[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13729]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         BENEFITS OF BROADBAND

  (Mr. LANGEVIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, we all know the Internet is a powerful 
tool. It makes distance and location irrelevant. It evens the playing 
field between small and large businesses and increases worker 
productivity.
  The next revolution is broadband. We will be able to do so much and 
do it more efficiently. But we can only do it if we have the 
infrastructure to do it with. The FCC ruled in February that DSL, 
telephone company-provided broadband connections, should not be subject 
to certain rules imposed on local voice telephone networks. This is a 
good beginning and it should start some companies on the road to more 
broadband deployment. Verizon, the largest phone company in my State, 
plans to make broadband available to 10 million more residences and 
small businesses nationwide in 2003 alone.
  The problem is that the FCC has not issued its February order. That 
order will detail the new rules that companies know how broadband will 
be regulated and guides investment decisions. Until it is released, 
however, these companies cannot move forward. I urge the FCC to issue 
its order as quickly as possible so that millions of Americans can 
begin to experience the new opportunities that broadband will provide.

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