“More bandwidth than you can use?� reads a headline in the May 30 issue of Business Week. “Impossible� is my short answer.

Speaking as the head of policy for USTelecom, I chuckled at the part in the article where it questioned whether consumers would ever need 100Mbps of bandwidth! Kind of reminds me of that old Bill Gates quote about no one ever needing a PC with more than 640 KB of RAM. I wonder how many times Mr. Gates has reflected on that comment and smiled to himself.

But as you read further, the article makes strong arguments in favor of juiced-up pipes— citing consumers need for speed as HDTV, online gaming, and video phone calls turn most U.S. households into bandwidth hogs. No argument there.

The article then cites some of the future apps associated with broadband like remotely turning on and off lights and appliances. True, but what about the good stuff?

The conclusion is right – we’ll need a lot more bandwidth going forward – but the vision is somewhat narrow in scope.

There’s no mention of the advances in education, medicine, commerce, government access, security, community and more that the broadband future promises.

What about citizens taking an active role in federal public hearings from the comfort of their own homes via interactive broadband video?

Or the rural farmer with a bad heart getting an interactive examination and consultation with a renowned cardiologist in the next state thanks to telemedicine delivered over broadband pipes?

Or the promising young college student who can’t afford an Ivy League education but who can pose a question to a Harvard professor via distance learning interactive technology?

Think of what advanced video conferencing and document sharing over broadband connections can mean for the environment and workplace flexibility.

The future of broadband is a future full of promise. Sure, that includes streaming on-demand HDTV, but it’s more than entertainment. It’s also a future full of benefits that will better our quality of life, our education, our health, our global competitiveness and our economic development. While everyone is excited about video, the so-called killer app, we shouldn’t lose sight of all the possibilities associated with the broadband future.

Yes, we need more bandwidth, but not just to remotely turn on the stove and download a movie.

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