As the Pew Internet and American Life Project recently found, “some 74% of internet users – representing 55% of the adult population – went online in 2008 to get involved in the political process or to get news and information about the election.

The passive infrastructure represents the highest-cost portion of new network investment (often cited as close to 80% of total cost) and this is an area where governments could easily invest and boost competition with minimal market distortion (29).

More than half of respondents said government should be ‘‘wholly’’ or ‘‘very’’ responsible for protecting an individual’s online privacy, according to the survey of more than 1,000 Americans conducted by TRUSTe.

Integrating the installation of high-capacity dark fiber bundles into all Federal-aid and direct Federal highway projects offers the most cost-effective means to bring high-speed fiber connectivity to nearly every community in the nation and create a nationwide fiber infrastructure of unrivaled capacity.

The telecom sector is investing more in the broadband infrastructure than the Federal government is investing in all forms of transportation.

Nearly four in five internet users (78%) have visited government websites to seek information or assistance.

Most Americans expect their government to make information and services available online.

Internet users are much more likely to contact the government than non-users, whether or not they actually used the internet to make that contact.

The U.S. government administers two funds dedicated specifically to broadband deployment through the USDA.