While U.S. Politicians Argue Over Broadband, Europe Acts

There's been a lot of debate in the House today about the impact of the broadband infrastructure stimulus proposal supported by the Obama administration.

But however you feel about the amount spent on broadband stimulus (right now the price tag is between $6 billion and $9 billion) or how many jobs it would create, here are two inescapable realities: 1) the United States currently is no better than an also-ran in broadband penetration, and 2) European nations aren't sitting still on the issue.

The latest data I could find (and feel free to alert me to fresher numbers), from last June, shows America trailing 14 other nations in broadband penetration per 100 inhabitants. Granted, many of the nations with higher broadband penetration are much smaller and their populations more concentrated, but Canada is ranked No. 10, and it has plenty of sparsely populated areas.

Meanwhile, many of the nations already ahead of the U.S. will be getting more money to increase broadband penetration:

The European Commission says that it is earmarking $1.3 billion (in U.S. dollars)  to achieve 100% high-speed internet coverage for all European citizens by 2010 as part of the European Economic Recovery Plan. On average, 93% of Europeans can enjoy a high speed online connection but in some countries broadband covers less than half of the rural population.

A recent study shows that, assuming a constant adoption rate up to 2015, broadband development will help create around 1 million jobs in Europe and a broadband-related growth of economic activity of $1.1 trillion (US)  between 2006 and 2015.

The impact on European industry is clearly positive: apart from civil work for networks which has a direct impact on local employment, sales of network equipment will also benefit global European suppliers (like Siemens, Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel-Lucent), as well as telecoms or satellite operators. And areas with advanced broadband connections will see an increase in demand for products and services.

We're part of a global economy. It'd be a shame if partisan bickering in Washington resulted in the U.S. falling further behind in broadband. It seems to me that some of the major companies now laying off workers could benefit from the stimulus, and that many out-of-work Americans would welcome the creation of new jobs.