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By Eli Evans, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, November 16, 2009 – A working group of the non-profit U.S. Broadband Coalition on Friday released a report in which the group called for the federal government to “play an active role in stimulating adoption and use of advanced broadband connections.” The group, one of six committees of the U.S. Broadband Coalition – which had gathered more than 160 organizations to push for a national broadband strategy – presented its finding at the Federal Communications Commission, after introductory remarks by Blair Levin, director of the FCC’s national broadband plan. The coalition’s leadership spoke very positively about the prospects of inter-industry cooperation and identifying points for possible improvement. But the group generally avoided specifics about what should be done to fix these problems. The FCC’s Levin pointed out, “Our work is about gathering data…we’re not talking about solution sets right now, we’re putting that off until December.” The U.S. Broadband Coalition presented its report on September 24, 2009, but the Adoption and Use Working Group sought further time to collect its thoughts into an extensive 54-page report on the subject. In addition to promoting federal involvement in broadband adoption, the group urged “federal and state support should include programs, grants,...

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By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, September 29, 2009 - Current broadband mapping data is not specific enough in detail to help the Federal Communications Commission produce a national broadband plan, despite recent revisions to agency data-collection practices,  staff members said Tuesday. That assessment came during presentations at the agency’s marathon open meeting, which lasted more than three hours and included presentations from many members of the broadband task force, which is responsible for crafting a strategy by February 2010. The workshoprepresented an opportunity for a "mid-course correction" after numerous open workshops and public meetings - an open process that chairman Julius Genachowski (D) called "unparalleled in FCC history." The most important part of the process is starting by examining the facts already in the record, said Omnibus Broadband Initiative Managing Director Eric Garr. But while Garr welcomed the numerous participants in the process so far, he asked for more information and less rhetoric. "Bring opinions, but also bring your data," he said. Outside data is especially important to the process because the commission lacks needed information, said broadband task force head Blair Levin. "The task we are being asked to do cannot be done with the resources we have," he said. The commission's lack...

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From BroadbandCensus.com Weekly Report

ARLINGTON, Va., September 28, 2009 – Top telecom officials from the Obama administration said that better broadband data, and greater transparency about the operations of government, were two of the key technology policy priorities factoring into the FCC's, and the government’s, approach to technology. Speaking at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference on Friday, these officials – including the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the leader of the broadband task force at the Federal Communications Commission, and the deputy chief technology officer – highlighted the need for better data on an ongoing basis.

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[private_yearly]“It is really hard to answer certain basic questions about broadband; it is kind of a challenge,” said Blair Levin, executive director of the omnibus broadband initiative at the FCC. “Let’s not bemoan us, we should fix it – the only caveat is, do not believe that the collection of data is free.” Levin said that the need to monitor and track broadband superseded the demands of the federal government’s $7.2 broadband stimulus program in that collecting and analyzing data could “really inform policy” going forward. “The broadband plan does not end, but...

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By Christopher Naoum, Special Correspondent, BroadbandCensus.com

ARLINGTON, Va., September 28, 2009 – “Beer and Broadband Mapping” was the informal name appended to a spirited and lively discussion that capped the first day of the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference here at George Mason School of Law on Friday, September 25. Blair Levin, executive director of the Federal Communication Commission’s Omnibus Broadband Initiative and a keynote panelist at the Friday evening event, joked that the real intelligence among those academics would be among those spending their Friday night talking about broadband data. The discussion, which was sponsored by The Benton Foundation, BroadbandCensus.com and the New America Foundation, began at around 8:30 p.m., and lasted for nearly an hour and a half. Many notable academics from TPRC, and from the Obama administration, attended the session. Charles Benton, chairman of the Benton Foundation, began the discussion by noting the importance of broadband data disclosure, which he had emphasized in his opening statement at the U.S. Broadband Coalition on Thursday, September 24. Drew Clark, executive director of BroadbandCensus.com, followed by presenting the company’s public and transparent map of Columbia, South Carolina, that shows broadband speeds, technologies, and providers It is available at BroadbandCensusMaps.com. Clark referenced the major change...

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Editor’s Note: BroadbandCensus.com will be co-hosting a special session, with the Benton Foundation and the New America Foundation, on “The State of Broadband Data & Mapping,” immediately following dinner on Friday night at Telecommunications Policy Research Conference. See below for details. Information and Registration for TPRC.

By Rahul Gaitonde, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, September 25, 2009 - The annual Telecommunications Policy Research Conference, a must-attend event for academics focused on broadband-related topics, begins at Friday at 2 p.m. ET at Geoge Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Va. The conference continues on Saturday and Sunday, and is likely to be particularly noteworthy this year. With the recent broadband stimulus plans, including grants for broadband, increased funding for health information technology, and the national broadband plan being developed by the Federal Communications Commission, the academic community will have the opportunity to weigh into these debates. This conference, the 37th Annual Research Conference, is broken down into four distinct subtopics: Network Competition and Broadband Policy, Next Generation Internet and its Management, Spectrum Policy and Wireless Applications, Universal Access and ICT for Development, and Media, Digital Rights and Privacy/Security. The Network Competition and Broadband Policy sessions revolve around how broadband policy differentiates globally. One noteworthy session...

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For Immediate Release

Editor's Note: This press release, issued earlier this evening, is reprinted here as a public service by BroadbandCensus.com. Broadband Census Data LLC is a memer of the U.S. Broadband Coalition, and Executive Director Drew Clark serves as co-chair of the Metrics Working Group, with Rob Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. For more information about the news and data operations of BroadbandCensus.com, please see below. WASHINGTON, September 23, 2009 – The U.S. Broadband Coalition, an unprecedented coalition of more than 160 organizations pressing for a comprehensive national broadband strategy, announced the release of its report at the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday, September 24, 2009. The non-profit coalition includes large and small communications providers of all kinds, high technology companies, manufacturers, labor unions, educational institutions, utilities, consumer groups, public interest organizations, units of state and local government, and many other stakeholders committed to advancing America’s broadband future. The “Report of the U.S. Broadband Coalition on a National Broadband Strategy,” to be released at 9 a.m. in the main commission meeting room of the FCC, is the culmination of more than 18 months’ of effort to coalesce a wide variety of views into a single document. The report...

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By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, September 3, 2009 – Federal Communications Commission broadband czar Blair Levin dismissed critics of the commission's process in creating a national broadband strategy and promised a steady push forward with clear goals in mind. Levin spoke on Wednesday to a group of telecommunications attorneys and executives in downtown Washington. Levin said he was puzzled as to the poor quality of the filings the commission received in July in response to the FCC's first notice of inquiry on plans for a national broadband strategy. To those who questioned the need for the filings and assumed Levin and agency Chairman Julius Genachowski had already predetermined the course of the broadband plan, he asked rhetorically,  "if I know what I want to do [on broadband], why am I here?" There is no "secret plan," nor "multiple choice" option that the commission will choose from, Levin cautioned. "It doesn't work like that," he said. Complicating the problem is a lack of good data on broadband availability nationwide. The U.S.'s mapping data "doesn't add up" enough to be useful, he said. The workshops the commission has been conducting are to allow staff to take ownership of parts of the plan and narrow down...

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By Tina Nguyen, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, August 5, 2009 —The FCC will cast a wide net in crafting a national broadband plan,  Chairman Julius Genachowski told staff Wednesday during an "all-hands" open meeting in preparation for the first of several  workshops on use cases for crafting the plan. The commission is “looking for everyone’s ideas,” Genachowski said - and that the agency would seek input not only from within, but from as diverse a range of opinion as to include users of the Second Life online community. The FCC "town hall" meetings will be simulcast in Second Life, he confirmed. But with the commission facing a deadline of February of next year, Genachowski acknowledged he is well aware that time is short, and with seven months to go there remains much to do, "The plan is unwritten," he admitted in an interview following the meeting. But he is confident the FCC can meet its commitments by  looking for "opportunities to move the plan forward" by any means. Blair Levin, who joined the commission as a "broadband czar," compared the national strategy to the E-Rate program established under the 1996 Telecommunications Act. “There 'ain’t no mountain high enough' to keep us from getting broadband to...

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