said by manfmmd:argument FOR government funded broadband access:
•22% of Americans do not use the Internet at all. - Broadband won't make a difference in these numbers. 22% don't use broadband because they don't WANT to.
•6% of Americans use dial-up as their main form of home access. Perhaps that's all they need. There was no distinction made between those that have to have dial-up because of a lack of broadband access and those that choose to have dial-up.
•Broadband adoption drops to 40% for homes with an income below $20,000. - Are these the same people that are making a choice to put food on the table and to keep the electricity on instead of buying broadband internet service? If so, good for theM! Perhaps more people making under $20K need to make this choice as well.
•Just 35% of senior citizens (above 65) have a broadband connection. - This too is a red herring. Just because there is a new technology doesn't mean that 100% of a group of people are going to use it. These people are more than likely either happy with what they have (TV, newspaper, telephone, etc,) or they are in some sort of nursing home/hospice care facility.
Some of that 22% that don't use the internet clearly consider it too expensive and at the very least the government should address some of the barriers to entry for potential provider competition.
