Leading High-Tech CEOs Engage Lawmakers on Improving National IT Infrastructure; Call for Wired, Wireless Broadband Deployment

1/24/2002

From: Jennifer Greeson of the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP), 202-585-0243, or Jennifer Jones of Dell, 512-723-3091

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 -- Chief executives from the nation's leading information technology companies brought their case to Washington this week as they met with U.S. policymakers to provide specific recommendations on the development of an advanced wired and wireless information infrastructure that will support the applications of the future.

The executives -- Michael Dell of Dell, Craig Barrett of Intel, Christopher Galvin of Motorola, Lou Gerstner of IBM, Lars Nyberg of NCR and Larry Weinbach of Unisys -- are members of the Computer Systems Policy Project (CSPP), a coalition of CEOs from U.S. computer hardware and systems companies. During meetings with Bush administration officials and members of Congress, the executives discussed the importance of universally available, wired and wireless broadband to future economic development and offered specific recommendations as a starting point for the nation's leaders. Their vision is outlined in a report released today by CSPP, Building the Foundation of the Networked World: A Vision for 21st Century Wired and Wireless Broadband. Both the report and an archived webcast of the event are available at www.cspp.org.

"The information technology industry is united in its call for a national vision and action on broadband deployment," said Michael Dell, chairman and chief executive officer of Dell and chair of CSPP. "The promise of the Networked World -- where everything and everyone is connected at all times through technology -- has the potential to touch all aspects of Americans' daily lives. As industry leaders, we call on policymakers to recognize the importance of a robust, secure information infrastructure to our nation's prosperity and ask them to work with industry to make it a reality."

CSPP defines broadband as high-speed Internet access that is provided by both wired and wireless technologies. As such, the group examined deployment options such as digital subscriber lines (DSL), fiber, and cable modems, as well as spectrum, and found that the U.S. is at a crossroads in its development of the critical infrastructure to support future applications.

"Rapid deployment of broadband network technologies will enable the full realization of the Networked World, revolutionizing the way society approaches real world problems," said Lars Nyberg, CEO of NCR and co-chair of the CSPP Networked World Committee. "The Internet as we know it today and the associated infrastructure are simply not robust enough."

CSPP also finds that a number of factors are thwarting continued development of advanced broadband technologies including a slowdown in consumer and business demand, decreased access to funding, and the lack of a strategic, national vision by U.S. government on the build-out of the Networked World infrastructure.

Many foreign countries are surpassing the United States by aggressively promoting broadband deployment through carefully crafted national policies. According to a recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. ranked fourth worldwide -- behind Korea, Canada and Sweden -- in the adoption of high-speed Internet access, and is falling further behind every day.

Given these challenges, the CSPP CEOs urged U.S. policymakers this week to look beyond the current debate over deployment of first-generation broadband technology and to set ambitious, long-term national goals for the infrastructure's speed and mobility.

"Building speed and mobility into the foundation of the Networked World is critical to achieving these national goals," said Chris Galvin, CEO of Motorola and co-chair of CSPP's Networked World Committee. "A next-generation broadband platform that includes both wired and wireless applications will help stimulate investment, create new jobs, and respond to the current need for economic growth and increased security."

CSPP proposes that:

-- By year-end 2003, 80 percent of U.S. homes should be able to get at least 1.5 Mbps broadband capacity and 50 percent of U.S. homes should be able to get 6 Mbps from at least two providers. By the end of the decade, 100 million homes and small businesses should be able to get up to 100 Mbps affordable broadband capacity.

-- The U.S. make available in the marketplace 120 MHz of spectrum by 2004, with another 80 MHz made available by 2010, to be harmonized with global spectrum use to the maximum extent possible. The U.S. should implement a process to make additional licensed and unlicensed spectrum available beyond 2010 in a way that is consistent with an effective, long-term vision for its management, the organization says.

To accomplish these goals, the members of CSPP urged lawmakers to adopt a bold national vision for the 21st century infrastructure and called on all levels of government to take steps to eliminate barriers to advanced broadband deployment. The industry leaders also spoke of the need for a further commitment to research and development, and pledged to promote industry action on addressing technical issues, creating richer content and encouraging consumer confidence in technology products.

"If America can move quickly on the ambitious goals in our CSPP report, this country will see quantifiable improvements in homeland security through greater decentralization and increased economic growth that will touch all levels of our society," said Craig Barrett, chief executive officer of Intel Corporation.

CSPP cites in its report examples of how advanced applications will impact business, government, education and health care. For instance, the current time required to download ten MRI results to a remote location via the standard 56K dial-up modem used today takes almost 40 hours. Over a fast Ethernet (100Mbps) connection, the same task takes only 1.3 minutes.

"CSPP's member companies believe in the promise of these advanced technologies. Realizing the enormous potential of this emerging age will require bold vision and leadership. CSPP stands ready to work with policymakers and the business community to fully capitalize on the new ways of living and working enabled by the Networked World," said Dell.