File:Figure 1- Broadband Technologies and Examples of Applications Performing at Various Speeds (14259459653).jpg

TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Projects and Policies Related to Deploying Broadband in Unserved and Underserved Areas

a) The figure above depicts applications, and the off-site activities they allow, that perform well at given speeds. While it is possible for the applications to perform at speeds lower than those indicated above, that performance is generally at a fair or unacceptable level, and is therefore undesirable for business and residential users. b) Many people telework (also known as telecommuting), which is the ability for an organization’s employees and contractors to perform work from locations other than the organization’s facilities. Most teleworkers use remote access, which is the ability for an organization’s users to access its non-public computing resources from external locations other than the organization’s facilities. National Institute of Standards and Technology, Guide to Enterprise Telework and Remote Access Security, Special Publication 800-46 Revision 1 (Gaithersburg, MD: 2009), page 2-1. c) Distance learning today can take many forms and is defined by federal law and regulation as education that uses one or more specified technologies (e.g., the Internet or audio conferencing) to deliver instruction to students who are separated from the instructor and to support regular and substantive interaction between the students and the instructor. 20 U.S.C. § 1003(7) and 34 C.F.R. § 600.2. d) Telemedicine technologies can allow rural patients to receive, through remote access, medical diagnosis or patient care, often from specialists who are located in urban areas or university hospitals. Increased use of video consultation, remote patient monitoring, and electronic health records enabled by telemedicine technologies hold the promise of improving health care quality, safety, and efficiency. GAO, Telecommunications: FCC’s Performance Management Weaknesses Could Jeopardize Proposed Reforms of the Rural Health Care Program, GAO-11-27 (Washington,