can commission their own municipal fiber networks, and not have to rely on incumbents, she said. Pressure from the big players has made it extremely difficult in 19 states for cities to roll out fiber networks, she said.
Nationally, the project will try to counter arguments by Verizon and others that their Internet access activities can’t be regulated, Crawford said. Verizon and AT&T control most wireless access, Time Warner and few other cable companies most wired high-speed access, she said. There’s no oversight, and this is happening at a time when the U.S. isn’t expanding wireless access, she said.
As a first step, Crawford will meet with the campus units to ensure they have the resources they need, and find local leaders. She’s on the board of or associated with many players in the space, including the Center for Democracy & Technology, Public Knowledge, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Free Press and the New America Foundation, all of whom will network on the issues, she said.
Crawford said she expects opposition from the incumbents, but that Americans know they need basic, functioning networks that reach everyone. The U.S. did it for electricity and “we will do it for fiber,” she said.