ITIF Forum Says Telecom to Play Bigger Role in Election
The two major-party presidential candidates agree on broad telecom goals but differ on solutions, according to a report released Wednesday at an Information Technology and Innovation Foundation forum. The 2008 election focuses more on technology policy than in 2004, but candidates could benefit by being clearer about policy, the report said. U.S. technology research and development investments are decelerating, it said.
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The candidates’ positions overlap on broadband access and wireless spectrum, according to the report. Both candidates support private investment to speed buildout of broadband infrastructure, the report said. Each proposed a more efficient use of white space wireless spectrum, it said. But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., backs a white-space auction. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., wants a “review of spectrum usage” and incentives for “smarter use of government spectrum.”
The candidates differ on network-neutrality, the Universal Service Fund and media ownership diversity, the report said. McCain opposes network neutrality legislation, endorsing a regulatory regime that doesn’t draw boundaries between broadcast and cable and perhaps even the Internet. Obama, a network neutrality backer, supports that principle as a way to ensure people’s unfiltered access to the “true facts” important to them, the report said.
A McCain Administration would ban new taxes on cell phone usage and require cable companies to offer channels a la carte. Obama’s campaign has stated no position on either topic.
Both campaigns increasingly see broadband and telecom as key to growth, ITIF analyst Stephen Ezell and President Rob Atkinson said at the forum. The next president must make broadband Internet access and reasonable prices a focus of his technology policy, they said.
Also at the forum, Ezell said the U.S. is falling behind other countries in technology R&D spending. Total investment in R&D as a share of GDP has fallen since 2005, largely due to declining public R&D support, he said. Panelist Clyde Prestowitz, once counsel to the Secretary of Commerce, said the U.S. continues to lead in science and technology despite trends that suggest its lead is deteriorating.