How to Give the U.S. Ultrafast Internet

Jan. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Julius Genachowski, chairman of theFederal Communications Commission, made an important speech lastweek calling for at least one “gigabit city” in all 50 states by2015. For the U.S. to maintain its leadership in innovation, hesaid, a critical mass of communities must have networks capableof ultrahigh Internet-access speeds.

The U.S. lags far behind Japan, South Korea, Sweden,Australia and many other developed countries that have madeultrafast networks a priority. Unless we act, new ideas forusing such networks will come from those countries -- not theU.S. As Genachowski said, “Ensuring the U.S. has a strategicbandwidth advantage -- ultrafast, high-capacity, ubiquitousbroadband -- is critical to our global competitiveness.”