Wednesday, November 18th, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 18, 2009 - The opening speaker of a summit focused on improving broadband penetration to minority and low-income areas of the country, and criticized advocates of Net neutrality for being out of touch with the needs of minorities as he attempted to enlist the mantle civil rights leader Martin Luther King into his cause.
“[L]et us remember the worlds of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., ‘All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face-to-face with another problem,’” said Julius Hollis, the founder of the Alliance for Digital Equality, in prepared remarks.
“If we fail to find common-ground on the issues before the U.S. Federal Communications Commission relative to the rulemaking governing broadband adoption, the financing of broadband infrastructure and the over-arching issue of net neutrality, the long-term socio-economic chaos that will be inflicted upon our society would be far too devastating to comprehend,” warned Hollis.
Hollis delivered his remarks Wednesday during his group’s 2009 Minority Broadband Summit, which was held at the Newseum with roses on the table and a view of the Washington skyline.
Hollis dove into the issue of Net neutrality or whether the FCC should step in and regulate internet access...
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Thursday, November 5th, 2009
By Christina Kirchner, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com
October 6, 2009 - The Federal Communication Commission hosted a “field hearing” in Charleston, S.C., on October 6, 2009, as part of as part of its series of workshops and testimony in preparing a national broadband plan. One panel at the hearing focused on expanding digital literacy to the elderly, and to those whose professions rely heavily on the Internet.
Finding ways to help mend the health care system was also on the agenda. Having seamless medical care would be ideal for older populations, said Otha Meadows, CEO of Trident Area Agency on Aging. It would be beneficial to have a patient’s medical records travel from one state to facilitated specialized health care.
Doing so would also provide better statistics and vital signs taken from the patient through broadband from the comfort of their own home, and not at the doctor’s office.
However, telemedicine is not the only aspect of society that has affected by the advances of broadband.
Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps highlighted the fact that, as he said, “75 percent of Fortune 500 Companies hire their employees off the web.” Such a development might be beneficial from the perspective of reducing printing costs, but Copps said...
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Monday, October 5th, 2009
The Federal Communications Commission is going to South Carolina on Monday, October 5, and Tuesday, October 6. Today, Today, the FCC hosts a consumer forum on broadband at Ravenel Community Hall in Ravenal, S.C., from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The forum, according to the FCC, the event “is designed to provide an open dialogue between consumers and government officials in order to develop a more comprehensive and inclusive National Broadband Plan.”
On Wednesday morning, the FCC will hold a field hearing on broadband adoption, headlined by FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, who hails from South Carolina, and Michael Copps, who worked for former Sen. Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, S.C.
And on Wednesday afternoon, how broadband has enabled the Medical University of South Carolina to serve rural areas through telemedicine will be among the points of discussion in an event at the university with Clyburn and Copps. The officials are scheduled to describe the research institution’s support for advanced stroke treatment services, prenatal care and other health care services for women that have been made possible via broadband networks. MUSC is part of the Palmetto State Providers Network, which connects four rural and underserved regions to a fiber optic backbone being developed in the...
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