New Survey Finds Gaps in U.S. Broadband

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Map) - NAPERVILLE, Ill., March 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sixty-five million Americans depend on broadband services for work, education, entertainment and communications. But too many other Americans have no access to broadband services, according to a new telecom industry survey.

Aggravating the country's broadband gap is the current Federal Communications Commission (FCC) definition of broadband, 200 kilobits per second. At that rate, it takes longer to download a movie than to watch it. The survey, commissioned by Tellabs, reflects responses from 451 readers of leading U.S. telecom publications.

Expanding broadband availability

Respondents strongly support expanding broadband availability in the United States, especially in under-served rural areas. The lack of broadband availability, whether due to geographic or economic reasons, hurts productivity.

"I find this survey of the telecom industry's perspective stimulating and insightful," said Ron Westfall, research director at Current Analysis. "A more accurate definition of what broadband is only helps elevate the debate and better frames the serious challenges we face. And whatever industry solution is eventually worked out, it's obvious the telecom industry will have a central role to play in further expanding access and the services that run over broadband access."

Redefining broadband

Industry professionals called for a new definition of broadband. An overwhelming 94% of respondents said that the current FCC definition of broadband does not deliver a true broadband experience. In fact, 84% of respondents feel that a better definition of broadband is a service that can deliver high-quality streaming video.

Broadband plays a critical role in U.S. productivity, innovation and economic growth. The United States ranks 15th globally in broadband penetration measured against population, according to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

"We already have the technology and the business infrastructure to take America's broadband capabilities into the next generation and make this country the world leader in the provisioning of ultra high bandwidth services," said Joe Savage, president of the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) Council. "Indeed, the deployment of these services is already under way, with more than 2.5 million American homes now connected directly into high speed fiber networks. But we need to ensure that national, state and local policies encourage, and do not inhibit, every community's progress toward the high bandwidth future that is so important to our economic competitiveness."

"Broadband is crucial for keeping America competitive educationally and economically," said Dan Kelly, executive vice president for global products for Tellabs. "There's no reason why the United States should trail other countries when it comes to broadband penetration. Our industry sees the clear need to expand broadband availability for all Americans."

About Tellabs

Tellabs advances telecommunications networks to meet the evolving needs of users. Solutions from Tellabs enable service providers to deliver high-quality voice, video and data services over wireline and wireless networks around the world. Tellabs (Nasdaq: TLAB) is part of the NASDAQ-100 Index, NASDAQ Global Select Market, Ocean Tomo 300(TM) Patent Index and the S&P 500. http://www.tellabs.com

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