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By Andrew Feinberg, Deputy Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

BOSTON, April 29, 2009 - Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced Wednesday his appointment of former MIT researcher and state regulator Sharon Gillett as director of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute. The institute was chartered by Patrick in 2008 with the goal of bringing universal broadband service to state residents by 2011. Gillett's appointment was unanimously approved by the institute's nine-member governing board. She has previously served as a Director of the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable and has over a decade of experience with state telecommunications regulatory issues. Governor Patrick's choice was met with praise from Gillett's colleagues in the state telecommunications community. “Commissioner Gillett is the perfect choice to lead the MBI at this critical juncture,” said California Public Utility Commissioner Rachelle Chong. Chong, a former member of the Federal Communications Commission, called Gillett "one of the leading telecommunications experts in the nation." "Commissioner Gillett has been an invaluable member of the NARUC Telecommunications Committee," said Oregon Public Utility Commissioner Roy Baum, who chairs the telecommunications committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. "Her keen intellect and in-depth knowledge of broadband issues will be sorely missed." Before her previous appointment, Gillett was a Principal Research...

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By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

January 22, 2009 – Verizon Communications and Free Press agreed that bringing high-speed internet technology to unserved areas of western Massachusetts may result in a monopoly, or a single local telecommunications provider. In separate comments made last month in a state broadband inquiry, the telecommunications giant and the advocacy group both said that economic factors are likely to tilt toward a single broadband provider. But they disagreed about whether Net neutrality or other open access rules should be imposed upon such a monopoly. Verizon and Free Press were among 29 organizations that filed comments as part of the “call for solutions” to the problem of bringing broadband to the Berkshires and other areas of western Massachusetts. Massachusetts is one of the leading states in the drive to promote universal broadband deployment and availability. In August 2008, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, signed legislation authorizing up to $40 million in state funds to ensure that broadband is available to all the state’s citizens. The comments were released on the web site of the Massachusetts Broadband Institute, the non-profit entity that will administer the state’s investment in broadband infrastructure. The comments also provide a window into the arguments that are being made –...

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By Drew Clark, Editor, BroadbandCensus.com

WASHINGTON, January 2, 2009 – Congress and the incoming administration of President Obama should include broadband-related investment in the pending legislation designed to promote economic stimulus, and the federal government needs to begin with better data about broadband availability, said a top Massachusetts government official. In particular, Congress should fully fund the Broadband Data Improvement Act, S. 1492, which passed last October without any appropriated or authorized funding levels. Prior to passage, an earlier version of the bill had included language authorizing $40 million for the Commerce Department to allocate to state-led broadband mapping efforts. “Full funding of the Broadband Data Improvement Act through the economic recovery package would be a wise investment that would quickly jump-start efforts to stimulate broadband availability,” wrote Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Daniel O’Connell, in a letter last week to the chairs of the Obama-Biden Transition Project. O’Connell also urged flexibility in the way that states structure their individual broadband programs, extending stimulus funds to spur broadband demand among the poor, and recognizing that some forms of communication, like satellite service, are inferior methods of delivering broadband. Massachusetts is one of the leading states in the drive to promote universal...

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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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