Broadband Properties '08: FCC--Bandwidth doubling every two years

FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate spoke on the last day of the Broadband Properties conference. She had some interesting statistics that should give pause to anyone who thinks that DSL and cable modem broadband services are "good enough." Commissioner Tate noted that:

• Demand for bandwidth has been doubling every two years for the last ten years.
• By 2015 (just seven years from now), the FCC thinks bandwidth requirements will be fifty times (50x) what they are today.
• In Japan, where they have had 100 megabit connections to homes and businesses available for several years, they are already observing congestion--meaning 100 megabit pipes are already filling up.
• Americans are watching more than 10 billion videos per month over the Internet.

Tate went on to enumerate that choice was important to buyers of telecom services, and she listed that choice should be available for services, for providers, and for equipment.