By Doug Cunningham

Larry Cohen of the Communications Workers of America says it’s vital for the United States to have a focused public policy to build out the technological infrastructure for a 21st century internet. Cohen says it’s key to being economically competitive, but the U.S., he says, is seriously lagging many industrialized democracies in high speed internet.

[Cohen]: “Currently we have no public policy at all in the United States, and all the other large and now smaller economic democracies do have public policy in this area.”

The CWA has a web site - speedmatters,org It detailing its campaign to make dramatic gains in high-speed internet by 2010.

[Cohen]: “They’ve gone years and years ahead of where this country will ever get, unless we develop aggressive policies to take us to the same place.”