Bruce Mehlman and Larry Irving, both co-chairmen of a primarily tech firm-backed coalition called the Internet Innovation Alliance and both former heads of the NTIA, have this op-ed piece in today’s Washington Post talking about the “exaflood.” This awkward term refers to the coming deluge of data on the Internet due to the rapid proliferation of broadband connections. (Citing McKinsey data, Mehlman and Irving peg U.S. broadband penetration at 25%, but in truth it’s closer to 50%.)
Here’s the definition of the exaflood:
“Exaflood” stems from the term exabyte, or 1.074 billion gigabytes. Two exabytes equal the total volume of information generated in 1999. The Internet currently handles one exabyte of data every hour. This mushrooming amalgamation of data is pushing the Internet to its limits.
But the exaflood is a good thing, they argue, because it’s ushering in all kinds of innovation, including the massive amounts of video on the Internet. Government policy, however, has to ensure that investment incentives are protected to continue the build-out needed to handle the exaflood.
The formula for encouraging such extraordinary investments is clear: minimize tax and regulatory constraints and maximize competition. Policymakers across the nation have ample opportunity to implement this blueprint right away. They should pass common-sense legislation such as permanently extending the Internet tax moratorium, building broadband-ready public housing, and cutting depreciation schedules for network equipment and infrastructure.
The timing of the op-ed is not a coincidence. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held a hearing Tuesday and the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing yesterday on that evergreen issue, maintaining a moratorium on Internet taxation — the current moratorium expires on November 1. Grant Gross at PC World notes that some Senators are raising that other evergreen issue, namely whether states are getting short-changed by not being allowed to charge taxes on such things as television services sold over IP-based networks.
Aside from that, however, it looks like the moratorium will again be extended, so Mehlman and Irving have little to fear on that key issue.
Cynthia Brumfield at 9:55 AM|Comments(0)
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