America's communications infrastructure is stuck at a copper wall. For the vast majority of homes, copper wires remain the principal means of getting broadband services. The deployment of fiber optic connections to the home would enable exponentially faster connections, and few dispute that upgrading to more robust infrastructure is essential to America's economic growth. However, the costs of such an upgrade are daunting for private sector firms and even for governments. These facts add up to a public policy challenge.

Last week the New America Foundation's Wireless Future Program released a new working paper proposing a novel idea to solve this problem: consumer-owned fiber connections.    

In Homes with Tails: What if you Could Own your Internet Connection?, New America fellow, Tim Wu and Google Policy Analyst, Derek Slater, proposed a model that encourages consumers to purchase and own the "last-mile" connection that runs into their home. By purchasing their own fiber optic connections, consumers would be able to connect to a variety of service providers. This model holds the potential for higher broadband speeds, greater competition, and lower Internet service prices.

New America also hosted a companion event where the authors discussed their proposal.  Additional speakers included Wireless Future's Research Director, Sascha Meinrath; the President and Founder of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, Robert Atkinson; and Link Hoewing, Assistant Vice President for Internet and Technology Issues at Verizon.

You can download a copy of the paper at:http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/homes_tails

You can watch the authors' presentation at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqRBzjhnLc8&eurl=http://www.newamerica.net/events/2008/homes_tails#t=6m45s

And visit the event page at: http://www.newamerica.net/events/2008/homes_tails

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New America's Wireless Future Program develops and advocates policy proposals aimed at achieving universal and affordable wireless broadband access, expanding public access to the airwaves and updating our nation's communications infrastructure in the digital era. For more information, visit http://www.newamerica.net/programs/wireless_future.

The New America Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy institute that invests in new thinkers and new ideas to address the next generation of challenges facing the United States.  Headquartered in Washington D.C., New America also has offices in California.