Over the past decade, the telecommunications sector has undergone a vast transformation fueled by rapid technological growth and subsequent evolution of the marketplace. A wide range of new services have become available, offered by a growing list of traditional as well as nontraditional providers. One of the results of this transformation is that the nation's expectations for communications services have also grown. For nearly a century, access to the public switched network through a single wireline connection, enabling voice service, was the standard of communications. Today the desire for simple voice connectivity has been replaced by the demand, on the part of consumers, business, and government, for access to a vast array of multifaceted fixed and mobile services. Consumers are also demanding greater flexibility and may choose to gain access to identical content over a variety of technologies, whether it be a computer, a television, or a mobile telephone. The trend towards sharing information, such as music, movies, or photographs, is also growing, making it necessary to ensure that network upload speeds match download capabilities. These advances require that networks transition into converged next-generation wireline and wireless broadband networks capable of meeting these demands. Much of the policy debate over the evolving telecommunications infrastructure is framed within the context of a "national broadband policy." The issue for policymakers is how to craft a comprehensive broadband strategy that not only addresses broadband availability and adoption problems, but also addresses the long term impacts of next-generation networks on consumer use of the Internet and a regulatory framework that must keep pace with evolving telecommunications technology. Prior to the late 1990s, American homes accessed the Internet at maximum speeds of 56 kilobits per second by dialing up an Internet Service Provider (such as AOL) over the same copper telephone line used for traditional voice service. A relatively small number of businesses and institutions used broadband or high speed connections through the installation of special "dedicated lines" typically provided by their local telephone company. Starting in the late 1990s, cable television companies began offering cable modem broadband service to homes and businesses. This was accompanied by telephone companies beginning to offer DSL (digital subscriber line) service (broadband over existing copper telephone wireline). Figure 1 shows the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC's) tracking of high-speed lines in the United States between December 1999 (the initial broadband deployment data point reported) and December 2007 (the most recent data available). Growth has been steep, rising from 2.8 million high speed lines reported as of December 1999 to 121.2 million lines as of December 31, 2007. Of the 121.2 million high speed lines reported by the FCC, 74.0 million serve residential users. Since the initial deployment of residential broadband in the United States, the primary residential broadband technologies deployed continue to be cable modem and DSL. December 2008 survey data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 57% of Americans have broadband at home. It is estimated that less than 10% of U.S. households have no access to any broadband provider whatsoever (not including satellite). While the broadband adoption or penetration rate stands at close to 60% of U.S. households, broadband availability is much higher, at more than 90% of households. Thus, approximately 30% of households have access to some type of terrestrial (non-satellite) broadband service, but do not choose to subscribe. According to the FCC, possible reasons for the gap between broadband availability and subscribership include the lack of computers in some homes, price of broadband service, lack of content, and the availability of broadband at work. According to Pew, non-broadband users tend to be older, have lower incomes, have trouble using technology, and may not see the relevance of using the Internet to their lives. Between 2007 and 2008, low income Americans (under $20,000 annual income) and African Americans showed no significant growth in home broadband adoption after strong growth in previous years. Pew also found that about one-third of adults without broadband cite price and availability as the reasons why they don't have broadband in their homes, while two-thirds cite reasons such as usability and relevance. Broadband speeds (and prices) are important factors that can determine which technologies are deployed, which applications will be enabled, and how widespread deployment will be. The FCC's fifth and latest "706 report," which is prepared pursuant to section 706 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 to periodically determine whether broadband is being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion, found that, "In the future, we anticipate ever-greater demand for services and applications requiring greater bandwidth over an ever-expanding area." Table 1 shows a compilation by the California Broadband Task Force showing different broadband speed ranges and the applications they make possible. Table 2 shows advertised speed ranges offered by different broadband technologies that are currently commercially available. As part of any discussion over national broadband policy, a distinction is often made by industry and policymakers between "current generation" and "next generation" broadband (commonly referred to as next generation networks or NGN). "Current generation" typically refers to currently deployed cable, DSL, and many wireless systems, while "next generation" refers to dramatically faster download and upload speeds offered by fiber technologies and also potentially by future generations of cable, DSL, and wireless technologies. In general, more sophisticated (and potentially valuable) applications are available with faster download and upload connection speeds. The most recent FCC broadband status report to Congress characterized future advances in broadband networks as follows: At the same time that broadband demand increases, network technology continues to evolve and improve. Previously distinct networks are now converging and overlapping to form competing broadband networks that perform all of the network applications once only possible by purchasing services from multiple service providers. Competition between broadband platform providers attempting to keep up with their competitors will drive higher speed technologies and service offerings to the marketplace. Coverage too will continue to become more ubiquitous as a diversity of technologies mature. Subsequently, as increasingly sophisticated and innovative applications become enabled, the impacts on consumers, the economy, and society become potentially more profound and far-reaching. Businesses and government have always had a stake in ensuring they have reliable communications available for their employees and the Internet has helped extend the reach of those networks. However, having been given a glimpse at the services available to them at work, consumers began to demand similar services for personal use. Just how are consumers using the Internet today? How did the Internet evolve from a government experiment to share computer resources to a consumer "destination"? Access to e-mail, text messages, and social networks have become at least as imperative for a significant number of users as the original intent of the cell phone – voice calls. In the days leading up to and following the 2008 presidential election, the press made much of then-Senator Barack Obama's reliance on his Blackberry. Commentators wondered aloud whether he would become the first "connected President." President Obama initially said that he would reluctantly relinquish his Blackberry upon assuming office due to security concerns, but eventually reached a compromise and will have a new secure Blackberry for his correspondence. President Obama's decision illustrates the extent to which Americans have come to rely on "24-7" access to their information. When her Blackberry alarm goes off, "Tina" – a typical "innovative adopter" of technology products – grabs her Blackberry off the nightstand and, before she's even out of bed, glances at the screen to see what types of messages may have come in during the night: e-mail, "text," or Facebook. After scrolling through her e-mails to see if any urgent work messages have come in (her work voicemail system also sends her an e-mail with the content of any messages), she checks her calendar for the day, which was e-mailed to her overnight, and her friends' most recent Facebook "status updates." Just to make sure she's ready for the day, she checks the weather forecast before heading to the kitchen to get her coffee. Once at work, Tina logs onto her computer and brings up her work e-mail and her Web browser, opening up three windows automatically – her workplace homepage, the Washington Post , and her Gmail. On some days, she may also bring up a Web-based unified "chat" program, such as IMO, and her Facebook page. Flexible work arrangements at her office – which became possible because of greater technology adoption by employees – allow Tina to do some of her work from home. This day, Tina needs to be home for a technician to install a new speaker system throughout her house. Before leaving the office for the day, therefore, Tina needs to decide which project or projects she will "take home" with her. Previously, Tina may have taken home her files on a floppy disk or a flash drive, or perhaps e-mailed her files to herself. Today, however, Tina can work across platforms and locations using "cloud computing" applications, such as Google Docs. After she uploads her documents, she heads home and works for about another two hours on her desktop computer in her home office. When her work is done, she simply saves her work to her Google Docs account and can be assured she will be able to access it again in the morning from the office. Once the work day is over, Tina settles onto her couch for a full evening of mostly online activities: "socializing" with her friends via her ultra-compact "Netbook." Most of Tina's online social communication takes place via her Facebook account, which allows her to chat online with her friends, play Scrabble and other games, and comment on her friends' activities and postings—in fact, communicating with her friends has become a new and richer form of entertainment.