TITLE
Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft a resolution for the City Council's consideration to endorse the five key principles of the Speed Matters initiative.
DISCUSSION
The City of Long Beach 2010 Strategic Plan established Goal T1.1 - Network Technology and Neighborhood Development to create a network of neighborhood communication facilities to provide communication between the City and its citizens, between service providers and service recipients, among neighborhood and business associations, between associations and their members, and between all participants and larger networks (e.g., the internet).
"We can include everyone in the use of high-speed, high-capacity, digital communication by creating a network of neighborhood technology centers located at community centers and other public facilities with communication and information processing facilities. "
While the 2010 Strategic Plan underscored the importance of developing the technology infrastructure to meet our goals for livable neighborhoods, sustainability, economic growth, and government accountability, a recent study entitled "Speed Matters: A Report on Internet Speeds in all 50 States" has raised concerns regarding the effectiveness of governmental policies to promote the use of high speed internet. The report states that speed matters because slow transmission rates limit business productivity or the consumer's ability to access vital services and public educational recourses. However, the median download speed for the 50 states is 1.9 megabits per second (mps) and 1.52 mps in California compared to 61 mps in Japan.
We are requesting the City Council's support of the five key principles of the Speed Matters initiative to advance the technology goals of the 2010 Strategic Plan:
1. Speed and universality matter for Internet access.
2. The U.S. "High Speed" definition is too slow.
3. A national high speed Internet for all policy is critical.
4. The U.S. must preserve an open In...
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