Internet in the United States
The Internet in the United States grew out of the ARPANET, a network sponsored by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense during the 1960s.
[9] Another Pew Research Center survey, results of which were published on February 27, 2014, revealed 68% of American adults connect to the Internet with mobile devices like smartphones or tablet computers.
[46][47][needs update] Unlike in countries such as China, Japan and New Zealand, internet infrastructure such as fibre optic cables, 4G LTE, 5G base stations, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) and satellite networks in the United States are owned by private ISP's as opposed to the state,[48][49] this in conjunction with high concentration of market share among four major players: AT&T (41.4%), Comcast (36.1%), Charter (33.4%) and Verizon (17.4%) as of 2021 allows for the creation of local monopolies whereby providers have little incentive to compete with each other or enter other providers' "territory" in order to fix prices and maintain market share.
[51] Given this, government attempts at funding roll out of infrastructure in rural and under-served areas where no financial incentive exists to for private companies to build any remains slow and costly, since the US government is forced to subsidise private ISP's to construct fibre optic cable networks and other key infrastructure.
[56][57][58] A lack of competition and consumer choice in the broadband provider market has been cited as the primary reason Internet costs can be high and speeds and access can be poor even in urban areas.
[59] Lack of competition has also been attributed to past stringent regulation from federal, state, and local levels, which raises barriers to entry.
[60] Specifically, such criticism has referenced limitations regarding access to and development of the physical infrastructure necessary to broadband, including right-of-way to land and ownership of utility poles.
[61] For rural areas such as the ones the RBA represents, financial returns can be insufficient and thus private actors have little incentive to compete over another in establishing relevant facilities.
The Telecommunications Act of 1996 expanded access rights to pole attachments for ISPs with federal subsidies in an aim to encourage provider participation.
[64] In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission granted a preemption petition requested by local utility boards in North Carolina and Tennessee over the state laws that, as a result of private provider lobbying, had legally prevented municipalities from entering the broadband market.
[65] To reduce costs and expand the market, the FCC has also approved a "Dig Once" policy—a mandate that requires cities to implement broadband conduits during construction of federally-funded roads.
[66] Because the financial price of laying down fiber constitutes such a large portion of deployment costs, measures sympathetic towards this step of entrance make it easier for more actors to invest.
On June 6, 2010, the United States Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia in Comcast Corp. v. FCC ruled that the FCC lacks the authority as an information service, under the ancillary statutory authority of Title One of the Communications Act of 1934, to force Internet service providers to keep their networks open, while employing reasonable network management practices, to all forms of legal content.
As part of this decision, the Commission also refrains (or "forbears") from enforcing provisions of Title II that are not relevant to modern broadband service.
Together Title II and Section 706 support clear rules of the road, providing the certainty needed for innovators and investors, and the competitive choices and freedom demanded by consumers.
Nevertheless, the Internet in the United States is highly regulated, supported by a complex set of legally binding and privately mediated mechanisms.
[82] After a decade and half of ongoing contentious debate over content regulation, the country is still very far from reaching political consensus on the acceptable limits of free speech and the best means of protecting minors and policing illegal activity on the Internet.
It led to the development of the National Information Infrastructure and included funding for a series of projects under the titles National Research and Education Network (NREN) and High-Performance Computing and Communications Initiative which spurred many significant technological developments, such as the Mosaic web browser,[103] and the creation of a high-speed fiber optic computer network.
[105] Universal service is a program dating back to early in the 20th century with a goal to encourage/require the interconnection of telephone networks operated by different providers.
When Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 it provided for the creation of a Universal Service Fund to help meet the challenges and opportunities of the digital information age.
The Universal Service Fund (USF) was established in 1997 by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to implement the goals of the Telecommunications Act.
Under the supervision of the FCC, the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), is responsible for allocating money from the central fund to four programs: High Cost, Low Income, Rural Health Care, and Schools and Libraries (E-rate).
These programs are designed to:[106] Telecommunications companies may, but are not required to, charge their customers a fee to recover the costs of contributing to the Universal Service fund.
The E-Rate provides discounts to K-12 schools and libraries in the United States to reduce the cost of installing and maintaining telecommunications services, Internet access, and internal connections.
[112] Over $417 million has been allocated for the construction of 62 statewide or regional broadband telehealth networks in 42 states and three U.S. territories under the Rural Health Care Pilot Program.
[112] The Rural Utilities Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees several programs designed to bring the benefits of broadband Internet access and advanced telecommunications services to under served areas in the U.S. and its territories: The 2009 Stimulus Bill, as it is commonly termed, was enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on February 17, 2009.
The bill provides funding for broadband grant and loan programs:[119] Internet access has become a vital tool in development and social progress since the start of the 21st century.
[120] For all of these reasons, there were calls for the U.S. to develop, adopt, fund, and implement a National Broadband Plan, which the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) did in March 2010,[121] after first soliciting public comments from April 2009 through February 2010.
[122] The goals of the plan as described on Broadband.gov are:[123] The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States created an urgent need for many households to be connected to the Internet in order to continue work, school, or health care.
