This reality – provide access and thrive, hold back technology and stall – presents the possibility of a "double digital divide" – with America outpaced by countries from Sweden to Singapore willing to make substantial investments in broadband infrastructure, while within our own borders, rural and inner city residents are being left behind.

The services available at higher speeds will truly revolutionize and improve our daily lives. Children can download educational video in real time. Adults can train for new jobs from their homes. Complex medical images such as MRIs and x-rays that today take several minutes to download can be transmitted in seconds. Telecommuting, business teleconferencing, and personal communication will all rise to new levels.

The challenge today is extraordinary and is its implications are unmistakable. Too often we talk about a digital divide in the United States as if it were unchangeable, a simple fact of life that some communities will be empowered by technology while others will be left behind. This is a false choice – and we ought to be doing everything in our power as policy makers, working harmoniously with industry, to offer a new choice: every community connected to the new technology, every citizen provided with the tools to make the most of their own talents in the New Economy.

Today most Americans use traditional copper wire technology to connect to the Internet. That's like trying to win the Indianapolis 500 with a go-cart – it's simply not fast enough. Broadband is ten to twenty times faster than copper wire technology. Faster doesn't just mean that web pages will load more quickly or that your e-mail will pop up faster. It means that Americans can take advantage of the new opportunities available on-line, including distance learning, better business-to-business transactions, entertainment, and at-home banking and investments.

Telecommunications companies are deploying advanced networks initially in areas where there are lots of consumers, but are often taking their time to build-out elsewhere, leaving low-income urban and rural areas behind. In Massachusetts alone, of 351 towns, only 164 are wired to receive high-speed DSL Internet service. The cost barriers are staggering – a cable company can lay broadband infrastructure for about $143 per home in densely populated neighborhoods, but in inner city areas it can cost up to $1,000 per home. We need to address this problem in order to ensure that no area is left behind--to ensure that all Americans are able to benefit from our new high-tech economy. Many telecommunications companies legitimately argue that deploying in certain areas makes little sense because the opportunity to recoup the investment is so small. I have joined with several of my colleagues to sponsor bi-partisan legislation that offers an economic incentive to change the equation.

As we work to craft policies that will help grow our economy and raise the standard of living for Americans, we should partner with the private sector to encourage investments in the infrastructure, workforce, and research our country needs to succeed in the 21st century. Facilitating access to broadband Internet access is not a panacea for every challenge before us in the New Economy; significant questions of education reform, workforce development, and technology training must be resolved before mere access to technology will allow full participation for every citizen in the Information Age. But even as we work in a bipartisan way to address those other vital areas of public policy, we must take this absolutely critical first step towards meeting the basic needs of any community--a connection to the New Economy.