Tauke Says Broadband Debate Should Focus on Consumers

Tauke Says Broadband Debate Should Focus on Consumers

A top telecommunications executive today called on industry players and the public policy community to transcend the recent rhetorical excesses of the Net Neutrality debate and return to a genuine discussion of how to make sure that broadband networks have the flexibility to provide the services consumers will need in the future.

Speaking at Pike & Fischer’s “Broadband Policy Summit 2006: Charting the Road,” Tom Tauke, Verizon executive vice president of public affairs, policy and communications, said Verizon and other network providers have made great strides in deploying high-speed fiber-optic networks. But he said there is much left to be done, and that public policy should help, not hinder, broadband deployment.

“The plain truth is that today’s access and backbone networks simply do not have the capacity to deliver all that customers expect,” Tauke said. “Next-generation Web services will require a next-generation architecture. “Building out America’s Internet and broadband infrastructure will require billions more in private capital investment,” he said. “There are also looming policy issues that could advance or hinder broadband’s future.”

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