High-tech CEOs pitch broadband plan to Cheney

Andy Sullivan

WASHINGTON: A group of high-tech executives asked senior government officials

on Thursday to help beef up the nation's high-speed Internet infrastructure,

echoing recent efforts by other high-tech lobbying groups.

Chief executives of Intel Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Motorola Inc. and NCR

Corp. told reporters they had met with Vice President Dick Cheney, House Speaker

Dennis Hastert, and several other government officials to pitch their long-term

plan to wire more homes with high-speed Internet connections.

The executives want the US government to help by easing regulations that slow

broadband construction efforts, making more wavelength available for wireless

Internet systems, and encouraging more research and development efforts.

The group, which calls itself the Computer Systems Policy Project, said

government officials had reacted favorably to their proposal. "We believe

there is strong commitment at the highest levels of government," said

Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell Computer.

A spokeswoman for Cheney did not return calls.

High-speed, or "broadband," connections of up to 100 megabits per

second allow consumers to download a feature-length movie in 10 minutes rather

than the 13 days it would take over a standard dial-up connection of 56 kilobits

per second.

Currently 10 million or so US homes pay roughly $50 per month for much slower

broadband connections that range between 256 kilobits per second and 1.5

megabits, or 1,500 kilobits, per second.

CSPP has set a goal of hooking up 100 million households and small businesses

with superfast 100-megabit connections by the end of the decade, as has a

similar lobbying group that calls itself TechNet. The higher-speed connections

would boost business growth and spur a range of new applications, from movies on

demand to remote medical services, the executives said.

Without a concerted effort, the US could fall behind other countries like

Canada and South Korea that have undertaken national efforts to promote

broadband, they said. Like TechNet, CSPP has not endorsed any of the dozens of

broadband bills that have been introduced in Congress, preferring instead to

focus on what it sees as the bigger picture.

"This is an attempt to declare a broad national policy that is large and

challenging and visionary," said Christopher Galvin, Motorola chairman and

CEO.

Both groups have in particular steered clear of a controversial bill that

pits large local phone companies against long-distance carriers and independent

phone providers. The so-called Tauzin-Dingell bill seeks to lift restrictions on

local phone companies and allow them to enter the market for long-distance data

without allowing rivals to share their local-phone facilities.

(C) Reuters Limited.