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News

By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, December 2 – A total of 55 companies and non-profit organizations, including major corporate entities such as AT&T, Cisco Systems, Google, Intel and Verizon Communications, have signed on to a “call to action for a national broadband strategy.” The document has been crafted by a wide range of parties over the past year under the stewardship of James Baller, senior principal of the Baller Herbst Law Group, and the final version was released late Monday. Verizon was a last-minute addition to the group of signatories, having joined the list in between the first and the second public versions e-mailed by Baller. Among the major trade groups that signed on to the “call to action” were the wireless association CTIA, the Telecommunications Industry Association, and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, the Utilities Telecom Council, and the Wireless Communications Associations International Among the major non-profit groups include American Library Association, Communications Workers of America, EDUCAUSE, Free Press, OneEconomy, Connected Nation, Internet2, Media Access Project, the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors, the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge. BroadbandCensus.com is also a signatory to the “call to action.” Baller released the final version in anticipation of a 10 a.m....

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Broadband Census North Carolina

By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

This is the eighth of a series of articles surveying the state of broadband, and broadband data, within each of the United States. Among the next profiles: Colorado, California and Missouri. August 22 – In taking an inventory of North Carolina’s broadband assets, and in its push to stimulate high-speed internet investment and adoption, the e-NC Authority is arguably the most advanced effort of its kind in the nation. Long before the current wave of interest in broadband data, North Carolina state officials were at the forefront of mapping out broadband availability; aggregating demand; educating the public about the benefits of broadband; fostering local “e-champions;” and providing hands-on training and access to low-cost hardware, software and technical support. Now, the state is attempting to push forward further, by encouraging significantly faster connection speeds than are currently generally available in North Carolina, or throughout the country. In a report commissioned by e-NC and released in June, the agency called for faster broadband, a national strategy and more transparent data from carriers. The state’s extensive efforts to date include an interactive web site with detailing geographic information systems (GIS) maps, annual reports, a detailing parsing of Federal Communications Commission...

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Broadband Census North Carolina (Sidebar)

By William G. Korver, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com; and Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

August 22 - In its bi-annual report released in March 2008, the Federal Communications Commission states that there are more than two broadband providers in every ZIP code in North Carolina as of June 30, 2007. However, unexplained discrepancies in the FCC’s data mar its reliability, according to a June 2008 report commissioned by the e-NC Authority, a state-chartered non-profit organization responsible for coordinating statewide broadband policy. On pages 57-59 of the June 2008 report, “Capturing the Promise of Broadband for North Carolina and America,” the authors carefully lay out the discrepancies in the FCC data. (See the link below.) The number of broadband lines on June 30, 2006, and on December 31, 2006, cannot be correct, says the e-NC report. According to the FCC report, the number of asymmetric DSL (ADSL) lines grew from 561,102 in June 2006 to 648,201 in December 2006; while the number of cable modem lines grew from 650,757 in June 2006 to 1,040,513 in December 2006. “While the increase in the number of ADSL lines is plausible, the 60 percent increase in the number of cable modem lines is not, as it vastly exceeds...

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News

By William G. Korver, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, July 10 – The lack of a cohesive national broadband policy in the United States is hampering the nation’s ability to deploy high-speed broadband, attorney James Baller said Thursday at the Alliance for Community Media conference here. Nations in Europe and Asia our "cleaning our clock" on broadband deployment, competition, speeds and prices, said Baller, of the Baller Herbst law firm. Baller, who represents municipalities seeking to deploy broadband systems, recently authored a 100-page report, “Broadband Revolution: Developing a National Broadband Strategy to Keep the U.S. Prosperous in the 21st Century,” which was released by the e-NC Authority of North Carolina. Among the report’s key findings, which Baller highlighted again at the ACM conference:

• Hong Kong (with Singapore soon to join them) boasts a 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) broadband system. Japan averages 93.7 Megabits per second (Mbps), the U.S. languishes at 14^th place with an average of 8.9 Mbps.

• In broadband prices, the U.S. stands at 11^th place with a monthly average of $12.60, more than four-times the $3.09 average cost in Japan.

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News

William G. Korver, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, June 23 - Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama should issue a statement underscoring the consensus between Republicans and Democrats on the importance of broadband in the United States, said the organizer of capitol hill forum on Monday afternoon entitled “Broadband Revolution.” Speaking at the event, which was sponsored by the New America Foundation, attorney Jim Baller said that a joint statement from the presumptive presidential nominees of the two major political parties would illustrate that the federal government is seriously reevaluating its current broadband policy – no matter who assumes the White House on January 21, 2009. Both McCain, the Republican Senator from Arizona, and Obama, the Democratic senator from Illinois, have solid solutions to improve the current broadband situation in the U.S., said Baller, of the Baller Herbst Law Group. Baller represents municipalities that seek to offer broadband as an alternative to incumbent telecommunications and cable companies. He has also promoted the notion of a national broadband strategy. Also speaking at the event were Federal Communications Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, both Democrats. About 75 people attended the event in the 9th floor of the Hart Senate Office Building. The event had originally been...

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