Welcome to BroadbandCensus.com

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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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 Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON – September 29, 2009 – From the beginning, BroadbandCensus.com has aimed at providing academics, consumers, government officials and industry with the high-quality data needed about the state of broadband throughout the country. We believe in public and transparent broadband data. Without public and transparent broadband data, each of these constituents are lacking in what they need. It is heartening that the highest levels of the Obama administration see and espouse the virtues of transparency and of a data-driven approach to broadband policy. Again today, it came clear that the FCC now seeks to do that which BroadbandCensus.com has been doing since February 2008 – comparing actual speeds with advertised speeds – on an even more finely grained basis. Now comes the hard part: translating the rhetoric and positive feelings about public and open broadband data into concrete decisions that will drive better-quality broadband data. Last week I began this five-part series during One Web Week. I focused on the Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to obtain broadband data in 2006, and on the founding of BroadbandCensus.com in the fall of 2007. Much has happened on broadband data in the past week: FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski announced a new...

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By Christina Kirchner, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, August 26, 2009 – The Federal Communication Commission’s August 26 workshop on high-speed internet’s impact on job training extolled the virtues of broadband for the delivery of employment services and job training. Whether searching for jobs positions, or online research of employment opportunities, workshop panelists agreed that dial-up service could not be used in this day and age. “The speed of internet helps to improve online classes,” said Heather McKay, the director of innovative training and workforce development at the Rutgers University. “It helps to navigate through the course work they need [on line] and it also helps them submit it faster.” It not only benefits the education realm, but also the job market. Yvette Herrera, senior director education and communications and from the Communications Workers of America, discussed two programs the union has set up to help maintain job security and to help with teaching workers obtainable skills that are needed. “Online programs help workers gain the skills in fields were the technology is changing,” she said. Telecommunications is an example of such field. Even with such programs available, there were still some problems with accessing it for the reasons of lacking computers or lacking high speed internet. McKay said that...

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By Douglas Streeks, Reporter-Researcher, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, July 23, 2009 - Broadband investment, deployment and adoption in the United States will bring significant benefits to the economy, and facilitate business growth and job creation, according to a study commission by the Internet Innovation Alliance, and other groups. According to the July 2009 study, done by Mark Dutz, Jonathan Orszag and Robert Willig of Compass Lexecon, consumers in the U.S. are receiving “more than $30 billion of net benefits from the use of fixed-line broadband at home, with broadband increasingly being perceived as a necessity.” The study, titled “The Substantial Consumer Benefits of Broadband Connectivity for U.S. Households,” [PDF] examined specific ways broadband benefits consumers and it’s overall effect on the economy. The Internet Innovation Alliance is telecom- and technology-industry supported group urging a national broadband policy. According to the study, the benefits to consumers are “on the order of $32 billion per year,” compared to roughly $20 billion in 2005. Based on 2009 survey data, the study estimates that a 10-fold increase in broadband speeds would yield an additional $6 billion a year for existing home broadband users. Further, this data only takes into account the effects of fixed-line internet connections.  “The sizable benefits...

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News | NTIA-RUS Forum | Day 1, Session 1

By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2009 - The detail-oriented open meetings to consider the structure for deploying the federal government's $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funds began on Monday morning with five presentations about which sorts of private-sector entities should be eligible for the grants. Speaking at the Commerce Department's auditorium in a joint meeting of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Agriculture Department's Rural Utilities Service, representatives of the technology industry urged the most liberal interpretation of the federal stimulus legislation's provisions that successful applicants be deemed to be in the "public interest." "We think that the congressional intent is not to preclude anyone from applying," said Grant Seiffert, president of the Telecommunications Industry Association. "I don't think that Congress wanted to exclude anyone." Taking the strictest view of eligibility was Debbie Goldman, telecommunications policy director of the Communications Workers of America. Goldman said that applicants should have "the endorsement of a state or political subdivision"; shall demonstrate financial, technical, managerial and operational qualification; and that the application will "result in sustainable and quality job creation and economic development." Somewhere in between those poles were the positions taken by the telecommunications...

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Commentary

By Drew Clark, Editor and Executive Director, Broadband Census.com

WASHINGTON, February 9, 2009 - In a guest op-ed in Ars Technica, I caution that the broadband infrastructure investments planned as part of the economic stimulus package need transparency if they're to be effective. Follow this link to the article. Or visit the main page of Ars Technica.