The Introduction to the National Broadband Plan describes the
history, challenges and vision for broadband in America: In
every era, America must confront the challenge of connecting our
nation anew. In this era, broadband can be our foundation for
economic growth, job creation, global competitiveness and a
better way of life. In the 1860s, we connected Americans to a
transcontinental railroad that brought cattle from Cheyenne to
the stockyards of Chicago. In the 1930s, we connected Americans
to an electric grid that improved agriculture and brought
industry to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and the Great
Plains of Nebraska. In the 1950s, we connected Americans to an
interstate highway system that fueled jobs on the line in
Detroit and in the warehouse in L.A. Infrastructure networks
unite us as a country, bringing together parents and children,
buyers and sellers, and citizens and government in ways once
unimaginable. Ubiquitous access to infrastructure networks has
continually driven American innovation,